Only eight million people tried to win a green card in the latest U.S. diversity-visa lottery, the State Department said, compared with a record 15 million last year.

That figure could slide further in coming years, because the Senate recently passed a measure to charge a fee for entering the electronic draw, starting with next year’s drawing.

A State Department spokeswoman attributed the drop in entries this year to the fact that Bangladeshis—for many years the most numerous applicants—weren’t eligible to participate. The South Asian nation is no longer classified as a low-immigration country to the U.S.

The diversity-visa lottery is an immigration program that offers a quick path to permanent U.S. residence for 50,000 people each year who are selected randomly by the U.S. government from countries that send few immigrants to the U.S. Earlier this year, a computer glitch forced the government to redo the previous lottery, after 22,000 people were incorrectly notified that they had won.

During the monthlong entry period every fall, the green-card lottery generates a frenzy in countries across Africa, the source of most entries now.

This year, the three countries that submitted the most entries were Nigeria, with 1.36 million; Ghana, with 909,000; and Ukraine, with 853,000. Last year, Bangladesh accounted for 7.6 million entries.

Last month, Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) won approval for a bill to extend federal benefits to disabled refugees living within the U.S. The bill included a new $30 fee to enter the diversity-visa lottery. The House is expected to pass the same measure.

A spokesman for Mr. Schumer said the fee would help offset the cost of the program and avoid adding to the U.S. budget deficit. The Congressional Budget Office had estimated it would cost about $36 million to provide a one-year extension to the program for refugees.

The results of this year’s diversity-visa draw will be announced in May.

Applicants registered for the DV-2012 program were selected at random from the approximately 14.8 million qualified entries received. The visas have been apportioned among six geographic regions with a maximum of seven percent available to persons born in any single country. During the visa interview, principal applicants must provide proof of a high school education or its equivalent, or show two years of work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience within the past five years. Those selected will need to act on their immigrant visa applications quickly. Applicants should follow the instructions in their notification letter and must fully complete the information requested.

Registrants living legally in the United States who wish to apply for adjustment of their status must contact U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for information on the requirements and procedures. Once the total *50,000 visa numbers have been used, the program for fiscal year 2012 will end. Selected applicants who do not receive visas by September 30, 2012 will derive no further benefit from their DV-2012 registration. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2012 principal applicants are only entitled to derivative diversity visa status until September 30, 2012.

Only participants in the DV-2012 program who were selected for further processing have been notified. Those who have not received notification were not selected. They may submit an application for the upcoming DV-2013 lottery.

*The Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NCARA) passed by Congress in November 1997 stipulated that up to 5,000 of the 55,000 annually-allocated diversity visas be made available for use under the NCARA program. The reduction of the limit of available visas to 50,000 began with DV-2000.

The green card lottery will run from October 4, 2011 through November 5, 2011.  You can register now through the USA Green Card web site (www.usa-green-card.com) to avoid last-minute problems and surprises.

Complete requirements and the application form are available now!  Contact us with any questions:  lottery@usa-green-card.com

The State Department will throw out the results of this spring’s green-card lottery and hold a new drawing, dashing the hopes of 22,000 entrants whom the government said it had erroneously chosen as winners in a May draw.

A federal judge Thursday denied a request by plaintiffs who hail from Asia, Africa and Europe to stop a new drawing from taking place and to recognize them as winners despite the computer error that led to their selection.

The results of the new drawing will be available Friday on the lottery’s website, a State Department spokeswoman said.

This year, a record 15 million people from around the world submitted entries to the free green-card lottery, which offers a quick path to legal permanent residency in the U.S. for 50,000 people selected by random draw.

In early May, 22,000 people checked the State Department’s lottery website and learned they had been chosen. But soon after, the government informed them that the electronic draw would have to be held again because a computer error caused 90% of the winners to be selected from the first two days of applications instead of from the entire 30-day registration period.

The government told affected individuals they would be re-entered in a fresh drawing because the lottery hadn’t been random, as required by law.

The 22,000 entrants orchestrated a publicity campaign and launched legal action to address their situation.

