The Green Card Lottery is a popular immigration program that issues immigration visas to people all over the world for the purpose of increasing the diversity of U.S. immigration numbers.
Applicants are supposed to register during the designated registration period (between October 1 and November 2 for 2013) and then if they are winners of the lottery they get a chance to apply for an immigration visa.
The program is particularly popular because of the relatively few requirements of entry. Many people cannot immigrate to the United States unless they already have family there or can secure a job (a difficult proposition) and the Green Card Lottery Requires neither.
The Green Card Lottery divides all the recognized countries of the world into several regions of which the winners are selected.
Africa
Most of Africa remains eligible for entry into the Green Card Lottery. While there are many people from the continent who apply every year, there are also many fraudulent claims which reduces the number of winners.
In the 2015 Green Card Lottery Nigeria has been excluded because it exceeded its immigration quota.
Asia
The countries of Asia that are not included in this Green Card Lottery are Bangladesh, China, India, Pakistan, South Korea, the Philippines and Vietnam.
However, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, though technically part of China, remain eligible for the Green Card Lottery.
Europe
There is only one European country that cannot participate in the Green Card Lottery and that is the United Kingdom. This includes all of its dependent territories except for North Ireland.
North America
North America only has one qualified nation for the Green Card Lottery: the Bahamas.
Oceania
All nations located within Oceania remain eligible.
South America, Central America and the Caribbean
The following countries from this region are excluded from the lottery: Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico and Peru.