USA Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery Program- Green Card Importnat Information

Important Notice about DV-2012: The online registration for DV-2012 DV Lottery begins noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT -4), Tuesday, October 5, 2010, and ends noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT -4), Wednesday, November 3, 2010. See the Diversity Visa Lottery Instructions webpage for more information


The Congressionally mandated Diversity Immigrant Visa Program makes available 50,000 diversity visas (DV) annually, drawn from random selection among all entries to persons who meet strict eligibility requirements from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.
Fraud Warning

Please Note: There have been instances of fraudulent websites posing as official U.S. Government sites. Some companies posing as the U.S. Government have sought money in order to "complete" lottery entry forms. There is no charge to download and complete the Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form. The Department of State notifies successful Diversity Visa applicants by letter, and NOT by e-mail. To learn more see the Department of State Warning and the Federal Trade Commission Warning.
DV Lottery 2011 Status Check

DV Lottery 2011 Status Check is available for entrants (who previously completed online DV entry through the official website at http://www.dvlottery.state.gov) to check the status of their entry through the E-DV website at http://www.dvlottery.state.gov. Entrants need to use their own confirmation page information from the time of their entry (October 2, 2009, to November 30, 2009), to check the status to find out if their Diversity Visa Lottery entry was or was not selected. To review applicable instructions for DV 2011 entrants, see 2011 Diversity Visa Lottery Instructions.
Lottery Winner Notification

Diversity Visa lottery applicants for DV 2010 and DV 2011 who were selected were notified by mail between May and July of the next year, following DV Online entry. For DV 2012, entrant notification will be through the Entry Status Check at http://www.dvlottery.state.gov. See the DV 2012 instruction for more information about Entry Status Check. Lottery entrants selected are provided further instructions, including information on fees connected with immigration to the U.S. Those selected in the random drawing are NOT notified by email. The Diversity Visa Lottery Instructions "Selection of Applicants" section provides information about the DV timeframe and process.


Qualifying Occupations

The law and regulations require that every diversity visa entrant must have at least a high school education or its equivalent or have, within the past five years, two years of work experience in an occupation requiring at least two years' training or experience. To learn more about qualifying occupations, see the Diversity Visa Instructions Frequently Asked Questions and the List of Occupations webpage.