Through the government green card lottery program the US government gives out 50,000 diversity visas (green cards) each year. This green card lottery program is meant to maintain the immigrant ratio in the USA and it is fully operated by the Government of USA.. Here the applicants are selected randomly by a computer generated program. If you are one of those lucky ones to have won the lottery you and your family will be authorized to live work and study in the USA permanently.

To be eligible for the lottery one must be born in an eligible country and must have successfully completed elementary or high school education of 12 years duration or must have 2 years of work experience after completion of education to perform a job which is accepted by the Department of State (DOS)

The current government green card lottery is called as DV-2012 which is otherwise called as Diversity Visa 2012 lottery. As mentioned earlier, you should be born in an eligible country to qualify for the lottery. However if you are born in an ineligible country you can still qualify through your spouse or parents provided they were born in an eligible country.

The US Kentucky consular section operates the Diversity Visa 2012 under the aegis of the U.S. State Department. It is understood that between 10 to 13 million people used to apply for this government lottery program and it was estimated that around 9.1 million people did submit their entries for the DV 2009 lottery. Out of the 50,000 visas that are earmarked every year around 5,000 visas are normally reserved for NACARA people.
The government green card lottery does not make it mandatory that the applicant should be of 18 years to apply for the lottery, but the eduction/work requirements usually means that the applicant is around the age of 18. Per the guidelines issued by the State Government only one entry per person will be allowed for the DV-2012 lottery program. In any such instances were more than one application is submitted then such application will be rejected on grounds of failure to comply with the requirements.
The lottery allows a person to apply every year till he wins the lottery. One of the preconditions laid down by the government is that the applicant should include his spouse and all unmarried children under the age of 21 years in the application. The only exception is that, children in the US with Permanent Residency or children who are already US citizens are exempted. Though it is not essential to speak the English language fluently to get the visa it would be mandatory that they learn it once they are in the US.
The US Kentucky consular section which conducts the lottery announces the winner of the lottery between the months of May and July of each year. The winning notification is usually sent through mail. The Diversity Visa lottery also allows the applicant to check their status on line with the confirmation number to see if they are selected for further processing.
The official Government green card lottery program is the ultimate boon for all those aspiring individuals who seek to live,work and study in the land of dreams. Green Card Lottery is one of the best way to get green card to USA.