Diversity Green Card Visa (DV) Lottery

The DV Lottery program offers a lottery for up to 50,000 immigrant visas annually, “drawn from random selection among all entries to individuals who are from countries with low rates of immigration” to the U.S., according to U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services.

That random selection, according to the State Department, is through a computer-generated drawing for foreign nationals to apply for permanent residence, or a green card, in the U.S. each year.

President Trump has called for its elimination, and the termination of chain migration, which happens when immigrants can enter the country, simply to be united with a relative already living in the U.S.

Diversity Immigrant (DV-2016) Visa Program Announced

The Congressionally mandated Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is administered annually by the Department of State. Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides for a class of “diversity immigrants,” from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. For fiscal year 2016, 50,000 diversity visas (DVs) will be available.

Applicants who are selected in the lottery (“selectees”) must meet simple, but strict, eligibility requirements in order to qualify for a diversity visa. Selectees are chosen through a randomized computer drawing. Diversity visas are distributed among six geographic regions and no single country may receive more than seven percent of the available DVs in any one year.

For DV-2016, natives of the following countries are not eligible to apply, because more than 50,000 natives of these countries immigrated to the United States in the previous five years:

Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.

Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and Taiwan are eligible.

There are no changes in eligibility this year. 

Entry period:

Diversity Visa Lottery Registration Ends November 2

Each year, 50,000 lucky persons obtain lawful permanent residence in the U.S. through the Diversity Visa (DV) lottery.

To apply, you must have either:

2015 DV Lottery Opens on October 1, 2013

While Congress has been discussing changes to immigration policy through new immigration bills, President Obama has not yet signed any immigration bill into law.

Just last year, at least 8 million foreigners submitted a green card application through the green card lottery. Only 55,000 green card applications were able to obtain a green card for themselves, their spouses, and their children.

Green Card Lottery likely going to be cancelled

Green Card Lottery could be cancelled if the Congress passes the current immigration reform plan. 

The lottery program also known as the diversity visa starts in 1995 from the Immigration Act of 1990. It is relatively small, granting about 50,000 visas compared to other new green cards issued each year. The lottery plans to diversify the immigrant population in the United States. The lucky winners need to pass a background check, but need only a high school degree or equivalency to qualify.  Under the proposed immigration reform program, the diversity visa might be eliminated. 

2013 DV Lottery Results Now Available

As of May 1, 2012, you can now check if you were lucky enough to be selected in the DV lottery.  https://www.dvlottery.state.gov/ You can only check on the website using your entry number, birth year, and last name. If you lost your entry number, there is no way to check if you are a winner. Also, beware of spam email saying you are a DV lottery winner – the only way to know is to check on the official website.

Congratulations if you were lucky. The chance of being selected is generally less than 1%. If you weren’t selected, you may still have a chance. Keep your entry number and you can check the results again in October 2012 when they will select some additional winners for the 2013 DV lottery. You can also try entering again for the 2014 DV lottery which should open for entry in October 2012.

Green Card Lottery = Immigrant Intent ?

When you apply for a nonimmigrant visa, there is a question, “Has anyone ever filed an immigrant visa petition on your behalf.” The Department of State has determined that the correct answer to this question is Yes.

However, the entry into the DV lottery by itself should generally not be sufficient to deny you a nonimmigrant visa and is not an automatic bar to obtaining subsequent nonimmigrant visas.

2013 Diversity Visa (green card) lottery is now open

The 2013 Diversity Visa (green card) lottery is now open for entry. Please enter before the deadline of Saturday, November 5, 2011, at noon EST. The entry must be made online at https://www.dvlottery.state.gov/. After you submit the entry, print out the confirmation number and save it. 

I recommend saving a few copies in different places since there is no way to retrieve it if you lose it. 

DV-2012 Entrant Status Check available NOW

DV-2012 Entrant Status Check

Green Card Lottery - Diversity Visa – Results are available now, please go to U.S. Department of State Electronic Diversity Visa Entrant Status Check Web Site for DV-2012: http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/ESC/

You need your entry confirmation number in order to check your result.

If you are one of the few lucky entrants that are selected, our law firm offers green card application services for DV lottery winners.

My Law, LLC
Immigration & Tax Law Firm

www.mylawllc.com

Phone: (630) 903-9625

1230 E. Diehl Rd. Suite 106

Naperville, IL 60563

E-mail: attorney@mylawllc.com

Diversity Lottery - Dreams Vanish

Every year about 15,000,000 people apply for the Diversity Visa (green card) lottery. The Diversity Visa Program was authorized by Congress in 1990 as a way to increase immigration from under-represented countries. According to this criteria, the lottery has been successful. In 2009, 49% of lottery immigrant were from Africa while only 11% of the total 1.1 million legal immigrant to the US that year were from Africa.

The green card lottery typically opens for entry for one month in October and results are available on May 1^st. There is no fee to enter but winners pay $819 in government application fees. A total of 100,000 winners are selected for further processing. Many people are weeded out for failing to meet deadlines and other requirements. Eventually, about 50,000 people are able to get a green card through the lottery each year.

U.S. Voids 2012 Diversity Visa Lottery Results

Due to computer error, the results of the 2012 DV lottery have now been invalidated. The lottery results were available from May 1 to May 5 before entrants starting receive an error message when checking the results.

The webpage at http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/ was then updated with the current message which says the new results should be available July 15, 2011.

2012 Diversity Visa Lottery New Selection Results Will be Available on July 15, 2011

The US government admitted there was a problem in the selection process. 

They need to conduct a new selection process. They will use the original entries from Oct 5, 2010 to November 3, 2010, so you do not need to reenter the lottery.

2012 Diversity Visa Lottery Results

Diversity Visa Lottery results are now available at  http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/ESC/.

You need your entry confirmation number in order to check your result.

Results are no longer mailed so your must have your entry confirmation number.

DV-2012 Entrant Status Check

Green Card Lottery - Diversity Visa – Results are available now, please go to U.S. Department of State Electronic Diversity Visa Entrant Status Check Web Site for DV-2012: http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/ESC/