50,000 people win the green card lottery each year. Those entrants come from countries with low
rates of immigration to the United States. In other words, people from countries that have sent more than
50,000 immigrants to the United States in the past five years are not eligible. Such countries include the U.K.,
India and China, among others. Each year, the State Department's National Visa Center holds the lottery,
choosing random winners from all qualified entries. Anyone selected under this lottery has an opportunity--though not
a guarantee--for permanent residence. If a green card is granted, then the winner will, of course, be authorized
to live and work in the United States, permanently. Winners may also bring spouses and unmarried children
under the age of 21 to the United States for permanent residence.
It was a pleasant surprise for aspiring entrants this year, to learn that the green card lottery for 2005 (which is what people are
entering in in 2003), can be entered online. Great! The government is making great strides in the technical arena. But what comes as
a real shock is that the Internet is now the only way that anyone can apply. In other words, if someone who is otherwise eligible
does not have access to the Internet during the application period, they are just plain out of luck. Many people feel that this is an
unspoken way of filtering out the "wrong kind" of people.
Here in the United States, and in many other countries, getting access to the Internet is easy and cheap for most people. But that may not be the case in
every single eligible country, especially when a specific timeframe is implemented.
Perhaps "Technically savvy with access to the Internet" needs to be added to the below eligibility requirements. Whether they add it or not,
the fact remains, it is now a requirement.
Other State Department Requirements:
An applicant must be a native of one of the countries eligible to enter. In most cases this means the country in which the applicant
was born. However, if a person was born in a country whose natives are ineligible but his/her spouse was born in a country whose
natives are eligible, such person can claim the spouse’s country of birth providing both the applicant and spouse are issued visas
and enter the U.S. simultaneously. If a person was born in a country whose natives are ineligible, but neither of his/her parents
was born there or resided there at the time of the birth, such person may be able to claim nativity in one of the parents’ country
of birth.
The applicant must meet either the education or training requirement of the DV program. What does this mean?
An applicant must have either a high school education or its equivalent, defined as successful completion of a 12-year
course of elementary and secondary education; or two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation
requiring at least two years of training or experience to perform. The U.S. Department of Labor’s O*Net OnLine database
will be used to determine qualifying work experience. Applicants will also find a link to a Labor Department list of
qualifying occupations at the Consular Affairs Web site: www.travel.state.gov.
If the applicant cannot meet these requirements, he or she should not submit an entry to the DV program.
| 