Welcome to the US DV Lottery Portal! We’re accepting DV-2015 applications now.
2014 Entrant Status Check
DV-2014 entrants may enter their confirmation information through the link below starting at noon (EDT) on May 1, 2013. The DV-2014 registration period was from October 2, 2012, until November 3, 2012. DV-2014 entrants should keep their confirmation number until at least June 30, 2014. Additional entries may be selected in October 2013.
2013 Entrant Status Check
DV-2013 entrants (those who entered the DV lottery between October 3, 2011 and November 5, 2011) have until September 30, 2013 to check the status of their entry through this website. The DV-2013 registration period was from October 3, 2011, until November 5, 2011.
Please click the link below to check DV-2013 and DV-2014 Entrant Status: http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/ESC/
What is the Green Card Diversity Visa Program?
The Diversity Immigrant Visa program is a United States congressionally-mandated lottery program for receiving a United States Permanent Resident Card. It is also known as the Green Card Lottery. The lottery is administered on an annual basis by the Department of State and conducted under the terms of Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Section 131 of the Immigration Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-649) amended INA 203 to provide for a new class of immigrants known as “diversity immigrants” (DV immigrants). The Act makes available 50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.
The visas are distributed on a regional basis, with each region sending fewer immigrants to the US in the previous 5 years receiving more diversity visas. Currently, Africa and Europe receive about 80% of the visas in the lottery. In addition, no single country can receive more than 7% of the total number of visas (3,500).
In order to allow for those who do not pursue immigrant visas, more ‘winners’ are selected in the lottery than there are visas available. Hence being selected from the lottery does not guarantee an immigrant visa to the U.S. To receive a diversity visa and immigrate to the United States, ‘winners’ must meet all eligibility requirements under U.S. law. Requirements include at least a high school diploma, or its equivalent, or two years of work experience in an occupation requiring at least two years training.
The congressionally mandated Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is administered on an annual basis by the Department of State and conducted based on United States law, specifically Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). This law provides for a class of immigrants known as “diversity immigrants,” with visas made available to persons from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. For Fiscal Year 2014, 50,000 diversity visas (DV) will be available.
The annual DV program makes visas available to persons meeting simple, but strict, eligibility requirements. A computer-generated, random drawing chooses selectees for DVs. The visas are distributed among six geographic regions, and within each region, no single country may receive more than seven percent of the available DVs in any one year. Visas are allocated to natives of countries with historically lower rates of U.S. immigration. Natives of countries who have sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States over the past five years are not eligible to apply for the Diversity Visa program.
Specific DV-2015 conditions
When we will have DV-2015 specific details, we will post them here. Meanwhile we’ll leave the DV-2014 details here, so you can have a look.
For DV-2014, natives of the following countries1 are not eligible to apply because the countries sent a total of more than 50,000 immigrants 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, 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.
Changes in eligibility this year: FOR DV-2014, NATIVES OF GUATEMALA ARE NOW ELIGIBLE FOR SELECTION.
The Department of State implemented the electronic registration system beginning with DV-2005 in order to make the DV process more efficient and secure. The Department utilizes special technology and other means to identify those who commit fraud for the purposes of illegal immigration or those who submit multiple entries.
Source: USCIS, US State Department
Disclaimer
This site is not affiliated with the U.S. government or the site dvlottery.state.gov, which is available only at certain times of the year (usually between Oct 1/3 – Nov 1/3 every year). As a private for-fee service, we provide information about the official DV-Lottery Program run by the U.S. government and help candidates submit their applications error-less. We wish you good luck!
