Green Card Requirements - DV-2010

The requirements for entering the Official Green Card Lottery program are very clear.

You must be born in an eligible country (if your birth country does not qualify, you can still apply if your spouse or parents are from an eligible country)

AND

You must have either a High School education OR Two years of work experience in an occupation that fits the requirements.

Apply for the official Green Card Program (DV-2010)

Please see below for more details:

1. Eligible country

   To enter the green card lottery you must be a native of an eligible country.

   If your country is one of the few that are not eligible, you may still qualify by being charged to a different country than your country of birth based on the country of birth of one of your parents or your spouse.

   If a person was born in a country whose natives are ineligible but his/her spouse was born in a country whose natives are eligible, such person can claim the spouse's country of birth providing both the applicant and spouse are issued visas and enter the U.S. simultaneously.

   If a person was born in a country whose natives are ineligible, but neither of his/her parents was born there or resided there at the time of the birth, such person may be able to claim nativity in one of the parents' country of birth.

2. High school education OR work experience

   To enter the green card lottery, the US department of state requires that the applicant completed high school education or its equivalent, defined in the United States as successful completion of a 12-year course of elementary and secondary education;

   OR

   You must have two years of work experience within the last five years in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience to perform. The following occupation list represents the United States of America State Department's list of occupations requiring at least two years of training or experience for the Diversity Visa Lottery.