The annual ‘green card’ lottery is here again. Please share this information with your foreign national employees!
 
The annual Diversity Visa Lottery registration is currently open and concludes on Tuesday, November 9, 2021 (EST Noon). Applicants may apply online at https://www.dvlottery.state.gov/ during the registration period. For Fiscal Year 2023, there are 55,000 visas available for random selection, distributed among six geographic regions.
 
Because the process is fairly straightforward, we doubt your foreign national employees will need our assistance, and there are no filing fees to apply.
 
Please note that eligibility is by country of birth, not country of citizenship, and individuals born in the following countries are NOT eligible to apply: BANGLADESH, BRAZIL, CANADA, CHINA (including Hong Kong SAR), COLOMBIA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, EL SALVADOR, HAITI, HONDURAS, INDIA, JAMAICA, MEXICO, NIGERIA, PAKISTAN, PHILIPPINES, SOUTH KOREA, UNITED KINGDOM (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, VENEZUELA, and VIETNAM. Persons born in MACAU SAR and TAIWAN are eligible.
 
Also, please note that those who are currently going through the green card process (e.g. PERM, I-140) can still apply, and spouses, if both qualify, can each apply to double their chances. Starting May 8, 2022, applicants for the Diversity Visa Lottery will be able to check whether their application has been selected through the website https://www.dvlottery.state.gov/. Given the current visa backlogs in some categories, we encourage eligible foreign national employees to apply.