DV lottery 2025 is finally here!.... 

Registration for the green card lottery program for fiscal year 2025 (DV-2025) begins on Wednesday, October 4, 2023 at 12pm EDT and runs until Tuesday, November 7, 2023 at 12pm EST.

The green card lottery program, officially known as the Diversity Visa program, runs for one month between October and November each year. The program is run by the US State Department and makes available on a lottery basis up to 55,000 green cards to nationalities of countries with history low rates of immigration to the United States.

The following countries are ineligible to participate in the program because more than 50,000 of their natives migrated to the US in the previous five years: 

• Bangladesh

• Brazil

• Canada

• The People’s Republic of China (including mainland and Hong Kong born)

• Colombia

•  Dominican Republic

•  El Salvador

• Haiti

• Honduras

• India

• Jamaica

• Mexico

•  Nigeria

• Pakistan

• Philippines

• Republic of Korea (South Korea)

• Venezuela, and Vietnam. Natives of Macau SAR and Taiwan are eligible. 

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 at the same time.   

• 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-2025  program. 

Qualifications:

• The entrant must be from an eligible country (countries that have more than 50,000 of their citizens immigrate to the US over the previous five years are excluded from participating in the program).  

• The entrant must also have either at least a high school education or two years work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience to perform. To check qualifying work experience; view this link: https://www.onetonline.org/ 

• Principal applicant should be above 18years.

Registration for entry into the lottery is done exclusively online by submitting Form DS-5501 on the DV program website and is free of charge.

Applicants who submit an entry will receive a confirmation number in their email. Only one entry per individual is permitted. Those who submit multiple entries will be disqualified.

The State Department reminds entrants that registration for the lottery is completely free of charge. The Department does not charge any fee, and that any website, individual or company claiming the Department charges a fee is trying to defraud entrants.

REGISTRATION LINK:

https://dvprogram.state.gov/

N/B:

• Do not wait until the last week of the registration period to enter as heavy demand may result in website delays.  

• No late entries or paper entries will be accepted.  

• The law allows only one entry per person during each entry period.  The Department of State uses sophisticated technology to detect multiple entries.  

• Submission of  more than one entry for a person will disqualify all entries for that person. 

• They will not accept incomplete entries or entries sent by any other means.  

• There is no cost to  submit  the online entry form.  

• Please use an updated browser when submitting your application; older browsers (Internet Explorer 8, for example) will likely encounter problems with the online DV system.  

•  Keep  your  unique confirmation number and a printout of your confirmation screen.  It is extremely important  that  you have the printout of  your confirmation page and unique confirmation number.   

(if you do your application through us; we shall store the details in our servers for safekeeping and check results next year and inform you if you've been selected)

 Without this information, you will not be able to access the online system that informs  you of your entry status. 

• You also should have access to the email account listed in your E-DV entry. 

• After you submit a complete entry, you will see a confirmation screen containing your name and a unique confirmation number.  Print this confirmation screen for your records.  Starting  May 4, 2024, you will be able to check the status of your entry by returning to dvprogram.state.gov, clicking  on Entrant Status Check, and entering your unique confirmation number and personal information.  You must use  Entrant Status Check  to check if you have been selected for DV-2025 and, if selected, to view instructions on how to proceed with your application.  The U.S. government will not inform you directly.  Entrant Status Check is the sole source for instructions on how to proceed with your application.  If you are selected and submit a visa application and required documents, you must use  Entrant Status Check to check your immigrant visa interview appointment date.  

• The form is a web-form and can only be filled and submitted online.

• The form is designed to be filled once and max. duration allowed is 60minutes.

• You can try to submit an application as many times as is necessary until a complete application is received and the confirmation notice sent.  Once you receive a confirmation notice, your entry is complete, and you should NOT submit any additional entries.  

You must provide all of the following information to complete your entry. Failure to accurately include all the required information may make you ineligible for a DV. ;

1. Name – last/family name, first name, middle name – exactly as  it appears on your passport, if you have a passport (for example, if your passport shows only your first and last/family name, please list your last/family name and then first name; do not include a middle name unless it is included on your passport.  If your passport includes a first, middle and last/family name, please list them in the following order:  last/family name, first name, middle name).  If you have only one name, it must be entered in the last/family name field.   

2.  Gender – male or female.  

3. Birth date – day, month, year.  

4. City where you were born.  

5. Country of eligibility for the DV program – Your country of eligibility will normally be the same as your country of birth.  Your country of eligibility is not related to where you live or your nationality if it is different from your country of birth.  

