Do you qualify for the Diversity Visa Green Card Lottery?

Enrollment into the Diversity Visa Green Card Lottery program is open to all individuals world-wide, however, there are two entry requirements that you must meet to enter the USA Diversity Visa Green Card lottery:

1. To enter the DV green card lottery you must be a native of a qualifying country

To enter the USA Diversity Vissa Green Card Lottery you must be native of a country with a low immigration rate to the USA to qualify for the USA Diversity Visa Green Card Lottery. People born in countries with high U.S. immigration are excluded from this Diversity Visa Green Card Lottery. Please see the list below of countries whose natives are currently excluded from the USA Diversity Green Card Lottery. Please note that eligibility is determined only by the country of your birth, not based on country of citizenship or current residence. This is the most common misperception.

The following countries are excluded from the USA Diversity Visa Green Card lottery program this year: Note that United Kingdom includes the following dependent areas: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St. Helena, and Turks and Caicos Islands. Northern Ireland does qualify.

Persons born in the Gaza Strip are chargeable to Egypt for the USA Diversity Visa Green Card Lottery this year.
Natives from all other countries may register for the USA Diversity Visa Green Card Lottery. If you were born in one of the non-qualifying countries you may still be able to participate in the USA Diversity Visa Green Card Lottery based on the country of birth of your parents or spouce.
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2. Education or Work experience that qualifies for the DV green card lottery

To enter the USA Diversity Visa Green Card Lottery you must comply with one of the following two requirements (Option 1 or Option 2 below) to qualify for the USA Diversity Visa Green Card Lottery:

OPTION 1:

To qualify for the USA Diversity Visa Green Card Lottery you must have completed a U.S. high school education or a foreign equivalent of U.S. high school education "High School education or its equivalent" means the successful completion of a twelve year course of elementary and secondary education in the U.S. or successful completion in another country of a formal course of elementary and secondary education comparable to complete a 12 year education in the U.S. Passage of a high school equivalency examination is not sufficient. It is permissible to have completed one's education in less than twelve years or greater than twelve years if the course of study completed is equivalent to a U.S. high school education; or

OPTION 2:

  To qualify for the USA Diversity Visa Green Card lottery you must have worked in one of the following occupations for at least two years within the last five years:

Proof that you satisfy these requirements should NOT be submitted when entering the USA Diversity Visa Green Card Lottery but will be requested by a consular officer after your name has been selected and you formally apply for your permanent residence (Green Card) visa. Individuals who do not match these basic requirements should not apply in this program. You need to provide proof of education, work experience and native country only if you are selected. For this reason we do not request this information in the application form for the USA Diversity Visa Green Card Lottery.