How To Apply For Diversity Visa

Hi, and welcome to this very important page on our website. If you are reading this article, it’s probably because you’re interested in the United States Diversity Visa program and want to know how to apply for a Diversity Visa.

To apply for a Diversity Visa, the first step is to enter the Diversity Visa Lottery. To enter the DV Lottery, you must be eligible.

Read the following eligibility criteria to know if you qualify to enter (or participate in) the current/upcoming Lottery.

Eligibility Criteria

1 . You MUST have been born in a country whose natives are CURRENTLY eligible. (Not all countries’ natives are eligible to enter the DV Lottery every year.)

Below is the list of countries whose natives are currently NOT ELIGIBLE to enter the DV Lottery:

Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (including Mainland and Hong Kong born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Venezuela and Vietnam.

(Persons born in Macau SAR and Taiwan are eligible.)

Note: Depending on whether a country had more than 50,000 of its citizens immigrate to the United States in the previous five years or not, the State Department may add that country to or remove it from the above list, repectively. In some years, however, the list of ineligible countries remains unchanged.

Important: The list of eligible countries is published in September. We update this article when that happens to reflect the current reality.

2. You MUST HAVE COMPLETED high school (secondary school) or MUST HAVE WORKED in an occupation which requires at least two years of training or experience (according to U.S. Department of Labor’s standards) during the last 5 years.

Meeting the above conditions qualifies you to enter the Lottery.

Note: You may not have been born in a country whose natives are currently eligible, but still qualify, provided you meet one of the following conditions:

1. If you are married, and your spouse was born in an “eligible” country; then you become eligible by means of your  spouse’s country of birth; or
2. If neither of your parents was born in YOUR country of birth (the country that “disqualifies” you, but rather in an “eligible” country), and they were not legally resident in YOUR country of birth at the time of your birth.

One of the above conditions could make you eligible to enter the DV Lottery in case you are a native of one of the above-listed (ineligible) countries.

Now, let me elaborate on what it entails to enter (or participate in) the DV Lottery.

DV Lottery Steps

You participate in the Diversity Visa Lottery by filling out and submitting an electronic form on the official DV website ONLY during the Entry period.

For about eleven months (from early November to early October the following year), the Entry form IS NOT available on the website. Meaning the Lottery is not administered during that period.

The Entry Period

The remaining little-over-a-month period is when the form becomes available, and you can enter the Lottery. The Lottery usually starts in early October and ends in early November. That time of the year is known as the Entry/Registration period, and this year (2024), it will most likely run from October 2 to November 5. After the Entry/Registration period, you’ll have to wait until October the following year to have your next chance to enter the Lottery.

A number of days to the start of the Entry period, the official DV website publishes information regarding the upcoming Lottery, including the dates of the Entry period. It is in that publication (compared with that of the previous year) that you get confirmation on whether or not those born in your country are eligible to enter the Lottery that year.

The Form

The Entry form allows you to type in personal information, including name (last; first; and middle, if any), gender, date and place of birth, passport information, address, phone number, email, educational level, marital status, and number of children below 21 years, for yourself; and a few of the above, for all other family members that the DV program regulations allow you to enter the Lottery with, in case that applies. Some fields on the electronic DV form have options you have to choose from.

The Photo

As part of the form-filling process, you will have to upload a digital photo taken within the previous six months, for each family member, which should strictly observe certain technicalities.

Moreover, the person in each photo must observe strict rules relating to head position, eye contact, background, etc. for the entry to be acceptable. The photo is a major factor for disqualification of a lot of entries.

Your Confirmation Page

Once you’ve completed the form, click the SUBMIT button, and your entry submission confirmation page will replace the form on the screen. Print out that page (or record information from it – especially your CONFIRMATION NUMBER), because you will need it to know if you are selected in the month of May the following year when the results are published on the same website.

If selected, then you can officially apply for a Diversity Visa.

Our Intervention

In case information on the above-mentioned website seems overwhelming (Note: It is not possible to ask questions or leave comments on the official website), and or you desire being guided in any aspect of the Diversity Visa program, then visit our Guidance Platform by clicking this link.

WISH YOU BEST OF LUCK AS YOU ENTER THE DIVERSITY VISA LOTTERY!