Most people don’t realize that the US has a lottery that allows close to 50,000 hopeful immigrants to obtain a green card. The green card lottery has been in place since 1995.
The last drawing for the green card lottery was in May, and people around the world were rejoicing to find out they would be given the opportunity to legally reside in the US. Just twelve days later the State Department informed the lottery winners they the offer had to be rescinded due to a computer mistake.
The computer randomly selects recipients of green cards from a pool of the millions of applications submitted over a 30 day period. In the May, due to a coding error, lottery winners were selected from applications submitted in the first two days of the period, unfairly leaving out application received for the remaining 28 days.
The lottery isn’t the only way to obtain a green card; immigration attorneys can help immigrants obtain a green card.
The winners of the lottery filed a class action lawsuit to block a new drawing and reinstate the previous selection. A US District Court denied the lawsuit and sided with the State Department and dismissed the case, asserting that the law requires the drawing be random. The new drawing will be held today.
Even with a green card an immigration lawyer may be necessary to become a naturalized citizen.
The green card lottery allows many people to reside in the US with the hopes of having a better life. Immigration lawyers can work towards gaining visas and citizenship for those who don’t win the lottery.
