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Entering the Diversity Visa Lottery for 2017


Diversity Visa Lottery. (File)
Diversity Visa Lottery. (File)

Every year the United States government makes available 50,000 permanent resident visas to the citizens of countries with a low rate of immigration to the United States.

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.

Entering the Diversity Visa Lottery for 2017
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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 permanent resident visas to the citizens of countries with a low rate of immigration to the United States.

Registration for the 2017 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 nationals 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 the attainment of certain levels of education, vocational or on-the-job training. For detailed information about entry requirements, along with frequently asked questions about the program, please go to

http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/immigrate/diversity-visa/instructions.html.

All applications must be filed electronically. No paper applications will be accepted. So, if you are eligible for the 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 e-mailed the entry, you will receive a confirmation page. Print it out and save it. It contains your registration number. Only by using this number will you be able to check the website to see if your entry was selected.

Enter only once, as sending more than one entry will disqualify you. All winners are chosen by a random drawing.

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!

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