One of the requirements for the entry into the Green Card Lottery is an examination of an immigrant’s education.
Typically, a high school diploma is enough to qualify for the Green Card Lottery, but for those who do not have a diploma equivalent to a U.S. diploma, or no diploma at all, there are alternatives.
Applicants with two years of experience in a job that took two years to train for can also apply.
However, there are further requirements for those applying under the strength of their work experience.
The Department of Labor sets forth certain standards and classifications for jobs in the United States. These standards dictate how much experience one must have to do well in a particular profession.
These standards are listed at the O*Net OnLine website.
The Department of State requires that any immigrant claiming job experience, claim experience in a profession listed in either zone four or five of the O*Net OnLine categorization.
Zone four includes positions that take considerable preparation and zone five requires extensive preparation.
Because of the nature of these positions, one may still have to have completed a high school degree in their home country, though that degree may not meet the standards of a U.S. high school.
Zone four includes professions that often require a bachelor’s degree and have to do with supervision and management. Accountants, engineers, chemists and teachers fall into this category. All of these professions require a good deal of experience in the field to be accepted by the program.
Zone five includes professions that require post graduate degrees and even doctorates. These jobs may take up to and exceeding ten years to train for and are significantly more difficult to achieve than zone four jobs.