Most US nationals favour allowing immigrants through work

Although most US nationals are against the usage of a lottery system for granting permanent residence to immigrants, a majority of them support immigrants obtaining green cards through sponsorship by American employers, according to an opinion poll of Reuters/Ipsos.

Released on 9 November, only 25 percent of the respondents are in favour of immigrants obtaining US permanent resident status or green cards through a lottery system. On the other hand, 60 percent object to it.

The aim of the ‘diversity visa’ programme, or the green card lottery, is to diversify the immigrant population of America by granting 50,000 immigrant visas per year to nationals of countries from where many people do not arrive in the United States.

People who receive the visas are chosen arbitrarily by a lottery, and they have to go undergo standard security checks before permission is granted them to arrive in the US.

Moreover, 70 percent of all adult Americans favour foreign spouses of American citizens to be given green cards, and 61 percent are for granting permanent resident status to immigrants through their contribution to businesses of the US.

Chrystal Wilkins, however, feels that America should allow people to enter the country via a lottery visa. On the other hand, Angel Hall, who claims to be a moderate Republican, is quoted by Reuters as saying that she supported ending the green card lottery, but was in favour of other forms of granting legal immigration. She said that immigrants were coming to the US to work and to contribute to its economy.

According to Hall, randomly selecting people was odd and added that the US should opt for a more orderly immigration system than the random lottery.

The poll, which was conducted online by Reuters/Ipsos, throughout the United States surveyed 1,278 adults. Its measure of accuracy is said to be around three percentage points.

If you are looking to migrate to the United States, get in touch with Y-Axis, a prominent firm for immigration services, to apply for a visa.