The Green Card Lottery is a US program that issues visas to up to 50,000 people annually from countries with low immigration rates. Applicants must meet certain requirements, but there is no minimum age or English language requirement. The program has faced criticism for potential fraud and exclusions from eligibility. Winners must be interviewed and provide proof of qualification for citizenship. Despite controversies, attempts to cancel the program have been unsuccessful.
The Green Card Lottery, formally known as the Diversity Visa Lottery Program, is a United States path to citizenship for up to 50,000 people a year. This program issues visas annually to people who emigrate from countries and regions with low annual immigration rates into the United States. While some praise the green card lottery as a model of diversity initiatives, critics suggest the process is open to fraud and could hinder the immigration process for people from ineligible nations.
Initiated in 1995, the green card lottery is open to applicants from low-immigration countries of the United States who meet several requirements. As of 2011, applicants must demonstrate high school or equivalent education or demonstrate at least two years of work experience in an occupation requiring two years of training. The application period lasts for sixty days; in 2011, more than 12 million qualified people applied for just 50,000 visas. Countries excluded from the 2011 green card lottery include Canada, China, Ecuador, Mexico, Colombia, United Kingdom and Pakistan.
There are further exclusions from eligibility, including the type of immigration status the applicant already holds. In general, the only eligible categories are those who have immigrated legally and have a temporary visa of some kind. Applicants must not be sponsored by employers or family members to qualify. There is no minimum age and a candidate does not need to speak English to qualify.
The green card lottery actually awards more than 50,000 visas, but only 50,000 people are eligible to actually receive them. To actually receive citizenship, lottery winners must be interviewed and provide proof of qualification. It is recommended that you schedule an interview as early as possible to have the best chance of receiving one of the coveted permanent visas.
Since its inception, the green card lottery has encountered various controversies and legislative attempts to abandon the program. Some critics suggest that the lottery is too lenient with regards to security and background checks, and that this could be used by terrorists to secure US citizenship. Others suggest the process is unfair to immigrants from non-qualifying countries, who may have to wait decades to finally be approved for citizenship despite being model citizens. There have been numerous attempts to cancel green card lottery funding in both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate, but none have successfully closed the program.
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