Important Information for the Green Card Lottery

​The Green Card Lottery is an annual immigration program which provides about 50,000 green cards to immigrants every year.

It is a very popular program and therefore has quite a bit of competition prompt and speedy entrance into the program is necessary if one wants to win.

One of the most important parts of applying for the Green Card Lottery is filling out the forms and including all relevant documentation properly.

Improperly filed applications will be flat-out rejected by the U.S. State Department so it is imperative that applicants pay very close attention.

The Application

Below are some of the questions that you may be asked on the online application itself.

  • The applicant’s full name
  • Date of birth
  • Gender (Transfolk applying for the Green Card Lottery should use the gender that matches their other official identification documents, the U.S. government does not discriminate based on gender identity)
  • Place of birth (for countries that may no longer be extant, using the name of the city and country at the time of one’s birth is acceptable)
  • Country of eligibility or chargeability. This is one of the more important parts of the application. The country of chargeability is the country that you are claiming you are from. This can be your home country, the home country of your spouse or the home country of one of your parents. Regardless, the country you claim must be an accepted country by the Department of State for the Diversity Visa Lottery.
  • Photographs. Two passport style photographs must be included in the application package as well.
  • Mailing address, this will also include the country where you live currently
  • Phone number and email address
  • Education. There is generally a scale that one may choose which ranks one’s education from completion of primary school to completion of a PhD program. Most of the time, applicants are only accepted if they have completed high school, otherwise known as secondary school
  • Marital status can be unmarried, married, divorced, widowed, or separated.
  • Number of children. This may be an extensive list. You have to list the name date and place of birth of all of your children regardless of legal status or whether or not they are immigrating with you
  • Spouse information is to list their name, birth date, gender place of birth and photograph. Since a late June supreme court decision, same sex couples can apply for immigration benefits the same as any other married couple.

With that completed, applicants will then need to proceed to the next step of collecting and copying their identification and official documentation.​