What is the difference between a Green Card and diversity visas in the United States?

Everything you need to know about the 2024 "visa lottery" in the US 1:14

(CNN Spanish) --

Having a Green Card in the United States gives you many benefits such as living and working legally and permanently in that country.

And one of the options to obtain this document is through the so-called Visa Lottery of the United States government.

The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program grants some 55,000 people from countries around the world permanent residence in the United States each year, through the document known as the Green Card.

Its possessor, in the future, could potentially obtain US citizenship.

The Permanent Resident Card allows its holder to move to the United States and bring a large part of their close relatives, who will also have legal and permanent residence, in this case, through diversity visas.

People outside the United States usually participate in the Visa Lottery program, but those who are in the country under legal status and make a change of status can also participate, according to the United States Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS, for its acronym in English).

For the latter case, for example, a person can go from having an Immigrant Worker visa (which can be temporary) to having a Green Card through the visa diversity program.

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Other ways to get a Green Card

The Visa Lottery program, which distributes visas by world regions, is available for registration for the 2024 period, from October 5 to November 8, 2022.

But this is not the only way to obtain a Permanent Resident Card.

According to the USCIS, a person can obtain this document through:

Family:

A Green Card can be obtained if you have an immediate family member who is a US citizen, the fiancé of a US citizen, the widower of a US citizen, or if the family member of a US citizen is a victim of abuse or extreme cruelty.

Through a job:

If the person is an immigrant and gets a job offer in the country or meets a series of requirements that qualify him as such.

Medical Workers:

Physicians who agree to work full-time at a clinic in an area with poor medical access for a set amount of time.

For this it is necessary to meet eligibility criteria.

Investor:

The immigrant who must invest at least one million dollars in a commercial company in the United States to create employment for at least 10 qualified employees.

Other cases:

To obtain a Green Card you can also apply through refugee or asylee status;

be victims of human trafficking or other crimes, be victims of abuse, or have lived in the United States continuously since before January 1, 1972, according to USCIS.

Green Card Visa Lottery