# Diversity Visa Lottery - 7.3-mill applicants in a one month period!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-visa-lottery-7-3-mill-applicants-in-a-one-month-period/184737
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [June 27, 2003, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-visa-lottery-7-3-mill-applicants-in-a-one-month-period/184737 "2003-06-27T12:22:27Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@LolaCocaCola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaCocaCola)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2003, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-visa-lottery-7-3-mill-applicants-in-a-one-month-period/184737/1 "2003-06-27T12:22:27Z")
If you don’t know what that is, here’s a brief explanation:
> [@](#):
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> The diversity lottery was conducted under the terms of section 203© of the Immigration and Nationality Act and makes available \*50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.
This year they had approx. 7.3 million applicants from eligible countries apply in a **one month period**. They end up selecting a small percentage of people from each country, based on how many people from that country have already emigrated to the US.
That’s not even counting the people who emigrate here using other methods, such as work related visas, marriage, etc
That is mind blowing!
Can you imagine how many people would emigrate to the States if all countries were eligible and there were no restrictions?
I just thought I’d share this info cuz it seems the US gets a pretty bad rap sometimes, but it seems as though there’s no shortage of folks wanting to move here!
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### Author:  [@LolaCocaCola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaCocaCola)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2003, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-visa-lottery-7-3-mill-applicants-in-a-one-month-period/184737/2 "2003-06-27T12:24:07Z")
Oh, yeah - here’s a link:
[http://travel.state.gov/dv2004results.html](http://travel.state.gov/dv2004results.html)
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### Author:  [@Plankspanker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plankspanker)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2003, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-visa-lottery-7-3-mill-applicants-in-a-one-month-period/184737/3 "2003-06-27T12:29:53Z")
dont forget the UK either. parts of our coutry have a huge amount of economic migrants, and the violence isnt far behind…
Kings Lynn (a small city in the east) has a huge number of illegal chinese immigrants at the moment…
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### Author:  [@bayonet1976](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bayonet1976)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2003, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-visa-lottery-7-3-mill-applicants-in-a-one-month-period/184737/4 "2003-06-27T12:34:10Z")
That’s not so bad. The US has promised, but has yet to deliver, 20,000 yearly visas to Cubans. Every single year over 500,000 apply. This is in a country with a population of 11,000,000.
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### Author:  [@LolaCocaCola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaCocaCola)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2003, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-visa-lottery-7-3-mill-applicants-in-a-one-month-period/184737/5 "2003-06-27T12:37:11Z")
The estimate the number of illegal aliens in the US at 13 million and may be as many as 20 million!
Wow.
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### Author:  [@LolaCocaCola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaCocaCola)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2003, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-visa-lottery-7-3-mill-applicants-in-a-one-month-period/184737/6 "2003-06-27T12:44:35Z")
In addition to the approx. 7.3 million applicants who applied there were:
> [@](#):
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> An additional 2.9 million applications were either received outside of the mail-in period or were disqualified for failing to properly follow directions.
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### Author:  [@vivian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivian)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2003, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-visa-lottery-7-3-mill-applicants-in-a-one-month-period/184737/7 "2003-06-27T15:23:45Z")
hey, well when the U.S makes it self out to be the land of Coca Cola dreams and opportunity, of course people are going to want to come.
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### Author:  [@bayonet1976](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bayonet1976)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2003, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diversity-visa-lottery-7-3-mill-applicants-in-a-one-month-period/184737/8 "2003-06-27T17:19:44Z")
> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by vivian \*
> \*\*hey, well when the U.S makes it self out to be the land of Coca Cola dreams and opportunity, of course people are going to want to come. \*\*
Oh the US does more than “make itself out to be…”, take from someone who came to the US with little more than the clothes in his back, it IS the land of dreams and opportunity. Both in absolute and relative terms.