Eligibility requirements

Each year the US Diversity Visa program makes available permanent residence visas to persons meeting the simple, but strict, eligibility requirements.Applicant must meet either the education or training requirement of the DV programAn applicant must have EITHER a high school education or its equivalent, defined in the US as successful completion of a 12-year course of elementary and secondary education; OR two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience to perform. The U.S. Department of Labor's O*Net OnLine database will be used to determine qualifying work experience.Applicant must be a native of a qualifying countryIn most cases this means the country in which the applicant was born, regardless of the individual's current country of residence or nationality. Thus, if you were born in an eligible country, you can apply for the Lottery.For DV-2009 natives of the following countries are NOT ELIGIBLE to apply because they sent a total of more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. during the last five years:
BrazilCanadaChina (mainland-born)ColombiaDominican RepublicEcuadorEl SalvadorGuatemalaHaitiIndiaJamaica
MexicoPakistanPhilippinesPeruRussiaPolandSouth KoreaUnited Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and itsdependent territoriesVietnamPersons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR and Taiwan are ELIGIBLE.The list of non-qualifying countries for DV-2009 will be announced in September 2007.-->Important! If you were born in an ineligible country (please see above), there are two other ways you may be able to qualify. In some specific cases you can apply by claiming nativity in the other country. These cases are as follows:
Your spouse (which is husband or wife) was born in an eligible country.If you were born in a country that is not eligible for this year's DV program, you may claim "chargeability" to the country where your derivative spouse was born, but you will not be issued a DV visa unless your spouse is also eligible for and issued a DV visa, and both of yours must enter the US together on the DVs.
Neither of your parents was born in ineligible country or resided there at the time of your birth.If you were born in a country ineligible for this year's DV program, you can be "charged" to the country of birth of either parent as long as neither parent was a resident of the ineligible country at the time of your birth. In general, people are not considered residents of a country in which they were not born or legally naturalized if they are only visiting the country temporarily or stationed in the country for business or professional reasons on behalf of a company or government. An applicant who claims alternate chargeability must indicate such information on the application for registration.These are the only requirements. It is irrelevant where you live now; whether you speak English, have relatives in the USA, etc.
If you meet the requirements set forth above, you are eligible to apply for the lottery.