Powerball: Can undocumented immigrants and tourists collect the prize?
Powerball offers a jackpot of $1.2 billion dollars for its next drawing. What happens if a tourist or undocumented person wins the prize? Can they collect it?
Powerball is offering its second largest jackpot in history!
For the drawing on Wednesday, November 2, the jackpot was $1.2 billion dollars, with the possibility of cashing out $596.7 million through a single cash payment.
Faced with the possibility of winning such a juicy figure, doubts have begun to arise about who can collect the prize: Can undocumented immigrants or tourists? What are the conditions to claim the winnings? Let us explain.
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Powerball: Can undocumented immigrants and tourists collect the jackpot?
The answer is yes. Undocumented immigrants and tourists can collect the Powerball jackpot if they match all six numbers and win the jackpot, or any other of the prizes that can be won.
According to the official lottery website, it is not necessary to be a resident of the country to be able to play the draw. “You do not have to be a U.S. citizen or U.S. resident to play Powerball. Players from jurisdictions where Powerball tickets are not sold, either in the United States or outside the country, when visiting a selling jurisdiction, can purchase Powerball tickets from a retailer licensed or authorized by the selling jurisdiction, if they meet the legal age requirement in the jurisdiction of purchase. Federal and jurisdictional income taxes may apply to any claimed prize money,” the page states.
The only thing you need - in case of being a winner - is to have an official identification document issued by your country of origin. However, the winning ticket does need to have been purchased in one of the 45 states in which the draw is valid, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Despite this, it is necessary to take into account that there are some states that require winners to present a tax identification number, which means that you must have an address in the country, but that depends on the state in which the ticket was purchased.
Who can not collect the prize?
The only people who are completely prohibited from collecting the jackpot are those who have any kind of relationship with the company, including close family members of employees, as well as any individual who is registered in the database of voluntary self-exclusion data at the time of purchasing the ticket, as well as “any other person prohibited by state law or applicable administrative rule.”