The Diversity Lottery

Green Card Lottery

The Diversity Lottery (Green Card Lottery) is a Green Card program created by the United States Government. Under the current rules of this program, 55,000 Green Cards are made available on an annual basis through a lottery system. However, the Diversity Lottery is not open to all people in the world. Rather, it is only open to people who were born in countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Conversely, the program is not available to people who were born in countries that have sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States in the previous five years. If chosen as a winner, that applicant will also be eligible to bring his or her spouse and any unmarried children under the age of 21 to the United States.
Regarding the procedure, the US State Department holds the lottery every year through a computer-generated random lottery drawing of the qualified entries. Anyone who is selected under this lottery will be given the opportunity to apply for permanent residence. The most important thing to note here is that being chosen for the lottery does not guarantee receipt of the Green Card. That is, after being selected as a “winner” of the Lottery, the applicant must then submit an application to the appropriate department of US Government. If all documents are properly submitted, an interview is scheduled at a United States Embassy or Consulate (if living outside of the United States) or at a United States Citizen and Immigration Services office (if living inside the United States). At this interview, if all of the requirements of the Diversity Visa program are met, all proper documentation is presented, and there are no other significant issues preventing issuance of a visa, then and only then may a Diversity Visa applicant be granted the right to permanently live inside the United States.

 

All said and explained in this article does not constitute a legal opinion and does not replace legal advice. Responsibility for using the wordings and opinions conveyed in this article relies solely and entirely on the reader.

This article was written by Dotan Cohen Law Offices, working in the field of immigration law in the United States, Canada, Australia and England.

Israel

“I’m very grateful to you for the professional and quick handling my case in receiving the Green Card in a very short time !!”
Amnon Karmi
Family Based Green Card
March 31st, 2018
“I would like to thank you for your great professional work. The papers whom I carried to the interview were impressive and I felt confident that this process will be approved for sure. Best, Ronen Rick”
Ronen Rick
E-1 Work Visa
March 2nd, 2017
DC LAW OFFICES לכבוד משרד עורכי דין אני מבקש להודות לכם על הליווי המדהים שלכם בתהליך קבלת הגרין קארד. הייתם מצויינים. הרגשתי שהיה לי על מי לסמוך בכל נושא לאורך הדרך, איסוף הנתונים, הכנת התיק לשגרירות, לראיון האישי וההתמודדות עם גורמי ראשויות החוק האמריקאים. הייעוץ והיחס היה חם לכל אורך הדרך. המענה שלכם לכל בקשה שלי היה מהיר ועינייני. לכל מי שמצויי בתהליך בקשת גרין קארד או כל התנהלות מול ממשלת ארצות הברית (או ממשלה אחרת) אמליץ בחום על משרד עורכי הדין שלכם. תודה רבה, ד“ר בעז מזרחי
Boaz Mizrahi
DV-2014
March 18 2015
DC LAW OFFICES לכבוד משרד עורכי דין אני מבקש להודות לכם על הליווי המדהים שלכם בתהליך קבלת הגרין קארד. הייתם מצויינים. הרגשתי שהיה לי על מי לסמוך בכל נושא לאורך הדרך, איסוף הנתונים, הכנת התיק לשגרירות, לראיון האישי וההתמודדות עם גורמי ראשויות החוק האמריקאים. הייעוץ והיחס היה חם לכל אורך הדרך. המענה שלכם לכל בקשה שלי היה מהיר ועינייני. לכל מי שמצויי בתהליך בקשת גרין קארד או כל התנהלות מול ממשלת ארצות הברית (או ממשלה אחרת) אמליץ בחום על משרד עורכי הדין שלכם. תודה רבה, ד“ר בעז מזרחי
Boaz Mizrahi
DV-2014
March 18 2015
“This letter is our personal recommendation for Dotan Cohen, Law Offices. In the last year they took care of our Green Card application. We found Dotan and his team very cooperative and very helpful they are professional, we got very detailed answers to our concerns and primarily they are consistently pleasant to work with. We defiantly can say that without the escort we got from Dotan and his team throughout the application process we would never got our Green Card. From our experience we would like to recommend to all the GC applicants if you really want to be a green card holders do not save the cost of a lawyer and hire Dotan Cohen, Law Offices.” Amit M./ DV-2009/ July 28th 2009/ Israel “Thanks very much for your help with my application. The interview was successful and everything ran very smoothly. Your input was very valuable, both while filling the forms and while preparing for the interview. You were thorough, responsive to my many questions, and most importantly, supportive. Thanks again,”
Shaul & Esty S.
DV-2009
November 23rd 2009
“I would like to thank the staff at Dotan Cohen Offices for all their efforts in assisting me to achieve my Green Card. In my case, I needed help in defining my occupation so that I can get my Green Card. If it wasn’t for the experienced lawyers at Dotan Cohen Law Offices, I would not have received my Green Card.”
Yossi C.
DV-2008
August 31st 2008
Bantsi Gafni
Shira Gafni
Another satisfied customer! Shira received American citizenship

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