Visas
Immigrant Visas
The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program
DV REGISTRATION PERIOD
Entries for the DV-2011 DV lottery must be submitted electronically between noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Friday, October 2, 2009, and noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-5), Monday, November 30, 2009. Applicants may access the electronic DV Entry Form (E-DV) at www.dvlottery.state.gov during the registration period. 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, EST, on November 30, 2009.
Applicants for Diversity Visas are chosen by a computer-generated random lottery drawing. The visas are distributed among six geographic regions with a greater number of visas going to regions with lower rates of immigration. Within each region, no one country may receive more than seven percent of the available Diversity Visas in any one year.
Entering the Diversity Visa Lottery is free. All entries must be submitted online. Electronic entries for the Diversity Visa (DV) 2011 Lottery will be accepted from Noon Eastern Daylight Time on October 2, 2009, until Noon Eastern Standard Time on November 30, 2009. Additional information on the Diversity Visa Program, including instructions for entering the Diversity Visa lottery, is available online at: www.dvlottery.state.gov
While many commercial firms offer services to help persons submit entries for the Diversity Visa Lottery, entrants should be aware that the use of these services does not in any way enhance one’s chances of winning the Diversity Visa Lottery.
Diversity visa entrants should also be aware that no processing fees are collected by the U.S. government for this program until the day that a winner of the Diversity Visa appears at a US Embassy or Consulate for a visa interview. Any letter of other announcement to a lottery entrant regarding the Diversity Visa Program which asks the entrant to pay any processing fees in advance of the visa appointment should be disregarded as the work of scam artists.
