U.S. Green Card Lottery Is Back: But Indians?

Donald Trump administration in the United States has created a new headache to the Indian community by creating a new regulation for the H1B Visa policy.

However, the latest developments are suggesting that Indians will remain ineligible for the United States Green Card Lottery, also known as the Diversity Visa (DV) program, until at least 2028.

The U.S. government conducts this lottery every year to encourage immigration from countries that have low migration rates to America. However, India has crossed the eligibility threshold by sending more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. in the past five years, which automatically disqualifies it from participating in the lottery.

According to official data, India has consistently recorded high numbers of immigrants. In 2021, around 93,000 Indians moved to the U.S., and in 2022, the number rose to over 1.27 lakh.

The same rule also applies to other countries such as China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Korea, Canada, and the United Kingdom, as they too have high migration figures.

The Diversity Visa program provides about 55,000 Green Cards every year to people from countries with limited representation in the U.S. population.