EU Blue Card Lottery
Diversity Visa program
Is there a Blue Card Lottery, similar to the United States Green Card Lottery?
No. There is currently no Blue Card Lottery.
In the US there is the Diversity Visa program, also known as the Green Card Lottery.
This program started in the early nineties when congress wanted to see more cultural diversity in US immigration.
Approximately 50,000 US Green Card are issued annually based on the diversity program.
There are however intersting developments in the EU...
What the future holds
In order to compete with countries such as the United States, the European Commission is considering expanding the EU Blue Card program by yearly offering a number of blue cards to highly educated/skilled individuals.
This expansion would be likely added when the blue card allows full work and residence rights for the whole of the EU. The key difference with the regular blue card program would be that no job contract, or binding offer, aforehand is required. This expansion will not be called a 'lottery', but e.g. Blue Card Diversity. Emphasizing the particular charateristic of the US diversity program that is aimed at a more divers cultural immigration mix. So technically a diversity plus merit based program.
People who are highly skilled/educated, non-EU nationals and over the age of 18 would be able to participate in the program. The EU commission would yearly determine from which countries the majority of the 'winners' should come from, just like the US diversity program.
Do note that: as of yet there does not exist an EU Blue Card Lottery.
