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The table below displays the total entries received by the State Dep.
during the previous years of the Green Card lottery program. For paper based programs, the high number of "Disqualified Forms" is
due to missing information, wrong format, wrong addressing and other misinterpretation of the requirements.
For electronic based program, the high number of "Eliminated" entries is due to exact duplicates and
elimination through facial recognition technology.
| Program |
Period |
Qualified |
Eliminated |
| DV-2007 |
Oct 5, 2005 - Dec 4, 2005 |
5.5 Million |
82,447 |
| DV-2006 |
Nov 5, 2004 - Jan 7, 2005 |
6.3 Million |
36,555 |
| DV-2005 |
Nov 1, 2003 - Dec 30, 2003 |
5.9 Million |
-- |
| |
|
Entries Received |
Qualified |
Disqualified |
| DV-2004 |
Oct 7, 2002 - Nov 6, 2002 |
10.2 Million |
7.3 Million |
2.9 Million |
28% |
| DV-2003 |
Oct 1, 2001 - Oct 31, 2001 |
8.7 Million |
6.2 Million |
2.5 Million |
29% |
| DV-2002 |
Oct 2, 2000 - Nov 1, 2000 |
13 Million |
10 Million |
3 Million |
23% |
| DV-2001 |
Oct 4, 1999 - Nov 3, 1999 |
13 Million |
11 Million |
2 Million |
15% |
| DV-2000 |
Oct 1, 1998 - Oct 31, 1998 |
10.5 Million |
8 Million |
2.5 Million |
24% |
| DV-99 |
Octo 24, 1997 - Nov 24, 1997 |
5.8 Million |
3.4 Million |
2.4 Million |
41% |
| DV-98 |
Feb 3, 1997 - May 5, 1997 |
6 Million |
4.7 Million |
1.3 Million |
22% |
The official name of the green card lottery program is the Diversity Visa Program (DV).
The U.S. State
Department provides over two hundred different types of visas for people
to work and live in America
legally. However, the DV program is the most unique one out there.
Many of the visas the U.S Department
issues contain strict set of qualifications.
With the DV program, all that is needed is some basic education requirements and a bit of good luck.
Millions of people apply each year, but only 50,000 received a Green
Card through the DV program.
The intention of the program is to make America more diversified, which means a balance of different ethnicities joining
into the melting pot of America. Before 1965, many of the U.S. immigration laws favored a Northern European immigration wave.
However, The United States Congress decided to give this opportunity to relatives of American citizens or permanent residents,
regardless of origin, and Asians, Africans, and Latin Americans began arriving in record numbers. In 1995, Congress decided the
lottery should cover the whole world-except those countries thought to be overrepresented in the immigrant pool.
Winners of the green
card lottery also qualify for citizenship.
The DV lottery program is headquartered in Williamsburg, Kentucky. The Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg registers and
notifies the winners of the diversity lottery. The actual submission date for the
Green Card Lottery usually takes place between
October-December. Those applicants who correctly filled
out the application are assigned a computerized generated number.
Once the deadline for submission of
applications has passed, the computer then randomly picks over 100,000 applications
for further consideration
in the D.V program. Through the months of March-August of the following year, people who won
are sent their winner documents by regular mail.
Selection in the Green Card Lottery program does not automatically translate into a Green Card. After an
applicant has
been chosen for further consideration, he or she will go through a series of steps with U.S. officials such as a security
background check, a personal interview with a U.S. Consul and many forms to
fill out before she or she is grantedgranted a Green Card.
Only after all checks out a person may be granted
a Green Card.
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