The U.S. Department of State, which administers the Diversity Visa Program, better known as the “green card lottery,” issued a statement listing the countries that do not qualify for permanent residency through the competition in 2023.
Dominican Republic, Haiti, Venezuela, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and Vietnam are the countries listed as “ineligible” to apply for the program.
According to the regulations, natives of these countries are ineligible to apply because more than 50,000 individuals from these countries have already immigrated to the United States in the last five years.
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) of 1990, which originated the program, establishes that so-called “diversity immigrants”, people from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States, are those who can apply to the “lottery”.
How are they chosen?
The entity chooses those selected through a random computer algorithm. By 2023, up to 55,000 visas will be available under this concept.
The State Department distributes diversity visas among six regions around the world, and no country can receive more than 7% of the available visas for each year.
Registration in the program is completely free.
Applying? Here are the requirements
The first requirement is to be a native of a country with a historically low migration rate. In case you are not a native of a country that possesses this characteristic, then you might consider qualifying through the following pathway:
– If your spouse is a native of a country that does meet the program’s migration rate. In that case you can claim your spouse’s country of birth as long as you are both listed on the selected entry and you enter the United States at the same time.
You must also have at least a high school education or its equivalent, qualified as “successful completion,” or two years of work experience within the last five years in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience to perform.
Application Registration
Applicants must submit program entries electronically through dvprogram.state.gov between 12:00 noon on Wednesday, October 6 and 12:00 noon on Tuesday, November 9, 2021.
