US 'green card lottery' snub for Hongkongers

Hongkongers have been excluded from the "green card lottery" after the United States canceled the SAR's special status.

The Diversity Immigrant Visa program, also known as the "green card lottery," provides permanent residence to a class of immigrants known as "diversity immigrants" from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the US within the last five years.

Applications for this cycle started Wednesday, with a provision of 55,000 green cards through random selection.

In a notice from the US State Department, Chinese citizens - including Hongkongers - can no longer apply, while Macau and Taiwan residents remain eligible.

This is the first time that Hongkongers have been excluded from the lottery since its introduction in 1995; the city had previously been treated as a special entity separate from the mainland.

The lottery is one of the most popular immigration methods for Hongkongers. Registration is free, and comes with a relatively low entry requirement, requiring no employer or family sponsorship.

Over 30,000 Hongkongers and their family members applied during last year's cycle.

Apart from the green card lottery, Hongkongers can emigrate to the US through employment-based visas if they are professionals or skilled workers, or immigrant investor visas by investing a minimum of US$900,000 in high-unemployment or rural areas.

Benny Cheung Ka-hei, director of Goldmax Immigration Consulting, said the change will have a moderate impact on Hongkongers, save for those who wish to move to the US but cannot afford immigration through investment.

"It does reduce Hongkongers' chances of emigrating to the US, however, [as] there are not many places offered each year," he said.

The change came after the revocation of Hong Kong's special status by US President Donald Trump in July, following the implementation of the national security law.

Meanwhile, immigration consultants remain unsure about how the change will affect Hongkongers - such as whether they will have to get in the same queue as mainlanders when applying for immigrant visas, in which case the process may take much longer.

"For example, investment immigration to the US usually takes one to two years to process for Hongkongers, but it takes six to eight years for mainland applicants," Cheung said.

"Not much information has been provided by US authorities."

carine.chow@singtaonewscorp.com