2009 Diversity Visa Lottery Procedure and Deadline

The U.S. Department of State has announced the DV-2009 Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery Program. The congressionally mandated DV Lottery Program is administered on an annual basis by the Department of State and provides immigrant visas to persons meeting simple, but specific, eligibility requirements.

This year's program will only accept applications electronically between noon EDT October 3, 2007, and noon EST December 2, 2007. Applicants must submit an Electronic Diversity Form (EDV Entry Form), which is available only at www.dvprogram.state.gov. No fee is charged to enter the annual DV program.

Persons born in the following countries are not eligible for DV-2009: Brazil, Canada, China (except Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan), Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Korea, the United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories and Vietnam. Persons born in a country whose natives are ineligible, but whose spouse was born in a qualifying country can claim the spouse's country of birth, provided both are included on one entry, are issued visas and enter the United States simultaneously.

To enter the lottery, an applicant must have either a high school education or its equivalent, or two years' work experience within the past five years in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience. Only one entry per person will be permitted; submitting more than one entry will disqualify all entries by the applicant. A husband and wife may each submit one entry if each meets the eligibility requirements. Both the application and the accompanying photographs must be submitted electronically. Failure to complete the form in its entirety will disqualify the applicant's entry. 

There are 50,000 DV visas available for DV-2009. Applicants will be selected at random by computer from among all qualified entries. Persons who submit entries will receive a confirmation notice that the completed application was received. Notification letters will be sent to those selected between May and July 2008. Persons not selected will not receive any notification. In order to actually receive a visa, applicants selected in the random drawing must meet all eligibility requirements under U.S. law. 

Detailed photo instructions and more detailed information on the DV Program can be found on the Department of State Web site at www.state.gov.

Interested applicants should review the Department of State Web site. If we can assist or answer any questions, please contact us. Remember, the Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form must be submitted by December 2, 2007.