President Trump wants to get rid of one of the most popular green card programs, The Green Card Lottery. This program awards 50,000 green cards each year. Unlike other immigration pathways, this program is open to people of eligible countries without the need to have an employer or relative sponsor.
How the Green Card Lottery Works
The Green Card Lottery is a path to U.S. permanent residency for people from countries with historically low rates of immigration. Its formal name is the Diversity Visa Lottery. Each year the U.S. Department of State announces the eligible countries and immigrants who can register to be selected for a visa during the open dates, a set period of time in the fall of each year.
Open Dates
The 2019 Green Card Lottery registration period has already closed. The 2020 Green Card Lottery open dates will likely be announced in the summer of 2018, with registration opening sometime in the fall.
Eligibility Criteria
Most importantly, you must be a citizen or national of an eligible country. In addition, all applicants must have a high school education or have worked for two years in a skilled job; and be able to pass a criminal background check.
Eligible Countries
The eligible countries for the 2020 Green Card Lottery have not yet been announced. However, countries are often listed year after year unless their immigration rate to the U.S. changes. Here is the list of countries that were eligible for the 2019 lottery.
Africa
Algeria
Angola
Benin
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Cabo Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Comoros
Congo
Congo, Democratic Republic of the
Cote D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast
Djibouti
Egypt
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Gabon
Gambia, The
Ghana
Guinea-Bissau
Kenya
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius
Morocco
Mozambique
Namibia
Niger
Rwanda
Sao Tome and Principe
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Somalia
South Africa
South Sudan
Sudan
Swaziland
Tanzania
Togo
Tunisia
Uganda
Zimbabwe
Asia
Afghanistan
Bahrain
Bhutan
Brunei
Burma
Cambodia
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Indonesia
Maldives
Mongolia
Nepal
North Korea
Oman
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Japan
Jordan
Kuwait
Laos
Lebanon
Malaysia
Sri Lanka
Syria
Taiwan
Thailand
Timor-Leste
United Arab Emirates
Yemen
Europe
Albania
Andorra
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark (including components and dependent areas overseas)
Estonia
Finland
France (including components and dependent areas overseas)
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Kazakhstan
Kosovo
Kyrgyzstan
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macau Special Administrative Region
Macedonia
Malta
Moldova
Monaco
Montenegro
Netherlands (including components and dependent areas overseas)
Northern Ireland
Norway (including components and dependent areas overseas)
Poland
Portugal (including components and dependent areas overseas)
Romania
Russia
San Marino
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Tajikistan
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Ukraine
Uzbekistan
Vatican City
North America
The Bahamas
Oceania
Australia
Fiji
Kiribati
Marshall Islands
Micronesia, the Federated States of
Nauru
New Zealand (including components and dependent areas overseas)
Palau
Papua New Guinea
Samoa
Solomon Islands
Tonga
Tuvalu
Vanuatu
South America, Central America and the Caribbean
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Barbados
Belize
Bolivia
Chile
Costa Rica
Cuba
Dominica
Ecuador
Grenada
Guatemala
Guyana
Honduras
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent
And the Grenadines
Suriname
Trinidad and Tobago
Uruguay
Venezuela
Why Trump Wants to End the Green Card Lottery
President Trump’s immigration platform includes stronger vetting of immigrants and more skill-based immigration. Trump has said that terrorist threats are one of the reasons he wants to end the Green Card Lottery and limit family-based migration.
Why Trump Hasn’t Ended the Green Card Lottery Yet
In order to end the Green Card Lottery, U.S. immigration laws need to be changed. To do this, Trump needs Congress to pass a bill that changes the current immigration policy and ends the program. This would likely be part of a bigger, comprehensive immigration reform bill. Congress has been trying to pass such a bill for years and has been unsuccessful.