--- title: The U.S. Visa Lottery Drew 11 Million Applications description: The number of applications for the annual U.S. visa lottery rose 11 percent this year, even as the program is likely to end soon. canonical: https://time.com/3561682/green-card-lottery-visa/ author: Noah Rayman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-06T16:42:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T11:16:41.573Z article:section: Politics og:title: The U.S. Visa Lottery Drew 11 Million Applications og:description: The number of applications for the annual U.S. visa lottery rose 11 percent this year, even as the program is likely to end soon. og:url: https://time.com/3561682/green-card-lottery-visa/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The U.S. Visa Lottery Drew 11 Million Applications twitter:description: The number of applications for the annual U.S. visa lottery rose 11 percent this year, even as the program is likely to end soon. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Over 11 Million Played the U.S. Green Card Lottery This Year > Sponsored content. 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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Noah Rayman](https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Nov 6, 2014 4:42 PM UTC  by [Noah Rayman](https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Nov 6, 2014 4:42 PM UTC More than [11 million people applied ](http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/immigrate/diversity-visa/dv-2015-selected-entrants.html)for the annual U.S. visa lottery this year, up 11 percent from a year earlier even as the program appears to be on the verge of ending. Less than than .5 percent of applicants will receive the opportunity to become permanent residents through the popular program, which has provided green cards to lottery winners since 1990. But the lottery, which accounts for roughly 5 percent of legal immigration according to the [_Wall Street Journal_](http://online.wsj.com/articles/u-s-visa-program-attracts-11-million-applicants-1415250362), may be eliminated if the Senate passes an overhaul of immigration policy this year, with critics arguing that the lottery can be a security risk, provides residency to low-skilled immigrants, and is unfair to foreigners with family connections to the U.S. Its backers say the system is particularly beneficial for communities with fewer connections to the United States. “We must continue our tradition of welcoming people from around the world to the United States,” Rep. Yvette D. Clarke, a Democrat from Brooklyn, told the _Journal_. “I will work to expand the program, which has been critical for many people from Africa, the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe who would not otherwise have the opportunity to come here.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3561682/green-card-lottery-visa/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3561682/green-card-lottery-visa/"},"headline":"Over 11 Million Played the U.S. Green Card Lottery This Year","datePublished":"2014-11-06T16:42:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:16:41.573Z","description":"Program may be nixed if Senate overhauls federal immigration policy","url":"https://time.com/3561682/green-card-lottery-visa/","keywords":["Immigration","Congress","State Department"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Noah Rayman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/immigration/","name":"Immigration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3561682/green-card-lottery-visa/","name":"Over 11 Million Played the U.S. Green Card Lottery This Year"}}]}] ```