5 common mistakes in the Green Card lottery application

Be sure to indicate your officially recognized legal status. If you fail to do so, your application will be disqualified. If you win, you will be denied the Green Card.

Under the marital status section, the application includes the following options:

• Not married
• Married and my spouse is NOT a US citizen or Green Card holder
• Married and my spouse IS a US citizen or Green Card holder
• Divorced
• Widowed or legally separated

You must provide your spouse's full name, date of birth, sex, city of birth, country of birth, and a photograph meeting the program's requirements. If you don't list your official spouse in the application, or if you list a person who is not officially your spouse, you and your application will be disqualified. If you're not officially separated from your spouse, but you don't live together and have separated, you must still list them in the application. Legal separation is a specific legal agreement whereby, based on a court decision, a couple remains married but lives apart. If you and your spouse are legally separated, your spouse will not be able to immigrate to the US with you under this program. You won't be disqualified if you decide to list a spouse from whom you are legally separated. If you are not legally separated by court order, you must list your spouse even if you plan to divorce before receiving the Green Card visa, or even if your spouse does not intend to immigrate. If your spouse is a US citizen or lawful permanent resident, do not list them in your application. A spouse who is already a US citizen or lawful resident does not need a visa issued. Accordingly, if you select "married and my spouse IS a U.S. citizen or U.S. LPR," you will not be required to fill in additional information about your spouse. For more information on listing family members, see the frequently asked questions section.

if you are officially married, you must list your spouse, regardless of whether you live together, or whether they intend to immigrate to the United States with you. You must list your spouse even if you are currently separated, if there is a legal separation. This is an agreement whereby a couple remains married but lives separately, following a court decision. If you and your spouse are legally separated, your spouse will not be able to immigrate with you under this program. You will not be disqualified if you list a spouse from whom you are legally separated. If you are not legally separated by court order, you must include your spouse even if you plan to divorce before participating in this program, and even if your spouse does not intend to immigrate. Failing to include your eligible spouse in the application, or including someone who is not qualified, will result in your application's disqualification. If you are not married during the application period, but plan to marry in the future, do not list a spouse in your application, as this will result in disqualification. If you are divorced or your spouse is deceased, you do not need to list your former spouse.

The only exception to this requirement is if your spouse is already a US citizen or lawful US resident. If your spouse is a US citizen or lawful resident, do not list them in your application. A spouse who is already a US citizen or lawful permanent resident does not need an immigrant visa. Therefore, select "married and my spouse IS a U.S. citizen or U.S. LPR" in your application, after which you also won't be able to enter additional information about your spouse.

On the application form, you must list all unmarried children under the age of 21 at the time of completing the application, whether they are your biological child(ren), your spouse's child(ren), or child(ren) legally adopted according to law. List your child(ren) even if they don't live with you or don't plan to travel to the US with you. The only exception is that you are not required to list children who are already US citizens or have the lawful right to permanent residence in the US. Listing them is not mandatory, and if you do list them anyway, this will not result in disqualification. Parents and siblings are not qualifying dependents for the Green Card immigrant visa and should not be listed in the application. The fact that you list your family members on the application form does not mean they must submit a visa application and travel with you to the US. But if you fail to list a qualifying family member in the application, per the requirements, your application will be disqualified at the interview. These requirements apply only to family members you have at the time of completing the application, not to those who become your family members after the application is submitted. The applicant's spouse can complete a separate application, even though they will already be listed on your application form. Both applications must include information about the family members who are dependent on you.

Number of children: list the last name, first name, date of birth, sex, city/village of birth, and country of birth of each living, unmarried child under the age of 21. You must list your children regardless of whether they live with you and whether you plan to bring them with you to the United States. Upload an individual photo of each child, meeting the same requirements as your own photo. Be sure to list:

• All living biological children,
• All living children you have legally adopted, and
• All living stepchildren who are under 21 and unmarried at the time of completing the program application.

You must list your children regardless of whether you remain legally married to the child's other parent, and regardless of whether the child lives with you or plans to immigrate with you. Married children and children who are already 21 or older are not eligible, though the Child Status Protection Act permits exceptions in certain cases: if you submit your application before your unmarried child turns 21, or if they turn 21 before the visa is issued, they may still be considered under 21 for visa procedure purposes. A child who is already a US citizen or lawful resident will not need an immigrant visa. You will not be disqualified whether or not you list such a family member in your application. If you fail to provide information about your qualifying child, or provide information about a person who is not your child, this will result in your application's disqualification. For additional information, see the frequently asked questions section.

There is no minimum age threshold for participating in this program. However, due to education and work experience requirements, most applicants under 18 will be disqualified

Your current level of education. You must indicate which best matches your highest level of education:

• Primary education
• High school without a diploma
• High school with a diploma
• Vocational/technical education
• Some university education, no degree
• University degree
• Some graduate-level education
• Master's degree
• Doctorate
• Occupation requiring professional-level expertise.

Provide an email address you will maintain access to through the time results are announced, next May. If you check the Entrant Status Check in May and find that you were selected, you will receive further notifications from the State Department at your email address if an opportunity for an immigrant visa interview arises. The State Department will never email you to tell you that you won the Green Card program. See the frequently asked questions section for more information.

To check your entrant status, you need a confirmation number. Currently, the program's website has a function under the ESC section (Entrant Status Check) that allows you to recover your confirmation number using the email address you registered with. US embassies and consulates, as well as the Kentucky Consular Center, cannot provide you with either your status information or your confirmation number (this is only possible through the Entrant Status Check recovery function). The State Department cannot provide you with a list of selected individuals who will proceed with the visa process.

The State Department will select qualifying applications randomly, by computer, according to the number of visas allocated to each region and country. To learn the results of the 2024 program, you need to go to the Electronic Diversity Visa program's website and, using your unique registration number, find out whether you were among those selected. Status checking will be available from May 6, 2023 to September 30, 2024. If selected, you will be redirected to a confirmation page, where instructions and information about all procedural matters regarding the interview and visa fee will be posted. Entrant Status Check is the only source through which the State Department notifies selected participants of their status. The State Department will not send a selection notice by letter or email. US embassies and consulates do not provide a list of selected individuals. Applicants who were not selected also will not receive a notification — they too must check their status on the official website. We recommend checking your status personally and not relying on anyone else to notify you. An applicant selected in the program must meet all requirements set out in US law in order to receive the visa. Through the DS-260, the online immigrant visa application, submitted electronically, and in person, the consular officer will ask you questions about immigrant eligibility as required by US law. Questions will include topics related to criminal background and security. Visas for successful applicants and their family members must be issued by September 30, 2024. After this date, the State Department cannot issue an immigrant visa to the applicant or any of their family members. For more information about the selection process, see the frequently asked questions section.