The diversity lottery is a U.S. immigration program that seeks to increase the number of immigrants from countries that have proportionately low levels of immigration to the United States. Since the year 2000, around 50,000 diversity lottery visas have been made available each year. Between ten and 20 million people apply for the available diversity visas annually, so the chances of being selected are relatively low. Still, there is no fee to register for the DV lottery, thus no harm in giving it a try if you do, in fact, meet the basic qualification requirements.
To qualify for the diversity visa, you need only to be from one of the eligible countries and have a high school degree (or equivalent) or two years’ work experience in the past five years in a job that requires at least two years of training or experience to perform.
The countries whose nationals are eligible for the diversity lottery are determined by the level of the past five years’ admission rate levels. Most of the low-admission countries are usually in Europe and Africa.
For ease of listing, the U.S. Department of State, when it publicizes its annual invitation to register, will list those countries whose nationals are not eligible. The countries whose nationals were not eligible for the most recent DV lottery (with registration in 2019, for U.S. entry in 2021) were: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.
If you were born in one of the countries not eligible for the lottery, you can still register if your spouse is a national of an eligible country. You may also claim your parents’ birth country if neither was born in the country you were born in, or was a legal resident of at the time of your birth. Your parents were likely not legal residents of your birth country if, for example, they were only there temporarily as tourists, to study, or for professional reasons.
You also must not be subject to any of the grounds of inadmissibility to apply for the DV lottery.
Each year, applicants can submit entries for the DV lottery between dates set in early October and early November, through the website dvlottery.state.gov. In 2019, registration for the DV lottery opened on October 2 and closed on November 5. It is a good idea to submit your entry well before the deadline, because the website receives a lot of traffic and might not load in the days and hours leading up to the deadline.
Do not submit more than one registration application in any year or you will be disqualified. Make sure to fill your application out completely and do not make any of the common mistakes when applying for the DV lottery. These most common mistakes include not listing your spouse and children on your application and submitting an invalid photograph. There is no fee for entering the DV lottery.
Once you complete your registration, you will be given a confirmation number. Do not lose this number; it is your only way to check the status of your entry. There is, however, a way to retrieve this number through your email address by answering personal questions if you happen to lose it.
You can find out if you were selected for the DV lottery starting in the spring of the year after you applied. For instance, DV lottery entrants who registered in 2019 can find out if they were selected between May 5, 2020 and September 30, 2021.
To do so, you'll need to enter your confirmation number into the dvlottery.state.gov site. This is the only way you will know if you won the DV lottery. The State Department will not send you physical mail or email notification. Beware of any such notification you might receive, as it is likely a scam.
You will not be notified in any way if you are not selected, either. If you are not selected, you can apply again the next year as long as you still qualify.
“Winning” the lottery is only the beginning. You still have several application steps to get through, and they must be finished before the visas run out for that year (which they always do, because more people are granted a winning spot than there are visas available).
If you are outside of the United States when accepted for the DV lottery, you must complete Form DS-260 and submit supporting documents to the U.S. Department of State. You will be scheduled for an interview at a U.S. consulate and, if your visa is approved, will be able to enter the United States and become a legal permanent resident. You will be mailed your green card after you enter the United States.
If you are currently in the U.S. legally (for example on a temporary visa), you may apply for your green card in the United States (“adjust status”). Or, depending on factors such as timing and where applications are moving faster, you might decide to consular process and leave the United States for your visa interview. If you've spent six months or more in the U.S. without legal status, this will be problematic; see an immigration attorney for advice.
Here’s more on why the timing is so important: If you are selected for the diversity visa, you can apply for the actual visa/green card only in the fiscal year in which you are eligible. If you do not obtain a green card by the end of that fiscal year, you cannot carry over your eligibility. If, for example, you applied for the DV lottery in October 2019 and are notified that you are accepted in May 2020, you can apply for a green card only during fiscal year 2021 (October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021). If something delays your application, you could lose out.
