Four Conditions to Allow Expats to Apply for the US Visa Lottery Program
During the year 2021, 52 people from Kuwait obtained a permanent “green card” for residency in the United States from the Diversity Visa Lottery Program (DV Lottery), compared to 37 in 2020 and 81 in 2018.
These people are among 4,498 people from “eligible” countries in the Asian continent who received a “green card” in 2021, according to a statistic issued by the US State Department, reports a local Arabic daily.
While the statistic received by the daily did not mention the nationalities of the 52 people, a statement issued by the Consular Department at the US Embassy in Kuwait mentioned the conditions for applying “free of charge” online for a “diversity immigration” visa, which citizens and expatriates are also allowed to apply for, according to the specific regulations:
1 – The applicant must be born in one of the eligible countries.
2 – The applicant must indicate in the application form the country to which he/she belongs.
3 – The applicant must have at least a certificate of completion of secondary education or its equivalent.
4 – To have, during the previous five years, two years of practical experience in a profession whose practice requires at least two years of training or experience.
The statement of the Consular Department at the US Embassy mentioned the latest instructions for the Diversity Visa (DV) Program for Immigrants for the year 2023, which allows about 55,000 people, from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States during the last five years, to qualify for an immigrant visa that allows its holder to obtain a green card (permanent residence) in the United States.
The statement pointed out that the US State Department annually administers the DV program, which is legally created and there is no cost to register for it, and applicants who are selected in the program must meet simple but strict requirements, as the Department determines the selectees through a random computer fee between six Geographical areas, and no single country may receive more than seven percent of the available DV in any one year.
For DV-2023, the statistic stated that citizens of 19 countries are ineligible to apply, because more than 50,000 citizens of these countries have immigrated to the United States in the previous five years.
These countries are Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (including Hong Kong SAR), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (excluding Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, Venezuela, Vietnam.
The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is an annual lottery for obtaining a permanent residence permit, known as the Green Card in the United States.
The program is organized every year, and the United States government grants 55,000 “Visas” to individuals from eligible countries, meaning the country whose members are allowed to apply for the lottery for the same year, in order to work, study or live in the United States.
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