Applications for the  Diversity Visa Lottery, also known as the DV Lottery are accepted on the State Department web site. The Diversity Visa Lottery is the US Government's initiative to issue 50,000 immigrant visas to people from eligible countries to come and live in the U.S. The eligible people belong to underrepresented countries that have lower immigration rates to the U.S., fewer than 50,000 people in the past five years. The applicants of the Green Card Lottery Program can immigrate along with their spouse and children who are younger than twenty-one. A person who is illegally in the U.S. is not eligible for this lottery.

To be eligible for the DV Lottery you must meet the following two requirements:  1) You need to be a citizen of an eligible country. 2) You must have at least a high school education or its equivalent or two years of work experience in the past five years.

The lottery winners are selected randomly by a computerized lottery system and can come to the United Stated and become permanent residents.

Beware of people or organizations that ask you for money to apply for the lottery. There are many scammers, including Internet scammers. You can register on the State Department web site for free.