How to Apply for the American Green Card Lottery

If you are looking to apply for the Green Card Lottery you only need to follow some rather simple steps. First, find out if you are eligible or not, then register for the Green Card Lottery. Third, keep an eye on the State Department’s website, then, lastly, you will apply for your very own green card.

Eligibility

One of the benefits of the Green Card Lottery program is that it has very few requirements to meet in order to enter the running. Although there aren’t many requirements, they are quite strict and must be met in order to eventually qualify for a Green Card.

The first requirement is that the immigrant must be from an accepted country of origin. Most countries in the world are accepted countries of origin, but every year in May the State Department releases a list of countries that are not accepted. They have been rejected because they send too many immigrants to the United States already, thereby contradicting the spirit of the Green Card Lottery.

If you happen to be from a country that has been rejected you can also claim the country of origin of either your spouse or parent.

The second eligibility requirement is that the potential immigrant must either have the equivalent of a high school (secondary school) education or two years of experience in a profession that took two years of training.

Registering for the Green Card Lottery

After you have determined that you are eligible to enter the Green Card Lottery you can register.

Unfortunately, the registration period for the Green Card Lottery only occurs for about a one month period in October and November. However, with USAGreenCardLottery.org you can register at any time of the year and we will submit the application as soon as the registration period begins.

The form is quite short and simple and should not take very much time to fill out. Keep in mind that you will have to list all of your immediate family members (spouse and minor children) to make sure that they can come with you to the United States.

State Department Announcements

When you complete the registration process you will be presented with a confirmation number. This number is incredibly important because it is the identifier that links you to your application. Keep this number safe because if it is lost it cannot be recovered.

Some people believe that by simply re-applying for the same lottery they can get their confirmation number back, but that is not allowed. Immigrants are only allowed to have one application per lottery season. Duplicate applications will result in the rejection of both forms.

Be sure that you fill out the application correctly the first time.

The State Department chooses the winners of the Green Card Lottery on May 1 of the year following the registration period.

Apply for the Green Card

After you have checked with the State Department’s website to see if you have won the Green Card Lottery the next step is to contact the suggested agency and begin the process of actually getting a visa to come to the United States.