The United States has created a program of Diversity Immigrant Visas, which grants residence to citizens from different parts of the world, with the main condition that they come from countries with a low flow of migration to the U.S.
This program is also known as Visa Lottery, since the selection of the candidate is completely random. Continue reading the article to learn more about this type of visa.
What is the visa lottery and what is it for?
The visa lottery, called Diversity Immigrant Visas, is an immigration program offered by the United States to countries with a low rate of immigration to the United States.
Through this program, 55,000 applicants can obtain a Green Card or permanent residence, allowing them to work and live legally on U.S. soil.
The visa lottery is known by that name because the choice of candidates is completely random, although in order to apply you must meet a series of requirements, including:
- Belong to a country with a low rate of migration to the U.S. ,
- Have 12 years of primary and secondary education, or the equivalent in the country of origin,
- Have two years of work experience within the last five years, in an occupation eligible for this visa.
How does the visa lottery work in Mexico?
In Mexico, this type of visa not applicable, because it is a country that has historically formed an extensive migratory relationship with its neighboring country. The Mexican community is the largest foreign community in the United States.
However, as a result of the large migratory flow established from Mexico to the north, both countries established a series of programs that favor Mexican citizens in their search for work and financial stability abroad.
To this end, several have been promoted work visas that allow people to reside in the United States legally for a certain period of time, and to constitute a workforce for different U.S. employers.
With this, they established a number of companies and companies backed by USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) to offer H2A and H2B visas for agricultural and non-agricultural workers.
Disadvantages of participating in the visa lottery
The Diversity Immigrant Visa lottery has a series of handicaps against other resources and visas that allow you to live in the United States legally.
These disadvantages are:
- You can only participate once: Applicants who apply for this type of visa can apply only once in their lives.
- Las The chances of being elected are very low: because it is precisely the completely random choice of candidates to begin the residency application process.
- Waiting time: you have to wait for the opening of a new enrollment period, which involves waiting for years. Registration for the 2025 lottery took place between October and November 2023.
Countries that apply for the visa lottery
The list of countries that apply for the Diversity Visa may change each year. For the 2025 visa, there are many eligible countries by region or continent. The list is very extensive, but In Latin America you can name:
- Argentina,
- Bolivia,
- Chile,
- Costa Rica,
- Cuba,
- Ecuador,
- Guatemala,
- Panama,
- Paraguay,
- Peru
- Uruguay, among others.
Ineligible countries for the last program they are: Mexico, Brazil, Honduras, Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Jamaica and Venezuela.
For the full list of countries that can apply for this type of visa, you should visit the website of the United States Government or the Office of Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
How do you know if you won the visa lottery?
To know the status of the request, the candidate must visit the dvprogram.state.gov website and enter their confirmation number in the Participant Status Verification section.
La Verification of Status It is the only place through which the government will notify the candidate if he was selected, and if so, he will receive instructions on how the process continues and the date and time for the interview.
