How to win the Green Card Lottery

Mark Jacobsen — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:16:44 +0000

There are the three ways to win the Green Card Lottery: (1) enter; (2) enter; and (3) enter again (not all in the same year, of course). Assuming you have followed all the rules, winning the Green Card Lottery depends only on luck. Do not expect to win, but have faith and keep trying. Each year is another chance. Many people win on their second, third, forth or fifth attempt. Enter every year and, while you’re at it, make sure your husband or wife is also entered because if your spouse wins, you win too. Encourage your relatives, your mother, father, sisters, brothers, and children over 18 to enter also because, if one of them wins, he or she might be able to sponsor you for a Green Card in the future under another program.

The Green Card Lottery is Good for America

Mark Jacobsen — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:41:41 +0000

America is about hope. Hope, opportunity, new beginnings, second chances, and freedom. Freedom to dream, freedom to succeed, freedom to reach for the stars and to be whoever and whatever you want to be.

While millions of people throughout the world look to the Green Card Lottery as their best hope for obtaining a U.S. Permanent Resident Visa, many Americans are not even aware the program exists. What is the Green Card Lottery, how does it work, and why is it good for America?

The Green Card Lottery sets aside 50,000 permanent resident visas, commonly known as Green Cards, for citizens of countries with historically low numbers of immigrants coming into the U.S., and makes these visas available through a lottery. The purpose of the program is to encourage diversity amongst U.S. immigrants; in fact, the correct name for the program is “The U.S. Diversity Program” – although it is known throughout the world simply as “The Green Card Lottery”.

The United States Congress created the Diversity Program in response to fact that immigrants from underrepresented countries were being squeezed out by countries with the highest numbers of immigrants coming in. There are a very limited number of ways an individual can become eligible for a U.S. Green Card. One of the most common is through the sponsorship of a close relative who is already a U.S. Citizen or Legal Permanent Resident. The historically large numbers of Mexicans, for example, or Chinese, who immigrated to America during the the 20^th century could, and did, sponsor many of their close relatives who could then sponsor even more relatives creating a snowball effect of immigrants coming from one country. At the same time diminishing numbers were able come in from countries with historically low numbers of immigrants, such as Bosnia, for example, or Ghana. This gave an unfair advantage to ethnic groups with a preexisting foothold, while creating a dearth of opportunity for immigrants from other countries.

What suffered in the process, for America, was its treasured sense of diversity. Whole neighborhoods, entire areas, even regions of the country became “Mexican” or “Vietnamese” or “Chinese” or whatever nationality historically predominated while fewer and fewer nationals of ethnic diversity would appear from countries whose immigrant numbers were historically or currently low.

To fix this, and to restore diversity to America’s immigrant population – and thereby increase the opportunity for underrepresented countries, Congress enacted the Diversity Visa Program and set it in motion in 1994. The program quickly became known as the Green Card Lottery because it sets aside a relatively modest number (50,000) Permanent Resident Visas (Green Cards) for individuals from underrepresented nations who would become eligible to apply for them through a lottery.

There is a gross misconception about the Diversity Program amongst many Americans who believe that it literally hands out Green Cards to anyone who wins the drawing, regardless of whether they would otherwise be eligible for one. In reality, a person whose name is drawn through the lottery is merely made eligible to apply for a Green Card. All of the other requirements, qualifications and restrictions imposed on any other applicant for a U.S. Visa – and there are many – still must be met or no Green Card will be issued.

The program adjusts annually to assure that the largest numbers of winners will be drawn from countries with the lowest historical influx of immigrants. The number of winners from any given country thus diminishes in ratio to its historic numbers of immigrants leaving countries with the highest numbers of immigrants to the U.S. completely ineligible.

The minimum requirements for a Green Card ensure that the recipient is educated (at least to the equivalent level of a U.S.High School graduate) or is well trained and experienced in a suitable occupation so that he or she can support herself in the U.S. The prospective immigrant must also be healthy, of good moral character, and have at least enough financial resources to ensure that he or she will sustain himself through the transition and until securing employment in the U.S. without ever becoming a burden on society.

It is a strikingly fair and democratic system for allocating permanent resident visas to people throughout the world who might have no other hope of coming to America. Yet the program is in jeopardy of elimination under the banner of immigration reform. This is in part because it is misunderstood by a large majority of Americans who are often surprised, even shocked, to learn of its existence. It is also an easy target for those who are opposed to immigration in general. Finally, since there is no particular constituency or special interest sector to support the program, it can easily be eliminated in any reform package seeking simply to lower the number of immigrants entering the U.S. This was the case the last time Immigration Reform was nearly passed in 2004. Had that bill passed it would have spelled the death of the Green Card Lottery.

Immigration Reform, which may be the topic of another article, continues to lurk as an issue for politicians, and the Diversity Program will be imperiled if and when the debate is renewed. It is important for Americans to become educated about the Diversity Program, to understand it and to appreciate its purpose so that this uniquely American beacon of hope for people the world over will not be extinguished.

usgreencardlottery.com

How to win the Green Card Lottery

The Green Card Lottery is Good for America