Participation in the lottery is open to all individuals world-wide, including those already in the US. There are two requirements which you have to satisfy:
You must be a native of a qualifying country:
The lottery is open only to natives of countries with low immigration rates to the United States. The determining factor is your country of birth. Other factors such as your citizenship, where you work, live or your passport are not relevant. If you were born in a non-qualifying country, you may be able to claim the nativity of your spouse (husband/wife) or your parents. Please click on the link below to check if you qualify.
Education or Work Experience:
You must satisfy only ONE of the to options below.
Option 1:
You must have completed a foreign equivalent of U.S. high school education or its equivalent. "High School education or its equivalent" means the successful completion of a twelve year course of elementary and secondary education (usually grades 1-12).
Option 2: If you do not have the equivalent of 12 years of education, you can still participate if during the past five years you worked for at least two years in one of the occupations listed here.
Important: Proof that you satisfy these requirements should NOT be submitted when entering the Green Card Lottery but will be requested by a consular officer after your name has been selected and you formally apply for your permanent residence visa. You need to provide proof of education, work experience and native country only if you are selected.
