how a green card works
individuals can be eligible for a green card through family work refugee asylee status or a variety of special programs 1 these include the diversity immigrant visa program which makes up to 55 000 visas available each year through a lottery system targeted at underrepresented countries 2 making investments above a certain threshold can entitle an investor to permanent resident status 3requirements for a green cardpermanent residents who are 18 or older are required to carry their green cards at all times or face fines or jail time the fine can be up to 100 or 30 days in jail 4 the cards expire after 10 years and must be renewed except for those issued from 1979 to 1989 which never expire 56 conditional permanent residents who obtain legal status through a recent marriage or investment must file a petition to remove their conditional residency 90 days prior to their green card expiration date 7the green card lottery system is officially known as the diversity immigrant visa program or diversity program dv the first one was officially held in 1994 but the program existed under different auspices since 1986 and with smaller limits the reason why the u s has this system is to give countries with low immigration rates to the u s a chance of winning a green card it also pays homage to america s heritage as a cultural melting pot applications for the green card lottery have continued to rise hitting roughly 23 million in 2018 but only about 116 000 of these applicants were granted visas 8currently the dv program gives away upwards of 55 000 visas per year countries that have more than 50 000 residents legally immigrating to the u s in the last five years are not allowed to participate if your spouse wins so do you as long as you are registered and all unmarried children under 21 will also be given a green card your family must be listed on the application for you to win 2