The US Government’s 2016 Diversity Visa Lottery programme also known as the Green Card Lottery has started accepting online applications from Sri Lankans and Maldivians from today, the US Embassy announced.

US Embassy Vice Consul Dr. James Ross told a media briefing that was held to announce the opening of the 2016 Green Card Lottery said applications from Sri Lankans and Maldivians were being accepted from 9.30 p.m. last evening until 9.30 p.m. on November 3, exclusively via www.dvlottery.state.gov
The US Green card lottery was established in 1990, by the US Congress with the purpose of giving countries that send a low number of immigrants to US an opportunity to live and work legally in the US. The programme enables randomly selected applicants who qualify for the programme, the opportunity to be interviewed for an immigrant visa and if selected, be permanent, legal residents of the US.

“The programme exists because the US government believes that having a nation of people from around the world, with different experiences and diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds makes US a stronger country,” Dr. Ross said.

He said close to 10,000 applications were submitted to the lottery programme from Sri Lanka every year, of which 800 to 1,200 were selected to be interviewed for suitability to receive US citizenship.  

To qualify for the programme, applicants must either meet an education or a work requirement which includes successful passage of the A/L examination in three subjects or a bachelor’s degree from a university. If either of those educational qualifications is not met, applicants must be engaged in highly skilled jobs that require a university-level education qualification. Applying for the programme is completely free. All applicants are required to submit names and pictures of their spouses and all unmarried children below the age of 21 and no other relatives are eligible to be included as dependents in the application.

“If you use an agent or a website that asks for a fee, then you are not on an official US government website. Beware of scams,” Dr. Ross warned potential applicants.

To find out more about the green card lottery program log on to srilanka.usembassy.gov/visas/diversity-visa-lottery-program.html. (Lakna Paranamanna)