6. Country of eligibility for the DV program – Your country of eligibility will normally be the same as your country of birth.  Your country of eligibility is not related to where you live  or  your nationality if it is different from your country of birth.  

7. Mailing Address – In Care Of   Address Line 1   Address Line 2   City/Town   District/Country/Province/State  Postal Code/Zip Code Country  

8.  Country where you live today.  

9. Phone number (optional).  

10.  Email  address – An email address to which you have direct access and will continue to have direct access through May of the next year.  If you check the Entrant Status Check in May and learn you have been selected, you will later receive follow-up email communication from the Department of State with details if an immigrant visa interview becomes available.  The Department of State will never send you an email telling you that you have been selected for the DV program. 

11. Highest level of education you have achieved (it is preferred if you have o levels atleast/kcse)

12. Current marital status: (1) unmarried, (2) married and my spouse is NOT a U.S. citizen or U.S. Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR), (3) married and my spouse IS a U.S. citizen or U.S. LPR, (4) divorced, (5) widowed, or (6) legally separated.  Enter the name, date of birth, gender, city/town of birth, and country of birth of your spouse, and a photograph of your spouse meeting the same technical specifications as your photo.      Failure to list your eligible spouse or, listing someone who is not your spouse, may make you ineligible as the DV principal applicant and your spouse and children ineligible as DV derivative applicants. You must list your spouse even if you currently are separated from them unless you are legally separated. If you and your spouse are legally separated, your spouse will not be able to immigrate with you through the DV program. You will not be penalized if you choose to enter the name of a spouse from whom you are legally separated. If you and your spouse are legally separated, your spouse will not be able to immigrate with you through the DV program. You will not be penalized if you choose to enter the name of a spouse from whom you are legally separated. Kindly note that both spouses are eligeble to submit application.

13. Number of children – List the  name, date of birth, gender, city/town of birth, and country of birth for all living, unmarried children under 21 years of age, regardless of whether they are living with you or intend to accompany or follow to join you, should you immigrate to the United States.  Submit individual photographs of each of your children using the same technical specifications as your own photograph .

Be sure to include:

  o all living natural children; 

 o all living children legally adopted by you; and,

  o all living stepchildren who are unmarried and under the age of 21 on the date of your electronic entry, even if you are no longer legally married to the child’s parent, and even if the child does not currently reside with you and/or will not immigrate with you.    Married children and children who are already aged 21 or older when you submit your entry are not eligible for the DV program.  However, the Child Status Protection Act protects children from “aging out” in certain circumstances:  if you submit your DV entry before your unmarried child turns 21, and the child turns 21 before visa issuance, it is possible that  he or she may be treated as though he or she were under 21 for visa processing purposes. 

PHOTO TIPS TO CONSIDER:

• Ears should be showing clearly.

• No glasses.

• Recent photo i.e. less that 6 months

• Aspect ratio; square; 600 by 600pixels; 2 inches

• Photo should be 240kb or less.

• In color  

•  In focus  

• Sized such that the head is between 1 inch and 1 3/8 inches (22 mm and 35 mm) or 50 percent and 69 percent of the image's total height from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head.  

• Taken in front of a plain white or off-white background  

• Taken in full-face view directly facing the camera  

• With a neutral facial expression and both eyes open  

•  Taken in clothing that you normally wear on a daily basis  ;Uniforms should not be worn in your photo, except religious clothing that is worn daily.  

•  Do not wear a hat or head covering that obscures the hair or hairline, unless worn daily for a religious purpose.  

• Your full face must be visible, and the head covering must not cast any shadows on your face. 

•  Headphones, wireless hands-free devices, or similar items are not acceptable in your photo.  

• If you normally wear a hearing device or similar articles, they may be worn in your photo.  

• Submitting the same photograph that was submitted with a prior year’s entry will make you ineligible for a DV. 

Taking photos of your baby or toddler :

When taking a photo of your baby or toddler, no other person should be in the photo, and your child should be looking at the camera with his or her eyes open.  

Tip 1: Lay your baby on his or her back on a plain white or off-white sheet.  This will ensure your baby's head is supported and provide a plain background for the photo.  Make certain there are no shadows on your baby's face, especially if you take a picture from above with the baby lying down. 

 Tip 2: Cover a car seat with a plain white or off-white sheet and take a picture of your child in the car seat.  This will also ensure your baby’s head is supported.  

The following are examples of acceptable photos:

Click the following link to know if your photo meets the required standards: 

https://tsg.phototool.state.gov/photo?fbclid=IwAR3_4DuagRGbmqZFVf_5m6QCLadm-azblRFcOpVAHER9Pf0GKzsQIED-0WM