Just because you are an undocumented immigrant in the United States does not mean that you are canceled to take advantage if luck is with you and luck is on your side.

If you are undocumented you can also collect lottery prizes, you just need to know what conditions apply in some cases and which one is played in the state in which you live.

Undocumented immigrants and non-residents are entitled to collect the prizes, California Lottery spokesman Jorge de la Cruz told Univision, according to AS USA.

Similar information is shared by the Powerball site: “You don’t have to be a citizen or resident of the United States to play.”

However, it suggests taking into account “some factors to make this right valid, as some rules vary from state to state”.

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In order to collect a prize it is essential that the lottery ticket was purchased in the United States. Getty Images Photo: BBC World

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How to claim a lottery prize in the United States

1. In order to collect a prize it is essential that the lottery ticket was purchased in the United States.

2. If the person going to pick it up is an undocumented immigrant, they must have an identification document issued by the country of origin, such as a passport.

There are also some states that require the winner to provide a tax identification number, notes AS USA.

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t have legal residence documents, but you must have a personal identification document proving you are the winner of the prize and the owner of the winning ticket,” Univisión reported in October 2022.

“The identification will serve you in two processes:

3. Prize taxes are higher for non-citizens, who must pay between 30% and 40% in addition to state taxes.

4. Instead: “U.S. citizens pay between 25 and 30%.

In the aforementioned work on Powerball, Univisión stated in October 2022 that depending on the state it is in, it will have to pay more or less additional state taxes.

On Telemundo 47 they presented at the end of 2022: “An undocumented immigrant can collect a Mega Millions prize”

Any amount won under $600 can be claimed on the site where the ticket was purchased.

They also clarified that anyone “can claim a prize from a US-based lottery, as long as they bought the ticket in the country”.

“Non-citizen lottery winners must follow not only federal law, but also the law of the state in which they purchased the winning lottery ticket and pay 30% federal tax and any state tax, which varies from state to state,” they demarcated .

They explained that “any amount won under $600 can be claimed on the site where the ticket was purchased.”

If it exceeds that figure, it must be claimed from the lottery commission headquarters of the state in question.

And what do they say about age?

Not all states require the minimum age to play at 18.

In Nebraska, as reported in that report from last December, lottery players are not allowed to be younger than 19 years old to purchase lottery tickets.

While Iowa and Arizona “require players to be no younger than 21 years of age to purchase tickets.”