2018 American Visa Lottery

Millions of hopeful participants for the 2018 electronic Visa Lottery will have known as of Tuesday, May 2 if they have passed to the second stage, where the winners could qualify for legal residence status.

Around 50,000 American Immigrant visas will be issued to eligible winners from countries that qualify by the State Department standards, after processing their visa applications and checking their eligibility under the draw rules. For the 2018 fiscal year, there were 13 million participants from five continents.

Prize Draw Rules indicate that the contest is only open to people from countries that meet the conditions and comply with certain requirements of studies or work experience, either to have completed secondary education or its equivalent, or two years of work experience

This is the first step in the process. The fortunate recipient must then submit their application together with proof of previous work experience or study qualifications. If these are accepted and approved, the applicant will be contacted by mail to attend an interview. Contestants must come from the countries approved for that specific year. Countries that have exceeded the 55,000 maximum for the previous five years, do not qualify.

Of the 55,000 visa 5,000 are assigned to foreigners from countries covered by the NACARA agreement such as Nicaragua, Cuba, El Salvador and Guatemala, as well as certain countries from the previous Soviet Union block.

Although Trump has not specifically referred to the lottery of permanent residences his hard line position against immigration issues has led to fear that this type of policy can be eliminated or at least changed completely.

Speaking with an experienced and skilled immigration attorney is the first step when dealing with any immigration issue. Our attorneys are authorized and experienced in handling cases before the immigration agencies and courts.

An experienced attorney authorized to practice immigration law in Dallas, throughout Texas, can assure that your case moves forward as quickly as possible and is handled correctly.