Their lawsuit, filed last month in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., included plaintiffs from more than 20 countries.

The court hearing earlier this week focused on the meaning of “random.” Lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that they had been randomly chosen and that they didn’t know that by filling their applications in the first two days that they would gain any advantage. They also contended that the “outcome was indeed not uniform, but nevertheless still random as required by law.”

The State Department argued that the results didn’t represent a fair, random selection.

Under the program, visas are made available to applicants from countries with low rates of immigration to the U.S. Winners have the opportunity to move to the U.S. without a family member or employer as a sponsor, the usual routes to obtaining permanent residency.

Launched in 1990 to promote diversity in the immigrant population, the lottery is now open to people from almost anywhere in the world, except countries that already have a large number of nationals in the U.S., including Mexico, China, India and the Philippines. No special skills are required beyond a high-school diploma. Lottery winners eventually can apply for U.S. citizenship.

The number of entries has been on the rise.

This year’s total is more than 2.5 times greater than five years ago, when the lottery attracted 5.5 million entries. Immigration scholars attribute the increase to the spread of Internet connectivity and greater awareness of the lottery, which is free to enter.

A lawsuit has been filed against the State Department in federal court seeking to reinstate thousands of potential green-card winners whose chance of obtaining U.S. residency was scuttled because of a government computer error.

A record 15 million people from around the world submitted entries to the so-called diversity visa program lottery, which each year offers a quick path to a green card for 50,000 people selected by random draw.

In early May, the State Department notified 22,000 people they were chosen. But soon after, it informed them the electronic draw would have to be held again because a computer glitch caused 90% of the winners to be selected from the first two days of applications instead of the entire 30-day registration period. The government told affected individuals they would be re-entered in a new draw.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Washington, seeks class-action status and names plaintiffs from more than 20 countries. The suit asks that the U.S. government restore its “broken commitment,” stating that chosen individuals had “lawfully and properly” followed rules set forth by the State Department and thought they were among the “lucky few” selected to proceed with the green-card application.

David Donahue, a deputy assistant secretary of state who oversees the program, said the original draw was voided because it “did not represent a fair, random selection of entrants as required by U.S. law,” according to a State Department website.

The lawsuit contends the “outcome was indeed not uniform, but nevertheless still random as required by law.”

Under the program, visas are made available to applicants from countries with low rates of immigration to the U.S. Winners have a shot at settling in the U.S. without a family member or employer as a sponsor, the usual routes to obtaining permanent residency.

Disenchanted applicants from across the globe created a Facebook page dubbed “22,000 Tears” and began collecting signatures for letters to the State Department and U.S. lawmakers in protest. In an email to a reporter, an applicant from Egypt threatened to kill himself if he wasn’t reinstated.

The State Department’s inspector general said earlier this month a team would be assembled to review the situation. A spokesman said Monday the review should be finished within weeks.

Los Angeles attorney Kenneth White, who is representing the individuals in the suit pro-bono, said “the basis of this case is deep-rooted in the simple and enduring American value that ‘our word is our bond.”‘

Armande Gil, a French neuropsychologist who earned her Ph.D. in the U.S., said she had a job offer in a Florida hospital that was contingent on getting the green card. “I had an interview on May 2, after I learned I had won,” she said.

Launched in 1990 to promote diversity in the immigrant population, the green-card lottery is now open to people from almost anywhere in the world, except countries that already have a large number of nationals in the U.S., including Mexico, China, India and the Philippines. No special skills are required beyond a high-school diploma. Lottery winners eventually qualify for U.S. citizenship.

The number of entries has been on the rise. This year’s total is more than 2.5 times greater than five years ago, when the lottery attracted 5.5 million entries. Immigration scholars attribute the increase to the spread of Internet connectivity and greater awareness of the lottery, which is free to enter.

Critics say the program poses security risks, lures uneducated immigrants and enables individuals with no connection to the U.S. to get into the country more quickly than those sponsored by relatives and employers. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R., Va.) has introduced legislation to abolish it.