The Green Card Lottery program is the only official program of the US Government which allots 55,000 immigrant visas annually. This program helps people around the world, who are ineligible for visas under other categories such as family based immigration, employment based and refugee or asylum based immigration.
You can participate in the Green Card lottery program by submitting Form DS 5501 online. This is the online Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form. Through this program 55,000 visas are made available for people meeting the eligibility requirements. This program selects the applications through a random lottery drawing which is computer generated.
DV lottery program is considered as the only chance of hope, for people who wish to achieve their dream of living in the US. Luck is the key factor in the selection process. This official Green Card lottery program benefits 55,000 people as they will be able to live, study and work in the US along with their families, if selected. Through this program, there are dual chances of married people winning the lottery.
If you are selected, your spouse and unmarried children below 21 years of age are eligible to apply for permanent resident status or Green Card in the US. This official program will provide permanent resident visas to individuals who meet simple but strict, eligibility requisites. All your family members can submit separate applications, provided they are above the age of 18 and they meet all eligibility requirements to participate in the DV lottery program. No restriction is posed on the number of applications that can be filed by the members of the same family. If you are married, you can file a family application. But still, you and your spouse can file separate applications. By submitting separate applications for you and your spouse, double your chances of winning the lottery. That is because, if either one of you win the lottery, the other will be eligible for the derivative status.
Your wife and unmarried children, mentioned on your application will be eligible for the derivative status. While submitting separate applications for you and your spouse, you will be the primary applicant in the application that you submit and your spouse will be the primary applicant on the other application.
Though you and your spouse submit separate applications, your should list your spouse and unmarried children below 21 years of age, on the entry that you submit. This also applies to your spouse, where you and your unmarried children(below 21 years of age) must be listed on the application submitted by your spouse. Separate applications must accompany separate processing fees for each application. Listing the names of your spouse and children does not mean that they must travel along with you to the US.
In case of being separated from your spouse legally, you will not be required to list your former spouse on your entry. Your children under the age of 21 who are unmarried can be listed in your application as dependents. Your children must submit separate applications if they are 21 years of age and above, single or married.
Do not fail to list your eligible dependents on your entry in order to avoid disqualification. It is always mandatory to list your dependents, that is, your spouse and children on your entry. If your spouse submits separate application, it is a compulsory to list all the eligible dependents on her entry. Applications to this participate in this program is open for all individuals world-wide. But there are certain regions that are not eligible to participate in this program. If you belong to the region that is ineligible to participate in the Green Card lottery program, then you cannot file an application in the DV lottery program.
This program distributes visas among six geographic regions. It is distributed in such a way that the visas reach regions with lower rates of immigration. It also does not distribute visas to regions from where more than 50,000 individuals have immigrated to the US over the past 5 years. This program allows an individual to submit only one application on his behalf as multiple entries by the same person will be rejected and disqualified. If you are not selected for a visa through this program this year, you can always apply for a DV lottery in the next year.
This official program of the US government focuses in diversifying the American population by creating immigration opportunities to people across the globe to live, work and study in the US. After you send your application and after it is accepted you will get a Confirmation number. This unique number allotted to you is the only way through which you can check the status of your application online.