The green card lottery

 

Urban Legend or not? A danger of urban legends is that it makes you doubt of everything. So here is one example with answers from friends of mine.

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America has a generous offer for people around the world, and you may be interested in what America is offering!

The United States has a program, called DIVERSITY VISA LOTTERY, making available each year by random selection 50,000 permanent residence visas (GREEN CARDS) to people from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.

The Program was created by the Immigration Act of 1990 and signed into law by then-President Bush. The program is perfectly legal and sponsored by the U.S State Department. A Green Card will give you legal right to work and live permanently in the United States. If you win a Green Card, you can apply for U.S. Citizenship at a later time.

You must act fast if you wish to apply. The registration period is short.

For FREE Application Form and information about the lottery please send:

1-Your Name:

2-Complete Mailing Address:

3-Email:

4-Country of Birth:

5-Occupation:

Please send all the above to receive a FREE Lottery Package.

Send it by FAX or Postal MAIL. DO NOT SEND IT BY EMAIL.

Send it by fax to: 1-703-995-4877

Or by mail to:

American G.C.L.

P.O BOX 31404

Alexandria, VA 22310

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Actually, I don't think this is a joke. I'm not sure if the lottery is only for people from certain countries, but it is true that each year the US does a lottery for a very small number of green cards.

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I have to respond to your urban legend about green cards. I do not know about the "Diversity Visa Lottery" but in 1991 or 1992, America did have a lottery for the Donnelly Visa. This lottery gave a certain number of Irish Immigrants green cards and they were selected at random. I only know about this because my Irish cousin, who was then living in SF as an illegal alien, won the lottery and became legal. His brother however, did not win the lottery and was forced to work through normal channels for 4 more years before he got a green card. So, I guess my point is that these green card lotteries do exist.

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But this is not a joke. I have applied for this many years before I got my Green Card. By the way, the deadline this year november 4, I think.