Characteristics of Diversity Legal 

Permanent Residents: 2004 

Kelly Jefferys December 2005 

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants become legal 

permanent residents (LPRs) of the United States every 

year. Approximately 50,000 of these are diversity LPRs 

who were granted LPR status through a diversity lottery. This Office of Immigration Statistics Fact Sheet

provides definitions for terms related to LPRs and 

descriptive characteristics of persons who became 

diversity LPRs in the United States during 2004. 

The data presented in this fact sheet were derived from 

approved applications for LPR status that are maintained in the Computer Linked Application Information

Management System (CLAIMS) of the U.S. Citizenship 

and Immigration Services (USCIS) of the Department 

of Homeland Security. 

DEFINING “LEGAL PERMANENT RESIDENT” 

A legal permanent resident (LPR) is a foreign national 

who has been granted lawful permanent residence in 

the United States. LPRs, more commonly known as 

“green card” recipients, are authorized to live and work 

permanently in the United States. 

The immigration laws of the U.S. government give high 

priority for LPR status to immediate relatives of U.S. 

citizens. Preference categories with annual limits are 

used to designate other priority groups for LPR status. 

These include: 1) family-sponsored preferences – 

sponsored by certain family members, annual limit of 

226,000 to 480,000; 2) employment-based preferences 

– sponsored by employers, annual limit of 140,000 plus 

unused family-sponsored preferences in the previous 

year; and 3) diversity – nationals of countries with low

rates of immigration to the United States, annual limit 

of 50,000 in 2004. Other major categories of foreign 

nationals who may be eligible for LPR status include 

refugees and asylees.

DIVERSITY LPRs 

The term “diversity LPRs” refers to LPR principals 

and their dependents whose legal permanent resident 

status is based on selection from a diversity lottery. 

Nearly all diversity LPRs are new arrivals and the 

remainder have adjusted their status after living in the 

United States (see Figure 1). The Diversity Immigrant 

Visa Program was established under the Immigration 

Act of 1990, enacted in 1994, and made 55,000 

immigrant visas available each year to nationals from 

countries with fewer than 50,000 LPR admissions during the preceding five years (this limit includes familypreference and employment-based LPRs and immediate relatives of U.S. citizens). Since 1999, 5,000 of 

those visas have been allocated for use if needed 

under NACARA (Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central 

American Relief Act), making the current diversity limit 

50,000 plus unused NACARA visas. In addition, countries are divided into six geographic regions, where 

regions with lower rates of migration to the United

States receive more visas. 

Eligibility Requirements

In order to be eligible for participation in the Diversity

Lottery Program, either the applicant or his/her spouse 

must be a native of a country that is eligible to participate. It is also possible to qualify if a parent was born 

in a qualifying country. In addition, the applicant must 

have a high school diploma or equivalent (defined as 

successful completion of a 12-year course of elementary and secondary education), or have two years 

of work experience in the preceding five years in an 

occupation that requires at least two years of training 

or experience. 

Children, new

arrivals

24%

Adjustments

4%

Principals, 

new arrivals

Spouses, 49%

new arrivals

23%

Figure 1. 

Percent Distribution of Diversity LPRs by

Class of Admission: 2004 

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Computer

Linked Application Information Management System (CLAIMS), 

Legal Immigrant Data, Fiscal Year 2004 

Office of

Immigration Statistics

Policy Directorate
 

2 DHS Office of Immigration Statistics

5.4

45.2

14.0

38.7

39.7

10.8

40.6

4.3 4.1

Diversity 2.2

Family and employment

Mexico, Central/South America and the Caribbean Asia Europe Africa Other

Figure 2. 

Percent Distribution of Family and Employment LPRs Compared to Diversity LPRs by Region of Origin: 

Fiscal Year 2004 

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Computer Linked Application Information Management System (CLAIMS), Legal Immigrant Data, FY2004

APPLICATION PROCESS Table 1.

