Green Card Lottery

About the Green Card Lottery

The Department of State has an annual Diversity Visa ("DV") lottery for immigration to the United States. This program is commonly called the "Green Card Lottery" and the "Visa Lottery" Program. Under this program, up to 55,000 immigrants can enter the United States each year from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.

Green Card Lottery 2021

The entry submission period for DV-2021 is from 12:00PM EDT (GMT -4) on October 2, 2019 to 12:00PM EST (GMT -5) on November 5, 2019.

Peru was added to the list of eligible countries this year. For DV-2021, natives of the following countries are not eligible to apply, because more than 50,000 natives of these countries immigrated to the United States in the previous five years:

Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El
Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea,
United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.

*Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and Taiwan are eligible.

Requirements for Entry

FIRST, you must be a native of an eligible country. In most cases this means that you were born in that country. However, there are two other ways you may be able to qualify. First, if your spouse was born in a country whose natives are eligible, then you can claim your spouse's country of birth provided both you and your spouse are on the selected entry, are issued visas and enter the U.S. simultaneously. Second, if neither of your parents was born or resided in same ineligible country where you were born, you may claim nativity in one of your parents' countries of birth if it is a country whose natives qualify for the DV program.

SECOND, you must meet either the education or work experience requirement of the DV program. Specifically, you must have EITHER a high school education or its equivalent, defined as successful completion of a 12-year course of elementary and secondary education; OR two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience to perform.

If you have any questions about whether you satisfy either of these requirements, please email us at Visa America.

There Are Three Small But Significant Changes For This Year

- First, All Lottery Applicants Must Now Have A Passport. This Is Expected To Reduce The Number Of Applicants, Which Could Increase Your Chance Of Selection.
- Second, There Are No Special Programs This Year, As Opposed To Prior Years, That Will Use Up Some Of The Available 55,000 Green Cards. This Means That There Will Be The Maximum Number Of Green Cards Available, Which Could Increase Your Chance Of Selection.
- Third, On October 15, 2019, The Uscis Is Scheduled To Implement New Public Charge Rules For Immigrants. While These Rules Could Still Be Challenged In Court, They Require The Uscis To Consider Whether An Immigrant Is Likely To Require Public Benefits In The Future. The Rules Give The Immigration Officer The Power To Consider Factors Such As The Size Of The Immigrant's Household, The Age Of The Immigrant, The Health Of The Immigrant And His Or Her Dependents, The Income And Earning Potential Of The Immigrant, The Amount Of Assets And Liabilities The Immigrant Has, Ability To Speak English, And More. This Is Expected To Reduce The Number Of People Who Qualify For A Green Card Even If They Are Selected In The Lottery.

The Department of State will only accept completed Electronic Green Card Lottery Applications (called Diversity Visa Entry Forms) submitted correctly during the registration period.

You Will be Disqualified If:

All entries by an individual will be disqualified if more than ONE entry for that individual is received, regardless of who submitted the entry.

Your entry will be disqualified if all required photographs are not submitted. Recent photographs of the following people must be submitted electronically with the Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form: you, your spouse, each unmarried child under 21 years of age, including all natural children as well as all legally-adopted children and stepchildren, even if a child no longer resides with you or you do not intend for a child to immigrate under the DV program. You do not need to submit a photo for a child who is already a U.S. citizen or a Legal Permanent Resident. Group or family photographs will not be accepted; there must be a separate photograph for each family member. DOS also published a final rule requiring that photographs submitted as part of a diversity visa lottery entry package be taken no more than six months before the date of the petition submission, and prohibiting applicants from wearing eyeglasses in the photos. More information about submitting photographs is provided below.

Confirmation

After we successfully register your entry, we will print the display of a confirmation screen containing your name, date of birth, country of chargeability, and a date/time stamp. We will forward this confirmation screen to you for your records.

