Immigrant Visa  

Diversity Visa Lottery

DV registration for the 2009 DV lottery starts October 3 and ends December 2 (Click here to read full text) 

A Few Words about the Diversity Visa Program.  There have been instances of fraudulent websites posing as official U.S. Government sites. Some companies posing as the U.S. Government have sought money in order to "complete" lottery entry forms. To learn more, please see the Federal Trade Commission Warning . Applicants selected in the Diversity Visa random drawing are notified by the Department of State, Kentucky Consular Center by letter, NOT email and are provided instructions on how to proceed to the next step in the process. No other organization or company is authorized by the Department of State to notify Diversity Visa lottery applicants of their winning entry.

The congressionally mandated Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is administered on an annual basis by the Department of State and conducted under the terms of Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Section 131 of the Immigration Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-649) amended INA 203 provides for a class of immigrants known as "diversity immigrants." Section 203(c) of the INA provides a maximum of up to 55,000 Diversity Visas (DV) each fiscal year to be made available to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.

The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program commonly known as the "Green Card Lottery", makes available each year by random selection 50,000 permanent residence visas to persons from countries that have low rates of immigration to the United States. Eligibility to apply for the program is determined by a persons place of birth not citizenship or residence. The list of excluded countries may vary from year to year. Further information

For instructions on applying to the DV program, click here

Diversity Visa Inquiries:  To reach the Kentucky Consular Center (Diversity Visa inquiries only) call: 606-526-7500 (in USA)