Electronic Diversity Visa Lottery 2022-2023-2024

Last Updated: 14 October 2022

The Immigration Act of 1990 established the Diversity Visa (DV) program, where 55,000 immigrant visas would be available in an annual Electronic Diversity Visa Lottery, starting in the fiscal year 1995. The Electronic Diversity Visa Lotteryaims to diversify the immigrant population in the United States, by selecting applicants mostly from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States in the previous five years.

The program is called the “Green Card Lottery” or “Electronic Diversity Visa Lottery” because the winners are determined through a random drawing from among the 10–12 million people who enter each year worldwide.

The US is proud to be a country of immigrants. However, more people come to the USA from certain countries than others. For example, just those immigrating from Mexico, China, and the Philippines are by far outnumbering those from most of the other countries accumulated. In order to maintain diversity in the population, US laws regulate immigration from particular regions of the world.

After you have completed the steps on the Diversity Visa Process on usvisas.state.gov, including submitting the required immigrant visa application form (DS-260), you may receive an email from the Kentucky Consular Center (KCC) to let you know that an interview has been scheduled for you. The e-mail will instruct you to log into the Entrant Status Check on the Electronic Diversity Visa (E-DV) website, using your DV entry confirmation number, to view the date, time and location of your interview.

At the end of your immigrant visa interview, the consular officer will inform you whether your visa application is approved or denied.

Some visa applications require further administrative processing, which takes additional time after the visa applicant’s interview by a consular officer. Applicants are advised of this requirement when they apply. Most administrative processing is resolved within 60 days of the visa interview. When administrative processing is required, the timing will vary based on the individual circumstances of each case. You can check the status of your visa application on ceac.state.gov.

If your visa has been denied, you may find useful information on Ineligibilities and Waivers on usvisas.state.gov.

You must provide all of the following information to complete your entry. Failure to accurately include all the required information will make you ineligible for a DV.

  1. Name – last/family name, first name, middle name – exactly as it appears on your passport (for example, if your passport shows only your first and last/family name, please list your last/family name and then first name; do not include a middle name unless it is included on your passport. If your passport includes a first, middle and last/family name, please list them in the following order: last/family name, first name, middle name). If you have only one name, it must be entered in the last/family name field.
  2. Gender – male or female.
  3. Birth date – day, month, year.
  4. City where you were born.
  5. Country where you were born – Use the name of the country currently used for the place where you were born.
  6. Country of eligibility for the DV program – Your country of eligibility will normally be the same as your country of birth. Your country of eligibility is not related to where you live or your nationality if it is different from your country of birth. If you were born in a country that is not eligible, please review the Frequently Asked Questions to see if there is another way you may be eligible.
  7. The passport number, country of issuance, and expiration date for your valid, unexpired international travel passport. This requirement does not apply to dependents. You must enter valid international travel passport information unless you meet the requirements for an exemption. An exemption may apply if you are stateless, a national of a Communist-controlled country and unable to obtain a passport from the government of the Communist-controlled country or the beneficiary of an individual waiver approved by the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of State. Claiming an exemption for which you are ineligible, or failing to enter valid passport information, will make you ineligible for a DV. For more information on whether or not you meet an exemption, see question 12 in the Frequently Asked Questions document.
  8. Entrant photograph(s) – Recent photographs (taken within the last six months) of yourself, your spouse, and all your derivative children. See Submitting a Digital Photograph for compositional and technical specifications. You do not need to include a photograph of a spouse or child who is already a U.S. citizen or a Lawful Permanent Resident, but you will not be penalized if you do. DV entry photographs must meet the same standards as U.S. visa photos. You will be ineligible for a DV if the entry photographs for you and your family members do not fully meet these specifications or have been manipulated in any way. Submitting the same photograph that was submitted with a prior year’s entry will make you ineligible for a DV. See Submitting a Digital Photograph (below) for more information.
  9. Mailing Address – In Care Of
    Address Line 1
    Address Line 2
    City/Town
    District/Country/Province/State
    Postal Code/Zip Code
    Country
  10. Country where you live today.
  11. Phone number (optional).
  12. Email address – An email address to which you have direct access, and will continue to have direct access through May of the next year. If you check the Entrant Status Check in May and learn you have been selected, you will later receive a follow-up email communication from the Department of State with details if an immigrant visa interview becomes available. The Department of State will never send you an email telling you that you have been selected for the DV program.
  13. Highest level of education you have achieved, as of today: (1) Primary school only, (2) Some high school, no diploma, (3) High school diploma, (4) Vocational school, (5) Some university courses, (6) University degree, (7) Some graduate-level courses, (8) Master’s degree, (9) Some doctoral-level courses, or (10) Doctorate. See the Frequently Asked Questions for more information about educational requirements.
  14. Current marital status: (1) unmarried, (2) married and my spouse is NOT a U.S. citizen or U.S. Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR), (3) married and my spouse IS a U.S. citizen or U.S. LPR, (4) divorced, (5) widowed, or (6) legally separated. Enter the name, date of birth, gender, city/town of birth, and country of birth of your spouse, and a photograph of your spouse meeting the same technical specifications as your photo. Failure to list your eligible spouse or, listing someone who is not your spouse, will make you ineligible as the DV principal applicant and your spouse and children ineligible as DV derivative applicants. You must list your spouse even if you currently are separated from him/her unless you are legally separated. Legal separation is an arrangement when a couple remains married but lives apart, following a court order. If you and your spouse are legally separated, your spouse will not be able to immigrate with you through the DV program. You will not be penalized if you choose to enter the name of a spouse from whom you are legally separated. If you are not legally separated by court order, you must include your spouse even if you plan to be divorced before you apply for the Diversity Visa or your spouse does not intend to immigrate.
  15. Number of children – List the name, date of birth, gender, city/town of birth, and country of birth for all living, unmarried children under 21 years of age, regardless of whether they are living with you or intend to accompany or follow to join you, should you immigrate to the United States. Submit individual photographs of each of your children using the same technical specifications as your own photograph. Be sure to include:

• all living natural children;
• all living children legally adopted by you; and,
• all living step-children who are unmarried and under the age of 21 on the date of your electronic entry, even if you are no longer legally married to the child’s parent, and even if the child does not currently reside with you and/or will not immigrate with you.

Married children and children who are already aged 21 or older when you submit your entry are not eligible for the DV program. However, the Child Status Protection Act protects children from “aging out” in certain circumstances: if you submit your DV entry before your unmarried child turns 21, and the child turns 21 before visa issuance, it is possible that he or she may be treated as though he or she were under 21 for visa processing purposes.
A child who is already a U.S. citizen or LPR when you submit your DV entry will not require or be issued a Diversity Visa; you will not be penalized for either including or omitting such family members from your entry.

Last Updated: 14 October 2022