A. ABOUT THE PRIMARY APPLICANT

B. ABOUT APPLICANT'S DEPENDENT SPOUSE
AND/OR CHILDREN

SPOUSE

FULL NAME:
DATE OF BIRTH:	DAY: MONTH: YEAR:
GENDER:	MALE: OR FEMALE:
CITY / TOWN OF BIRTH:
COUNTRY OF BIRTH:
COUNTRY OF ELIGIBILITY:

CHILD #1

FULL NAME:
DATE OF BIRTH:	DAY: MONTH: YEAR:
GENDER:	MALE: OR FEMALE:
CITY / TOWN OF BIRTH:
COUNTRY OF BIRTH:
COUNTRY OF ELIGIBILITY:

CHILD #2

FULL NAME:
DATE OF BIRTH:	DAY: MONTH: YEAR:
GENDER:	MALE: OR FEMALE:
CITY / TOWN OF BIRTH:
COUNTRY OF BIRTH:
COUNTRY OF ELIGIBILITY:

CHILD #3

FULL NAME:
DATE OF BIRTH:	DAY: MONTH: YEAR:
GENDER:	MALE: OR FEMALE:
CITY / TOWN OF BIRTH:
COUNTRY OF BIRTH:
COUNTRY OF ELIGIBILITY:

CHILD #4

FULL NAME:
DATE OF BIRTH:	DAY: MONTH: YEAR:
GENDER:	MALE: OR FEMALE:
CITY / TOWN OF BIRTH:
COUNTRY OF BIRTH:
COUNTRY OF ELIGIBILITY:

Please do NOT forget that each applicant will also require to supply photographs.

MAILING ADDRESS INFORMATION

	*ALL FIELDS REQUIRED
STREET ADDRESS:
ADDRESS LINE 2:
CITY / TOWNSHIP:
STATE / PROVINCE / DISTRICT:
POSTAL CODE:
COUNTRY:
TELEPHONE NUMBER:
EMAIL ADDRESS:

C. ARRANGE FOR YOUR PAYMENT TO THE
JAENSCH IMMIGRATION LAW FIRM:
The law firm charges a fee of:
$200 USD for a registration by a single person with no children
$250 USD for a registration for a married person with no children
(fee for second, separate registration for spouse is $200 per registration)
$300 USD for a registration for a married person with children
(fee for second, separate registration for spouse or child over 18 is $200 per registration)

We will not submit the application to the government until we receive payment.

Please download our PAYMENT OPTIONS form to obtain payment instructions.

D. PHOTO DETAILS -- METHOD OF DELIVERY

*REQUIRED
I will supply pictures by the following method: (Please select)		I will send photos to Visa America via email Photos to be taken at your firm Photos will be mailed to you I will deliver photos in person
Please read the section below before submitting photographs!

Please enter image text:

E. SUBMIT YOUR PHOTOGRAPH

Each applicant MUST provide a photograph of him-/herself PLUS a photograph of the spouse and ALL unmarried children under the age of 21 (including current or former step-children and children who do not live with you). You can provide photographs to our office in one of four ways. Please select which method you will use to send the photographs to our office from the list below:

If you will provide the photographs yourself, please note that they must meet the following Specifications:

Applicant, spouse, or child must be directly facing the camera; the head of the person being photographed should not be tilted up, down or to the side, and should cover about 50% of the area of the photo.
The photo should be taken with the person being photographed in front of a neutral, light-colored background. Photos taken with very dark or patterned, busy backgrounds will not be accepted.
Photos in which the face of the person being photographed is not in focus will not be accepted.
Photos in which the person being photographed is wearing sunglasses or other paraphernalia which detracts from the face will not be accepted.
Photos of applicants wearing head coverings or hats are only acceptable due to religious beliefs, and even then, may not obscure any portion of the face of the applicant. Photos of applicants with tribal or other headgear not specifically religious in nature are not acceptable. Photos of military, airline or other personnel wearing hats will not be accepted.

In addition, digital photographs must meet the following specifications:

a) The image must be in the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format.

b) The image must be either in color or grayscale; monochrome images (2-bit color depth) will not be accepted.

c) The image must be a .jpg format. The maximum image size should be 240KB. Maximum dimensions are 8 inches (width) x 8 inches (height). Dimensions must be in a square aspect ratio, image must be in color. Black and white images will not be accepted.

d) If a photographic print is scanned, the print must be 2 inches by 2 inches (50mm x 50mm) square.

e) It must be scanned at a resolution of 150 dots per inch (dpi) and with a color depth of either 24-bit color, 8-bit color, or 8-bit grayscale.

f) The maximum image size accepted will be sixty-two thousand five hundred (62,500).

Please do NOT attach multiple pictures to this form (as some mail programs compress picture files or change formats, and that may change the picture quality required). Instead we suggest that you use our email link (found on any site page) and attach one photograph to each e-mail required - clearly identifying the attached picture. Otherwise please mail your picture/s by postal carrier (and/or original photographs) by carrier clearly identifying the pictures. Please be sure to have read the Specification Requirements above for supplying your pictures.