The 2017 Diversity Visa Lottery Registration window is now open. The Department of State has an annual diversity visa (“DV”) lottery for immigration to the United States. This program is commonly called the “Green Card Lottery”. Under this program, a maximum of 55,000 immigrants can enter the United States each year from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. For the 2017 lottery, 50,000 Diversity Visas will be available. Individuals who have successfully entered the lottery are randomly selected by the computer to submit applications for U.S. permanent residency.
An applicant for a Diversity Visa must have either a high school education (or its equivalent) or two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience.
To apply, an individual fills out an online form at https://www.dvlottery.state.gov/ through the official DV lottery website. Entries will be accepted between noon (Eastern Daylight Time) on Thursday October 1, 2015 and noon (Eastern Standard Time) on Tuesday, November 3, 2015. It is recommended that applicants apply as early as possible. The last week of registration period typically has heavy demand that may result in website delays. No late entries or paper entries will be accepted. An individual can only apply once, and individuals with more than one entry will be disqualified.
Entrance Status Check will be available to check selection of applicants starting May 3, 2016 through at least September 30, 2017. There is no cost to apply, but if you are selected there are fees associated with immigration to the United States. A list of this year’s designated countries and detailed instructions about applying and eligibility can be found here: http://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Diversity-Visa/DV-Instructions-Translations/DV-2017-Instructions-Translations/DV-2017%20Instructions%20and%20FAQs.pdf.
There has been a notable increase of scamming incidents targeting DV lottery applicants. As such, we discourage DV applicants hiring individuals to assist with their DV lottery application. In addition, scammers pose as the US government and send fraudulent emails and letters saying that they been selected in the DV lottery and extract money from the applicants. Note that applicants can only find out of their selection through the DV Entrance Status Check at http://www.dvlottery.state.gov. The Department of State Fraud Warning can be found here.