Green card lottery
Each year, around 50,000 immigrant visas are made available through the Diversity Visa (DV) program, also known as the Green Card Lotteryto people who were born in countries with low rates of immigration to the United States (fewer than 50,000 immigrants in the past five years). Applicants can only qualify by country of birth, not by citizenship. Anyone who is selected under this lottery will be given the opportunity to apply for permanent residence. They can also file for their spouse and any unmarried children under the age of 21.
If permanent residence is granted, the winner (and his/her family, if applicable) receives an immigrant visa in their passport(s) that has to be "activated" within six months of issuance at any port of entry to the United States. If already in the US adjustment of status may be pursued. The new immigrant receives a stamp on the visa as proof of lawful admittance to the United States, and the individual is now authorized to live and work permanently in the United States. Finally, the actual "green card" typically arrives by mail within a few months.
Recent developments
Over 6.4 million applications for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 Diversity Visa Lottery were submitted. This is an increase from the more than 5.5 million applications submitted in the 2007 Diversity Visa Lottery. Taking into account dependents, there are more than 10 million participants in the 2008 Diversity Visa Lottery. Most of the applications were from Africa and Asia: 41 percent of the total came from Africa, 38 percent from Asia, 19 percent coming from Europe, and two percent from South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. The largest number of applicants came from Bangladesh (more than 1.7 million applicants) followed by Nigeria (684,735) and Ukraine (619,584).
Normally somewhat lower than 100,000 applicants will be announced as Winners to ensure that all 50,000 Greencards will be issued. For the FY 2008 there were 5,983 Bangladesh, 8,773 Nigerian and 5,018 of the Ukrainian applications declared as Winners. Of these, there were finally used 2,286 of the Bangladesh Winner numbers, 3,425 of the Nigerian Winner numbers and 1,914 of the Ukrainian Winner numbers to get a Greencard within the time limit. At the end, 46,633 were issued in the FY 2008; 3,367 less than planned. Therefore the chances to become a winner in a lottery differs from the country of origin for which you are filed for. It also differs from year to year.
Over 14.7 million applications for the 2012 Diversity Visa Lottery were submitted. This is an increase from the more than 2.7 million applications submitted in the 2011 Diversity Visa Lottery. Taking into account dependents, there are more than 19.6 million participants in the 2012 Diversity Visa Lottery. The largest number of applicants came from Bangladesh (more than 7.6 million applicants) followed by Nigeria(2,144,626) and Ukraine (1,080,091).
Crime: Green card lottery scam
There is a growing number of fraudulent green card lottery scams, in which false agents take money from applicants by promising to submit application forms for them. Most agents are not working for the distribution service. Some claim that they can increase the chance of winning the lottery. This is not true; in fact, they may delay or not submit the application. Likewise, some claim to provide to winners free airline tickets or other benefits, such as submissions in future years or cash funds. There is no way to guarantee their claims, and there are ample nefarious reasons for them not to fulfill their promises. Applicants are advised to use only US official government websites, in which the URLends in .gov.
Green card lottery e-mail fraud
Other fraud perpetrators will e-mail potential victims posing as State Department or other government officials with requests to wire or transfer money online as part of a "processing fee." These fraudulent e-mails are designed to steal money from unsuspecting victims. The senders often use phony e-mail addresses and logos designed to make them look more like official government correspondence. One easy way to tell that an email is a fraud is that it does not end with a ".gov". One particularly common fraud email asks potential victims to wire money via Western Union to an individual (the name varies) at the following address in the United Kingdom: 24 Grosvenor Square, London. These emails come from a variety of email addresses designed to impersonate the US State Department. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services blog has published information on this email scam and how to report fraudulent emails to the authorities.
The Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security[ and the Federal Trade Commission have issued warnings about this type of fraud or similar business practices
United States lawful permanent residency
United States lawful permanent residency refers to a person's immigration status: the person is authorized to live and work in the United States of America on a permanent basis.
A United States Permanent Resident Card (USCIS Form I-551), formerly Alien Registration Card or Alien Registration Receipt Card (INS Form I-151), is an identification card attesting to the permanent resident status of an alien in the United States. It is known informally as a green card because it had been green in color from 1946 until 1964, and it has reverted to that color since May 2010. Green card also refers to an immigration process of becoming a permanent resident. The green card serves as proof that its holder, a lawful permanent resident (LPR), has been officially granted immigration benefits, which include permission to reside and take employment in the US. The holder must maintain permanent resident status, and can be removed from the United States if certain conditions of this status are not met.
Green cards were formerly issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). During a re-organization process, that agency was absorbed into and replaced by the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS), part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Shortly after that re-organization, BCIS was renamed to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which still retains the responsibility for issuing green cards.
Permanent residents of the United States eighteen years of age or older must carry their valid physical green card itself at all times. Failing to do so would be a violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act, carrying the possibility of a fine up to $100 and/or imprisonment for up to 30 days for each offense.Only the federal government can impose these penalties.
Reading a permanent resident card
ost of the information on the card is self-evident. The computer and human readable signature at the bottom is not. The format is (digit range: expected data (information contained)):
- First line:
- 1–2: C1 or C2. C1 = Resident within the United States C2 = Permanent resident commuter (living in Canada or Mexico)
- 3–5: USA (issuing country, United States)
- 6–14: 9-digit number (A#, alien number)
- 15: application receipt number
- 16–30: immigrant case number that resulted in the approved green card. The "<" symbol represents a blank space
- Second line:
- 1-6: birth date (in YY/MM/DD format)
- 7: not documented, assumed to be a check digit
- 8: gender
- 9-14: expiration date (in YY/MM/DD format)
- 15: not documented, assumed to be a check digit
- 16-29: country of birth
- 30: not documented, assumed to be a check digit
- Third line:
- last name, first name, middle name, first initial of father, first initial of mother (this line is spaced with "<<" between the last name and first name). Depending on the length of the name, the father's and mother's initials may be omitted.
A full list of category codes (i.e. IR1, E21, etc.) can be found in the Federal Register.