By
way of a lottery, the State Department makes a total of 50,000
immigrant visas available to aliens who come from countries
with low rates of immigration to the United States.
Every
year, the National Visa Center holds this lottery and chooses
winners randomly from all qualified applicants. If an alien
is selected from the random draw, s/he will have an opportunity
to apply for permanent residence either through consular
processing or adjustment of
status.
The
purpose of the diversity visa lottery program is to diversify
the U.S. immigrant population by giving visas to aliens of countries
with a low rate of immigration to the U.S.
