Green cards are the permanent US work and residence visas.
There are different classifications. Skilled workers, academics etc. can apply for them and if they are having needed skills they can come to the US easily. Additionaly to this there is a lottery each year, where 50000 applications, from millions coming from around the world, are drawn and if fulfilling several requirements they can apply for a permanent residence and work visa in the US. The idea behind this lottery is “diversity”, which means that each country has a special quota of applicants to be drawn. The State Department wants to balance the immigration coming from mainly Mexico, East Asia and India these days. Britons however are excluded from the lottery, because there are already many British origin Americans. French, Germans, Polish etc. however are permitted.
Okay, I know a lady from South Africa over here and she’s having immigration problems. She’s about to give up and head back to SA. She mentioned the green card lottery to me on Friday and before I could ask her about it, the conversation went somewhere else. Do you know if the South Africans are excluded or is just the British?