Demographic Characteristics of All LPRs and Diversity LPRs: Fiscal Year 2004

All LPRs Diversity LPRs 

Age Number Percent Number Percent

 Total............................................... 946,142 100.0 50,084 100.0 

0 to 14 years....................................... 137,741 14.6 9,505 19.0 

15 to 24 years..................................... 164,347 17.4 9,921 19.8 

25 to 34 years..................................... 268,327 28.4 17,228 34.4 

35 to 44 years..................................... 183,655 19.4 8,628 17.2 

45 to 54 years..................................... 94,884 10.0 3,687 7.4 

55 to 64 years..................................... 53,866 5.7 952 1.9 

65 years and over............................... 43,282 4.6 163 0.3 

Unknown............................................. 40 -- -- --

Sex 

Male.................................................... 430,662 45.5 27,396 54.7

Female................................................ 515,314 54.5 22,686 45.3

Unknown............................................. 166 -- 2 --

Marital status 

Single.................................................. 346,185 36.6 24,145 48.2

Married ............................................... 561,886 59.4 25,031 50.0

Other................................................... 35,770 3.8 858 1.7

Unknown............................................. 2,301 0.2 50 0.1

Country of birth 

Ethiopia............................................... 8,237 0.9 4,517 9.0

Ukraine ............................................... 13,655 1.4 2,975 5.9

Nigeria ................................................ 9,374 1.0 2,959 5.9

Poland ................................................ 14,250 1.5 2,850 5.7

Kenya ................................................. 5,323 0.6 2,730 5.5

Bulgaria .............................................. 4,194 0.4 2,342 4.7

Morocco.............................................. 4,128 0.4 2,251 4.5

Albania................................................ 3,834 0.4 2,075 4.1

Nepal .................................................. 2,842 0.3 1,875 3.7

Bangladesh......................................... 8,061 0.9 1,756 3.5

Other................................................... 872,244 92.2 23,754 47.4

-- Figure is zero or rounds to 0.0. Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Computer Linked Application 

Information Management System (CLAIMS), Legal Immigrant Data, Fiscal Year 2004. 

In order to obtain LPR status as diversity

immigrants, applicants must submit an 

Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form via 

the Department of State website. Entries 

must include names, dates and places of 

birth, and digital photographs of the applicant, spouse, and unmarried children 

under the age of 21(including natural, 

adopted, and step-children). This is the 

case even if the spouse or child does not 

currently reside with the applicant and/or 

will not immigrate with them. 

Millions of foreign nationals apply for the 

diversity visa program each year. Approximately 85,000 of these applicants 

are chosen by a computer-generated

random lottery drawing. The diversity

lottery ends when the total number of 

diversity visas has been issued or the 

fiscal year ends. No single independent 

country may receive more than 7 percent 

of the total diversity visas. Winners are 

permitted to bring their spouse and unmarried children under age 21 with them. 

DEMOGRAPHIC DESCRIPTIVES 

Table 1 compares the demographic characteristics of all persons who became 

LPRs during 2004 to those of diversity

LPRs. Diversity LPRs are slightly younger 

than all LPRs. In addition, a larger proportion of diversity LPRs are male and single 

than all LPRs. Because the diversity lottery program offers visas to nationals of 

countries with low rates of immigration to 

the United States, the countries of birth of 

diversity immigrants are vastly different 

from those of the majority of LPRs. The 

top ten countries of origin for diversity 

immigrants listed in Table 1 accounted for 

53 percent of all diversity LPRs, compared to only 8 percent of all LPRs. 

Figure 2 compares the regions of origin 

of diversity LPRs to those of familysponsored and employment-based LPRs 

for 2004. The majority of diversity LPRs 

were from Europe and Africa, while most 

family-sponsored and employment-based 

LPRs originated in Asia and Central/ 

South America (including Mexico). 

FOR MORE INFORMATION 

Visit the Office of Immigration 

Statistics web site at: www.dhs.gov/ 

immigrationstatistics.