The Green Card Lottery (also known as Diversity Visa Lottery) is an annual lottery drawing program that is run by the U.S. Department of State. Established by the Immigration Act of 1990 this lottery gives people, from countries with low U.S. immigration, a chance to immigrate to the United States even if they don't have close relatives or a job offer in the U.S.
The program offers up to 55,000 permanent resident visas ("Green Cards") each year to applicants selected through a random computer generated lottery drawing. To enter, an applicant must meet the eligibility requirements.
The Green Card Lottery program is administered by the U.S. Department of State National Visa Center (NVC), located in Portsmouth, NH. NVC sends out a packet of forms and information (Packet 3) to selected registered applicants and schedules the visa appointments of those who submitted all the required documents. The Diversity Visa Lottery used to be held every year in October. Starting from 2003 the Lottery turned online. Now you have to apply at http://www.dvlottery.state.gov. NVC notifies registered applicants. Those who do not hear further from NVC should assume they didn't win.
Please note: There is no fee charged by the Department of State or the National Visa Center for sending an entry to the Diversity Visa Lottery program. A diversity processing fee is only charged when a winning lottery entrant applies for the diversity visa. At the time of visa application at a U.S. Consular office, each applicant (the DV entrant and any accompanying family members) will be charged a DV processing fee, and immigrant visa fee. Both of these fees are not refundable if the visa is refused. If the visa is issued, a separate visa issuance fee is charged for each visa.
Today you may prepare your DV-2004 entry. Apply now!
What is the
Green Card
Lottery?