The United States Electronic Diversity Immigrant Visa Program
Many citizens of other countries look forward to the opportunity to live and work in the United States. One way to obtain a green card for the United States is to enter into the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program. This program, which is often called the “Green Card Lottery”, allows for immigrants known as “diversity immigrants” from countries with historically low rates of immigration to apply to immigrate to the United States. If accepted, you will receive a permanent residence card or “green card” allowing you to live and work in the United States.
For Fiscal Year 2022, up to 55,000 Diversity Visas (DVs) will be available.
What are my chances of being chosen?
While we understand the desire to know what your chances are of being awarded a visa, the system is a lottery. Applicants are chosen randomly based on those who qualify for the program. There is no way to increase your chances of being chosen beyond having a complete application and by meeting all of the requirements when you apply.
Who is not eligible?
For DV-2022, persons born in the following countries are NOT eligible to apply, because more than 50,000 natives of these countries immigrated to the United States in the previous five years:
Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (including Hong Kong SAR), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.
Persons born in Macau SAR and Taiwan are eligible.
What are the requirements?
Requirement #1: Natives of countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States may be eligible to enter. If you are not a native of a country with historically low rates of immigration to the United States, there are two other ways you might be able to qualify.
Is your spouse a native of a country with historically low rates of immigration to the United States? If yes, you can claim your spouse’s country of birth – provided that you and your spouse are named on the selected entry, are found eligible and issued diversity visas, and enter the United States simultaneously.
Are you a native of a country that does not have historically low rates of immigration to the United States, but in which neither of your parents was born or legally resident at the time of your birth? If yes, you may claim the country of birth of one of your parents if it is a country whose natives are eligible for the DV-2022 program.
Requirement #2: Each DV applicant must meet the education/work experience requirement of the DV program by having either:
at least a high school education or its equivalent, defined as successful completion of a 12-year course of formal elementary and secondary education;
OR
two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience to perform.
The Department of State will use the U.S. Department of Labor’s O*Net Online database to determine qualifying work experience.
You should not submit an entry to the DV program unless you meet BOTH of these requirements.
What do I need to apply?
Great question!
The application for the DV Lottery Program only requests a few items, which are:
A valid passport.
A recently-taken professional photograph.
Your email address.
Valid payment methods. You can select between Paypal or debit/credit card.
It’s also necessary to get a professional photo of your children and your spouse if needed (in case you apply with them).
What is the cost to apply?
It is entirely free to apply for the DV lottery through the official website of the Department of State. If you apply for your diversity visa through iVisa, we do charge a modest fee for our assistance in helping you complete your application. We also provide you, in addition to an easy online application, a preparation guide for the interview at the embassy, as well as informative emails about this process.
Don’t forget that you can also use official websites, but keep in mind that their requirements might be difficult and also time-wasting.
Is my personal information safe with iVisa?
Yes, your information is safe and secure on our website. We can guarantee that our database is well defended and controlled so that nothing can be leaked. We are also completely GDPR compliant.
How many Diversity Visas are available?
For DV-2022, 55,000 Diversity Visas are available. Because it is likely that some of the first 55,000 persons who are selected will not qualify for visas or will choose to abandon the process, more than 55,000 entries will be selected to try to ensure that all of the available DVs are issued. However, this also means there may not be a sufficient number of visas for all those selected.
You can check the E-DV website’s Entrant Status Check to see if you have been selected for further processing and your place on the list. Interviews for the DV-2022 program will begin in October 2021 for selectees who have submitted all pre-interview paperwork and other information as requested in the notification instructions.
Selectees who provide all required information will be informed of their visa interview appointment through the E-DV website’s Entrant Status Check four to six weeks before the scheduled interviews with U.S. consular officers overseas. Each month, visas may be issued to those applicants who are eligible for issuance during that month, as long
as visas are available.
Once all of the 55,000 diversity visas have been issued, the program will end.
Visa numbers could be finished before September 2022. Selected applicants who wish to apply for visas must be prepared to act promptly on their cases. Being randomly chosen as a selectee does not guarantee that you will receive a visa. Selection merely means that you are eligible to apply for a Diversity Visa. If your rank number becomes eligible for final processing, you potentially may be issued a Diversity Visa.
How soon can I apply?
The current registration period is closed and new applications are not being accepted. If you wish to apply for the next enrollment period, you can complete your application with iVisa and we will hold your information until the enrollment period opens again. Once the program reopens, we will review your application to ensure it’s error-free and then submit your application to the government on their site.