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USA Greencard Lottery

USA Greencard Lottery
USA Greencard Lottery

Greencard Lottery Information

2024 Lottery: The official name is DV-2026.

DV-2026 Program: Online Registration (official Gov. website registration is free, no charges)

DV-2026 Program: The online registration period for the DV-2026 Program begins on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, at 12:00 noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4) and concludes on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, at 12:00 noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-5).  Submission of more than one entry for a person during the registration period will disqualify all entries for that person. 

How to apply

We are explaining the application process on this page.

WHERE to apply and what are the costs?

The U.S. Greencard Lotterie is -like every year- free.

It is an official government immigration program and the U.S. Department of State supervises the program. The department has set up an official website where all applications have to be submitted. That web site and participation in the lottery is free of charge!

How will you know whether you are a winner in the lottery? You can check the status of your entry starting in MAY the following year. See the link at the bottom of the official application page.
Next step: If you are a winner in the lottery you are eligible to submit an immigration application which is a more detailed application and you have to provide original documents (like birth certificate, school education, etc.). That cost for that application will be around 330 Dollars.

Official Application Website of the U.S. Government: https://dvprogram.state.gov/

How to apply? The steps.

FIRST: Go to the above mentioned official U.S. Government website.

There you’ll find three sections:

  1. Entry Instructions
  2. Photo Validator
  3. Entry Form

Read the Instructions, some translations have been added for other languages: after reading the instructions you will have a pretty good idea about the requirements and eligibility rules.
SECOND STEP: You will need a digital photo for the application. We mentioned the ‘Photo Validator’ topic on the application website. There’s a link (Photo Validator) that leads you to a detailed instruction page with samples plus the validator where you upload your image and it is validated for meeting the photo requirements.
The THIRD STEP is to fill out the online application form which will probably not require more than 30 minutes of your time.

The forms has 15 fields:

You must provide all of the following information to complete your entry. Failure to accurately include all the required information will result in mandatory disqualification of your entry.

  1. Name
  2. Gender (only male or female checkboxes available)
  3. Birth date
  4. City where you were born.
  5. Country where you were born
  6. Country of eligibility for the DV program
  7. NEW FOR DV-2021: The passport number, country of issuance, and expiration date
  8. Entrant photograph(s)
  9. Mailing Address
  10. Country where you live today.
  11. Phone number (optional).
  12. Email address
  13. Highest level of education you have achieved, as of today
  14. Current marital status
  15. Number of children

Again, the INSTRUCTIONS will clarify all those fields in more detail.

What means DV-2023 ?

DV stands for Diversity Visa and the year identifies the American fiscal year which is the relevant one for this certain lottery.
Fiscal year 2023 starts October 1st, 2022 and ends September 30th, 2023.
And this is the time frame an applicant can use to plan his/her immigration – in case he/she was drawn.

Results / Winners

You can check the status of your Greencard Lottery application online on the same website where you submitted your application. Results will be posted for the most recent lottery in May of the following year: example: if you participated in the year 2021 (lottery takes place during October) you may check the results in May 2022.

Brief summary of how it works

The application submission period for the annual lottery is usually October until early November each year.
There is no fee for entering the lottery and the application must be submitted via the official government website. The ‘winning’ entries are randomly selected by a computer. These are the so-called ‘lottery winners’ who will be notified.
Anyone who is selected under this lottery will be given the opportunity to apply for permanent residence. If permanent residence is granted, then the individual will be authorized to live and work permanently in the United States. You will also be allowed to bring your spouse and any unmarried children under the age of 21 to the United States.

Did you know ?

Entering the lottery is free! You can apply online on the U.S. Government Website, see link further up in this article.
Be aware that there are many private and commercial websites which promise to do the application for you. These services are not free and even if you are paying for them your chances will NOT improve.
The U.S. State Department also warns about fraudulent Websites.

Background

The Diversity Lottery (Green Card Lottery) makes available a maximum of 55,000 immigrant visa numbers annually to persons selected at random from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.

The legal foundation for the Diversity Visa Lottery Program comes from the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), INA §203.
Through the Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NCARA), passed by Congress in November 1997, a portion of up to 5,000 of the 55,000 annually allocated diversity visas will be made available for use under the NCARA program. The reduction of the limit of available visas to 50,000 began with DV-2000 and remains in effect as long as it seems necessary.
That makes 50.000 visa numbers available. Each of these visas allows the winner to live and work in the US – one obtains the lawful permanent resident status.
The purpose of the program is to find qualified persons with a solid education and/or professional background who ‘enrich’ the country.

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