The number of Cubans who benefited from the Diversity Visa lottery system for entry to the United States, corresponding to 2024, amounted to a total of 3,081, which more than doubled the 1,358 received a year earlier by the island’s inhabitants.
Data from the bulletin issued by the Department of State Consular Center indicates that the lottery was conducted pursuant to the terms of section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which provides up to 55,000 permanent resident visas per year to people from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.
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Cuba became the most benefited nation, monopolizing the majority of the more than 5,300 visas granted to countries throughout the Americas.
As for other countries on the continent, behind Cuba were Ecuador (814 visas), Peru (784), Guatemala (146), Argentina (127), and Nicaragua (117).
The report adds that the total number of benefited Cuban citizens is similar to that reached by nations from other continents, including Tajikistan, Turkey, Nepal or Yemen.
The U.S. immigration authorities confirmed that for 2024 they received 22,185,619 visa applications under this program and that the selection was made at random, without taking into account the number of family members that could immigrate together with the selected person.
The application period was in force for 35 days, from noon on Wednesday, October 5, 2022, until noon on Tuesday, November 8 of that same year, according to the aforementioned document.
Those selected “must act quickly on their immigrant visa applications,” the publication highlighted.
Among the established requirements, the text recalls that “main applicants must provide proof of completion of secondary education or its equivalent, or two years of work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience in the last five years.”
The authorities also point out that those selected now who are currently in the United States with legal status, as well as those who have traveled with humanitarian parole, may request the adjustment of their status through the Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The U.S. authorities had published on May 6 the names of the winners of the 55,000 Diversity Visas corresponding to 2024, but until now they had not disclosed the general figures of that distribution.
In turn, they highlighted that the dates for the registration of the program for the year 2025 will be announced in the coming months through the Diversity Visas website of the Department of State.
