The United States prides itself on its cultural, ethnic and religious diversity. Each group of immigrants, whether it arrived in mighty waves in a short span of time, or trickled in over decades, even centuries, made its contributions to every aspect of life in the United States. Without this diversity, we would not be the nation that we are today.
But not every group is well represented among the U.S. population, and that is why every year the United States government makes available 50,000 immigrant visas to the citizens of countries with a lower rate of immigration to the United States.
Registration for the 2016 Diversity Visa lottery, also known as the Green Card lottery, began at 1700 hours Greenwich Mean Time on October 1st, and will end at 1700 GMT on November 3rd. Only citizens of countries sending fewer than 50,000 immigrants to the United States over the past five years are eligible.
Other eligibility criteria also apply, such as having completed the equivalent of a high school level education, or at least two years of qualifying work experience. For detailed information about entry requirements, along with frequently asked questions about the program, please go to the Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs’ public website: travel.state.gov.
All applications must be submitted electronically, and no paper applications are accepted. If you are eligible for the diversity visa lottery, and wish to immigrate to the United States, please visit the website at www.dvlottery.state.gov, find the link to the lottery application at the bottom of the page and fill it out as soon as possible.
Once you have submitted the entry, you will receive a confirmation page. Print it out and save it, as it contains your DV lottery registration number. You must have this registration number in order to check the website to see if your entry was selected. You should also retain access to the email account used for registration.
Submit your entry only once, as submitting more than one entry will disqualify you. All DV lottery winners are chosen by a random drawing.
Please do not to wait until the last week to apply, as heavy demand might cause website delays. And remember, entry into the lottery is free. Anyone asking for money to help ease the process is running a scam.
Once again, that website address is www.dvlottery.state.gov. Enter now, and good luck to you!
