Many people who cannot use the family-based immigration program in the United States eventually turn to the Green Card Lottery.
That is the Green Card Lottery’s purpose after all, to provide the opportunity for immigration to those who may not be able to through other means.
However, many more people may have to take advantage of the Green Card Lottery if certain parts of the immigration system in the United States are changed or done away with.
One of the aspects of the immigration system that has recently undergone some criticism is the set of family-based preferences. If removed, this would mean that siblings and adult children of U.S. Green Card holders and citizens would not be eligible for family-based immigration.
However, they could be potentially eligible for the Green Card Lottery.
The only requirements for the Green Card Lottery are location and education.
An applicant must be from a country that has not had a significant number of immigrants sent to the United States in the past five years. The U.S. State Department releases a list of ineligible countries around the time of the registration period for the Green Card Lottery.
Applicants must also have either a high school education on two years of experience in a job that took two years to train for. This profession needs to be approved by the Department of Labor as well.
Applicants can look to register in the Green Card Lottery (DV-2015) in October 2013 and they can find out whether or not they have won in May of 2014.
Visa applications are to be filed between summer of 2014 and the end of 2015.