The Department of State announced the opening of the registration period for the DV-2013 Diversity Visa lottery (also known as “green card lottery”). Entries for the DV-2013 Diversity Visa lottery must be submitted electronically between noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4),Tuesday, October 4, 2011, and noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-5), Saturday, November 5, 2011. Applicants may access the electronic Diversity Visa entryform (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 registrationperiod to enter. Heavy demand may result in website delays. No entries will be accepted after noon EST on November 5, 2011.
The annual DV program makes visas available to persons meeting simple, but strict, eligibility requirements. A computer- generated, randomdrawing chooses selectees for DVs. The visas are distributed among six geographic regions, and within each region, no single country may receive more than seven percent of the available DVs in any one year. Visas are allocated to nationals of countries with historically lower rates of U.S. immigration. Nationals of countries who have sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States over the past five years are not eligible to apply for the DiversityVisa program.
For DV-2013, natives of the following countries are not eligible to apply because the countries sent a total of more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States in the previous five years:
BANGLADESH, BRAZIL, CANADA, CHINA (mainland-born), COLOMBIA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, ECUADOR, EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HAITI, INDIA, JAMAICA, MEXICO, PAKISTAN, PERU, PHILIPPINES, SOUTH KOREA, UNITED KINGDOM (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and VIETNAM. NOTE: Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and Taiwan are eligible.
For detailed information about entry requirements, along with frequently asked questions about the DV lottery, please see the instructions for the DV-2013 DV lottery available at www.dvlottery.state.gov or contact this office.
Please contact our office if you have any questions about this communication.
