Diversity Visas

DV LOTTERY -- EDV 2011

The Diversity Visa (DV) program is congressionally-mandated and allows up to 55,000 persons from nations that are historically under-represented in terms of migration to the United States to qualify each year for immigrant visas (green cards). The program is also known as the “green card lottery” or "dvlottery", because the winners are determined through a random drawing from among the 10–13 million people who enter each year.

The annual DV program makes visas available to persons meeting simple, but strict, eligibility requirements. A computer-generated, random lottery drawing chooses selectees for DVs. The visas are distributed among six geographic regions, with 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. Within each region, no single country may receive more than seven percent of the available DVs in any one year

The DVLottery program usually takes place at the end of each year, while green card winners are announced between April and June of the following year. A green card entitles the holder to live and work in the United States indefinitely and without restrictions.

Please read the DV-2011 Entry Instructions carefully. Entrants may be disqualified for not completing the entry form correctly or by submitting more than one entry. Use the link below to view the instructions: http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1318.html

EDV (ELECTRONIC DIVERSITY VISA) ENTRY FORM

State Department web site for the 2011 Diversity Visa Program (DV-2011) is now open. The entry submission period for DV-2011 is from 12:00PM EDT (GMT -4) on October 2, 2009 to 12:00PM EST (GMT -5) on November 30, 2009. The entry form will only be available for submission during this period and this period only. Entries will not be accepted through the U.S. Postal Service. The web address is

WWW.DVLOTTERY.STATE.GOV

2011 Entrant Status Check

Please check back at this link http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/ESC/ on or after July 1, 2010 for entrants who applied for DV-2011.

Please note: There have been instances of fraudulent websites posing as official U.S. Government sites. Some companies posing as the U.S. Government have sought money in order to "complete" lottery entry forms. There is no charge to complete the Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form. The Department of State notifies successful Diversity Visa applicants by letter, and NOT by electronic mail. To learn more, see the Department of State Warning and the Federal Trade Commission Warning in the Related Links section of this page.

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