Diversity Visa Lottery 2014

Prague, October 2, 2012

The Department of State announces the opening of the registration period for the DV-2014 Diversity Visa lottery. The online registration for DV-2014 DV Lottery begins noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT -4), Tuesday, October 2, 2012, and ends noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT -4), Saturday, November 3, 2012. All entries must be submitted electronically during the registration period, when applicants may access the Electronic DV Entry Form DS-5501 at www.dvlottery.state.gov. Paper entries will not be accepted.  

Applicants are strongly encouraged not to wait until the last week of the registration period to enter.  Heavy demand may result in website delays.  No entries will be accepted after noon, EST on November 3, 2012.

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 and provides for a class of immigrants known as “diversity immigrants.” Section 203(c) of the INA provides a maximum of 50,000 Diversity Visas (DVs) each fiscal year to be made available to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.

The annual DV program makes visas available to persons meeting simple, but strict, eligibility requirements. A computer-generated, random lottery drawing chooses selectees for DVs. The visas are distributed among six geographic regions, with a greater number of visas going to regions with lower rates of immigration, and with no visas going to nationals of countries sending more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States over the period of the past five years. Within each region, no single country may receive more than seven percent of the available DVs in any one year.  

For DV-2014, 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, the Dominican Republic,  Ecuador, El Salvador,  Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, South Korea, the United Kingdom (excluding Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam. Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan remain eligible.

The Department of State implemented the electronic registration system beginning with DV-2005 in order to make the DV process more efficient and secure. The Department utilizes special technology and other means to identify those who commit fraud for the purposes of illegal immigration or those who submit multiple entries.

For detailed information about entry requirements, along with frequently asked questions about the DV lottery, please see the instructions for the DV-2014 DV lottery available at Travel.state.gov.