Apply Now  for Diversity Visa Lottery

The 2014 Diversity Visa Program or Diversity Visa Lottery (DV-2014) will commence at noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Tuesday, October 2nd, 2012, and will close at noon, EDT, Saturday, November 3rd, 2012. Applicants must submit entries electronically during this registration period using the electronic DV entry form (E-DV) at www.dvlottery.state.gov. Paper entries will not be accepted. Applicants are strongly encouraged not to wait until the last week of the registration period to enter. Heavy demand may result in website delays. No entries will be accepted after noon, EDT, on November 3rd, 2012.

About the Diversity Visa Program. The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is administered on an annual basis by the Department of State and conducted under the terms of Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA and allows for a maximum of 55,000 Diversity Visas each fiscal year to be made available to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. 5,000 of these DV immigrant visas, however, are reserved for use under the Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NACARA).

The annual DV program makes visas available to persons meeting the specific eligibility requirements. A computer-generated, random drawing chooses selectees for Diversity Visas. The visas are distributed among six geographic regions; a greater number of visas going to regions with lower rates of immigration, and with no visas going to nationals of countries sending more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States over the period of the past five years. No single country may receive more than seven percent of the available Diversity Visas in any one year.

A "native" ordinarily means someone born within a particular country, regardless of the individual's current country of residence or nationality. 

For DV-2014, natives of Guatemala are now ELIGIBLE to enter the program.

For DV-2014, natives of the following countries are NOT ELIGIBLE to apply because these countries have sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States in the previous five (5) years:

Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.

Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and Taiwan ARE ELIGIBLE to apply.

For DV-2014, the Department of State will implement an online process to notify entrants of their selection, and to provide information about the immigrant visa application and interview. Beginning May 1st, 2013, DV-2014 entrants will be able to use their unique confirmation number provided at registration to check online through Entry Status Check at http://www.dvlottery.state.gov to see if their entry was selected. Successful entrants will receive instructions for how to apply for immigrant visas for themselves and their eligible family members. Confirmation of visa interview appointments will also be made through Entry Status Check.

For detailed information about entry requirements, along with frequently asked questions about the DV program, please see the instructions for the DV-2014 Diversity Visa program available at

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types&under;1318.html

Eligibility & Qualifications for DV Lottery Visas. 

(1) To enter the DV program, you must be a native of one of the listed countries. 

(2) To enter the DV program, you must meet either the education or work experience requirement of the DV program:
A. You must have either a high school education or its equivalent, defined as successful completion of a 12-year course of elementary and secondary education; OR
B. Two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience to perform. 

If you are already the beneficiary of an immigrant visa petition previously submitted by a family member or employer you may apply for the DV lottery.

High School Education or “Equivalent.” A “high school education or equivalent” is defined as successful completion of a twelve-year course of elementary and secondary education in the United States or successful completion in another country of a formal course of elementary and secondary education comparable to a high school education in the United States. Only formal courses of study meet this requirement; correspondence programs or equivalency certificates (such as the General Equivalency Diploma G.E.D.) are not acceptable. Documentary proof of education or work experience must be presented to the consular officer at the time of the visa interview.

Qualifying Work Experience. The U.S. Department of Labor’s O*Net Online Database will be used to determine qualifying work experience 

The Department of Labor (DOL) O*Net Online database groups job experience into five "job zones". While many occupations are listed on the DOL website, only certain specified occupations qualify for the Diversity Visa Program. To qualify for a Diversity Visa on the basis of your work experience, you must, within the past five years, have two years of experience in an occupation that is designated as Job Zone 4 or 5, classified in a Specific Vocational Preparation (SVP) range of 7.0 or higher.

How Do I Find the Qualifying Occupations on the Department of Labor Website?

Qualifying DV Occupations are shown on the Department of Labor O*Net Online Database. Follow these steps, when you are in O*Net Online to find out if your occupation qualifies:

• ¥ Under "Find Occupations" select "Job Family" from the pull down;
• ¥ Then browse by “Job Family”. (For example, select Architecture and Engineering)  and click "GO";
• ¥ Then click on the link for your specific occupation.  (As an example, select Aerospace Engineers. At the bottom of this Summary Report for Aerospace Engineers, under the Job Zone section, you will find the designated Job Zone 4, SVP Range, 7.0 to < 8.0.  This means using this example, Aerospace Engineering is a qualifying occupation.

If you cannot meet either of these requirements, you should NOT submit an entry to the DV program.

DV Fees. There is no government application fee for submitting a lottery application. If you win the lottery, you will pay a special DV-2014 case processing fee later. Winners will also have to pay regular visa fees at the time of visa issuance.

Family Members. The law allows only one entry by or for each person during each registration period; applicants for whom more than one entry is submitted will be disqualified. A husband and a wife may each submit one entry if each meets the eligibility requirements. If either were selected, the other would be entitled to "derivative" status.

A DV selectee’s spouse and unmarried children under the age of 21 (at the time the green card - not the lottery application - is approved) are automatically entitled to the same status as the DV immigrant visa selectee.

The death of a lottery winner results in automatic termination of the diversity visa case. Any previously eligible dependents are no longer entitled to apply or enter the U.S. In an effort to root out fraud, the U.S. government closely scrutinizes any marriages that occur after an individual has won the lottery.

Inadmissibilities and Waivers. Diversity visa applicants are subject to all grounds of ineligibility for immigrant visas specified in the Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA), including certain criminal convictions and prior unlawful presence in the U.S. There are no special provisions for the waiver of any of these grounds except those normally provided in the INA, nor is there any special processing for diversity visa waiver requests. 

A person present in the U.S. may apply for the DV lottery, but if s/he is out of status, may be subject to the 3- and 10-year bars on admission, and unable to take advantage of winning the DV lottery.

If a DV selectee has close relatives who are U.S. Citizens or Lawful Permanent Residents, other general waivers may be available to them, but time constraints in the application process usually make it difficult for applicants to benefit from such provisions.

All DV visas must be issued by the end of September 2014. There is no special provision for the waiver of any grounds of visa ineligibility other than those provided for in the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Individuals who require a waiver of inadmissibility or another immigration waiver must be able to process the waiver by the deadline.  For example, a holder of a J-1 visa with a two-year home residency requirement will not be able to receive a waiver of the home residency requirement by virtue of being selected in the DV lottery.  A J visa holder can enter the DV lottery, but, if s/he is subject to the two year residency requirement, s/he will have to qualify for a residency waiver in the same manner as is normally required to get such a waiver.