Ineligible countries for the 2009 green card lottery

 

In my last article on the diversity visa lottery, we estimated that a record 17 million people may apply this year.  The U.S. State Department is expected to announce the new diversity visa program instructions and rules for DV-2011 later this month or in early September. 

The latest rules will include new registration dates, possible changes to personal eligibility requirements and photographs, and of course, the list of ineligible countries.

To be ineligible for the green card lottery, you must be born in a country that has sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States in the previous five years.  This rule is reflected in the name, “diversity visa”, since the program is meant to encourage more people to live in America from underrepresented countries.

Thirteen countries were ineligible in the first DV-1996 program in calendar year 1994: Canada, China (mainland), Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.  Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and Taiwan have always been eligible.

For the calendar year 2008 lottery (DV-2010), natives of the following nations were ineligible to enter the lottery: Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.

The term 50,000 "immigrants" refers only to people who immigrated to the United States via family-sponsored visas, employment visas, or immediate relatives of U.S. citizen categories, and does not include refugees, asylum seekers, NACARA beneficiaries, or previous diversity immigrants. Otherwise Bangladesh, Cuba, Ethiopia, Iran, Nigeria and Ukraine would also be on the list of ineligible countries.  Countries can also be added to the list due to geopolitical changes (i.e. the breakup of the former Republic of Yugoslavia).

Countries that entered or dropped off the list each year are shown below (from Wikipedia.org): 

• DV-1996: Colombia became ineligible.
• DV-1998: Poland became ineligible.
• DV-2002: Poland and Taiwan became eligible, Pakistan ineligible.
• DV-2004: East Timor became eligible.
• DV-2005: Russia became ineligible.
• DV-2007: Poland again ineligible.
• DV-2008: Brazil and Peru became ineligible; Serbia and Montenegro listed separately, both eligible.
• DV-2009: Ecuador and Guatemala became ineligible.
• DV-2010: Russia became eligible; Kosovo added as eligible.

This brings us to DV-2011.  According to the 2008 Department of Homeland Security immigration statistics, no changes are expected.  That is, we currently assume that the same countries that were ineligible for DV-2010 will remain ineligible for DV-2011.

If you already registered for DV-2011 using an ethical lottery service and you are from a visa-eligible country in 2008, you are probably safe to enter before the U.S. State Department announces their annual changes to the visa lottery program. However, we have a saying in America, “do not count your chickens before they hatch”.