DV Lottery

In the next few paragraphs, we will talk a bit more about what the US DV Lottery is. We will share a bit about the history of the US program, all the ways you can apply, and which countries can participate from. We will share some tips and tricks, as well as interesting facts about the DV Lottery and winners.

What Is the DV Lottery In the USA?

The Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery Program provides over 50,000 visas annually for applicants from countries with a low number of immigrants in the past years. The goal of the program is to diversify the immigrant population in the United States. However, there have been attempts in the past to end the program. We’ll explain why in the article below.

History of the DV Lottery

As promised, we’re going to dive in deeper into exploring the DV Visa Lottery, starting from the very beginning, back in 1986. This is the year when the United States established three temporary visa programs. The first program was NP-5, the second was OP-1 and the third – AA-1. The second program was running through a lottery from 1989 to 1991, available for natives from countries with no recent immigration to the States.

The first DV Lottery was called DV-1 for fiscal year 1995. The name format was changed several times, and since fiscal year 2000, the lottery name format remained DV-YYYY (year). There is a two-year difference between the lottery name and the entry period, which might be a bit confusing for some of the applicants.

For a long time, the DV Lottery was administered entirely by mail, and only the winners were notified out of all of the participants. In 2005, the entry format moved online; winners were the only ones notified, but all applicants were able to verify whether they were selected or not, using the online platform. Since 2012, the DV Visa Lottery is done exclusively online.

DV Lottery Criticism

The DV Lottery program may be successful, but it has received a lot of criticism throughout the years. Lottery is a game of chance that generates random number combinations every time. The DV Lottery follows the same principle, which has led to some instances of racism, terrorism and fraud.

There have been attempts by lottery winners to start criminal or terrorism attacks, the most recent in 2017. An immigrant from Uzbekistan, who got a diversity Visa in 2010, killed eight and injured eleven people in Lower Manhattan. There have also been a lot of fraud attempts reported to the eligible authorities.

Is the US DV Lottery Cancelled?

Because of the mentioned instances, there were several attempts to end the DV Lottery and the whole program. Funds were cut off, and a border enforcement bill was passed by the House and the Senate. The bill was later removed. There were a couple more bills introduced to eliminate the program entirely, but both did not pass.

In 2013, a new bill was introduced by the Gang of Eight with the goal to reform the immigration system and terminate the DV program. The legislation was not accepted because of the strong influence of the Republican opposition. Trump also declared ending the program after the 2017 incident, but The White House Press Secretary opposed the then-president with proof that each immigrant undergoes strict screenings and background checks before they enter the States.

Despite the criticism and termination plans, there are applications for DV-2022, considering the new rules and country regulations. You can no longer fill in the form as the registration period is over. If you were able to apply until November 2019, you can check your status. You will find more detailed information on the official DV Lottery website.

Is the US DV Lottery Gambling?

The DV Visa Lottery is not like the type of lottery we’re familiar with in the gambling world, but it follows similar principles. The green card lottery is again a game of chance – there are a lot of applicants, but there is no guarantee that everyone would win. There are also special requirements that participants must follow when applying for the DV Lotto, including their location. You do not ‘play’ for money, but getting a green card is also a prize worth the try. You cannot apply for it at popular US online casino sites; you must fill in a form on the US Department of State website.

How to Apply for the DV Lottery Program?

As previously mentioned, there are specific requirements to apply for the green card lottery. To apply for the DV lottery program, you must have been born in an eligible country. There are two exceptions:

Applicants must have completed at least high school education or at least two years of work experience. They must also satisfy general requirements, applicable to all immigrants – health, criminal background, and means of support. There are new instructions every year for the participants. We would like to remind you that the term ‘immigrant’ applies for people who immigrated via family-sponsored, employment or immediate relatives of U.S. citizen categories. This does not include refugees or previous diversity immigrants.

DV Program Website

We could not continue with the review without getting a closer look at the DV Program State website. You saw earlier that this is the place where you must fill in the DV form. The website is clean and simple, well-secured and free from unnecessary advertisements. It is convenient to use on desktop, and it is applicable on mobile devices as well.

There is a convenient link that leads you directly to the green card form for the DV lottery. Fill it in, submit and check your status regularly. There is a specific period when you can apply, so keep track of that as well. As of now, you cannot apply for DV-2022 since the last possible date was November 10, 2020. We advise you to check the Privacy Policy section of the page for more information.

Scam Green Card Lottery Websites

You can easily enter the Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery without any charge. You need to send an electronic form to the US Department of State website during the registration. However, there are multiple scam websites that provide deceptive electronic forms which are not eligible for the program. It is important that you do your research and use only the legit website for this purpose.

Keep an eye on the emails you receive as well. There are numerous cases of fraudulent emails and letters which falsely claim to have been sent by the Department of State. Many of those emails and messages require a visa processing fee or mention that you are guaranteed a green card. People who have not applied for the DV Lottery also receive such emails. If you happen to get a message that obligates you to pay a fee or that gives you a link where you should fill in a visa form, please notify the Internet Crime Complaint Center about the scam.

DV Lottery Countries – Eligible and Ineligible

As mentioned earlier, the green card lottery has the goal to diversify the immigrant community in the United States. The applicants for the program are from different countries, some of which are ineligible. The visas are distributed amongst 6 regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, and Oceania.

Each region that sent more than 1/6 of the total number of immigrants to the states in the previous five years is considered a ‘high admission region’, and the region that sent less than 1/6 is a ‘low admission region’. There are ineligible countries that cannot apply for the green card program. Considering the changes for DV-2022, natives of the following nations are ineligible:

The only exception that applies for the United Kingdom is Northern Ireland. We would suggest you read the full terms and conditions of the program before filling in the form to get extra information on restrictions and new requirements. It is important that you do your research and that you strictly follow the listed requirements.

Conclusion

The Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery is a State program that provides green cards for immigrants from eligible countries. The goal of the program is to diversify the immigrant community in the US, to provide new working spaces and good conditions for foreigners. Despite the scams and criticism, the green card lottery has proved being a great way to boost the US economy. If you live in one of the eligible countries and you cover all the requirements, you can easily apply for a visa for free on the Department of State website, where you will also find more information about the DV Lottery.

FAQ

We’ve included this helpful FAQ section about the DV Lottery for your convenience. You can easily use the information provided in the answers below as a guide for future references. We’ve answered some of the most popular questions about the green card lottery with the help of our expert editors that did some extra research on the topic.