ESTA

THE GREEN CARD LOTTERY

Every year, the U.S. government organizes an international lottery. Winners receive a green card, the official document that gives foreign nationals the right to permanent residence and work in the United States (unlike theESTA, which authorizes temporary residence for tourism). Only 50,000 green cards are issued among the nearly 15 million applicants wishing to immigrate to the United States. The green card is one of the most coveted entry formalities to the United States in the world.

HOW TO ENTER THE GREEN CARD LOTTERY

The green card lottery is an annual tradition whose original aim was to ensure diversity in the demographics of immigrants to the United States. Citizens of countries that have sent fewer than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. in the last 5 years are eligible: nationals of Mexico, Canada, China or the U.K. are not currently eligible, but this list is reviewed annually.

Another important criterion is education. You must have a baccalaureate, an equivalent diploma or a position requiring this level of training for at least two years.

Registration is free on the Internet, and is of great interest to millions of people, often from Third World countries, who dream of escaping poverty and insecurity. Applicants must complete the online form, taking care not to make any eliminatory errors. The site is only available in English or Spanish. The questions asked concern the following subjects:

The program emblematic of a certain idea of the United States (the American Dream) has long been under threat, an attempt to end it in 2013 failed, but what’s certain is that immigration laws could change a lot over the next few years, especially because of Donald Trump.

HOW CAN I FIND OUT THE RESULTS OF THE GREEN CARD LOTTERY?

The lottery takes place in October each year, and the results are published in May the following year. If you’re lucky, you’ll be one of the 0.33% of participants who win! But there’s a real obstacle course ahead of you: official transcripts of all identity documents and diplomas, medical certificates, copies of criminal records, extensive interviews at the American embassy in your home country, and so on. The whole process takes two years, and the lucky ones then have 6 months to leave everything behind and settle in the USA.

For those less fortunate, it is still possible to follow these steps to visit the United States: