A new lottery is designed to help immigrants trying to become U.S. citizens.

The citizenship application costs $680 and is supposed to become even pricier this fall. But the application will now be free for about 2,000 winners of a new lottery put in place by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Immigration lawyer Lymari Casta says the yearlong initiative, "Naturalize NY," is designed to help green card holders who do not qualify for a waiver of the application fee, but are still considered "working poor."

The state also plans on teaming up with organizations to offer free legal services, English classes and civics lessons to help green card holders pass the citizenship exam.

Some vouchers will be distributed across the state in the coming months. The rest will be doled out next year.