Why Are Some Countries Not Eligible to Participate in the Green Card Lottery?

Every year thousands of people from all over the world migrate to the U.S.A to study, work and to find a better livelihood. These immigrants can make use of the numerous visas made available by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) department. The most sought after visa among the immigration visas is the permanent residence visa or the green card visa. Those immigrants who meet the green card eligibility requirements are entitled to many green card benefits, which is almost equivalent to that of a U.S. citizen with few major exceptions like the right to vote and the right to federal jobs.

In an effort to make more foreign nationals open to the green card benefits, the U.S. diversity immigration program offers a maximum of 55,000 permanent residence visas to those who satisfy the green card eligibility requirements. This is called the annual diversity visa lottery program or the U.S.A Green Card Lottery program. This Green Card Visa Lottery program enables 50,000 foreign nationals to become permanent U.S residents and entitles them to all the green card benefits. The remaining 5000 visas of the U.S.A Green Card Lottery program are used based on the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA).

The U.S Government offers one Green Card Visa Lottery to each of those individuals who meet the green card requirements on the basis of the Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Under this section, U.S.A Green Card Lottery visas are made open to people who come from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. This U.S.A Green Card Lottery program is open to six geographic regions, with more focus on the countries that has lower rates of immigration. The green card eligibility conditions states that green card visa lottery will not be awarded to nationals who belong to countries that send a high number of immigrants to the United States of America in the past five years.

This is because, the green card visa lottery program is aimed to offer green cards to people from countries that send lesser immigrants to America, hence prevailing diversity and giving a fair chance to the global community. The Green Card Lottery requirements state that no U.S.A Green Card Lottery should be given to natives of “high-admission” countries. These high-admission countries are defined by those that have sent over 50,000 nationals in the family-sponsored and employment-based visa categories in the past five years. Apart from this, there is another green card eligibility requirement for a nation, whereby no country would be given more than seven percent of the available green card visa lottery in one year.

The Green Card Lottery recipients who are entitled to the green card benefits are selected randomly by a computer-generated drawing system that follows all the green card requirements.

An important thing to be noted is that applying for a Green Card Lottery is a very demanding process, because any error in the application form or the attachments would lead to rejection. This is where you will need help from experts like USA Green Card, who will take you through the entire application process with ease. USA Green Card will offer guidance in filling your application forms without mistakes and will provide invaluable help in obtaining the Green Card Lottery.