2. Who is eligible to apply for the lottery?
To enter, an applicant must be a native of an eligible country (see below), and MUST have EITHER a high school education or its equivalent; OR two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience (these requirements are explained in details below).

3. What are the requirements for education or work experience?
The law and regulations require that every applicant must have at least a high school education or its equivalent or, within the past five years, have two years of work experience in an occupation requiring at least two years training or experience. A "high school education or equivalent" is defined as successful completion of a twelve-year course of elementary and secondary education in the United States or successful completion in another country of a formal course of elementary and secondary education comparable to a high school education in the United States. Documentary proof of education or work experience should NOT be submitted with the lottery application, but must be presented to the consular officer at the time of immigrant visa interview.

4. Must I re-apply every year for the lottery to be considered?
The law specifies there must be a separate application for each year's visa lottery. The fact that a person has registered for Visa Lotteries in the past has no effect on the next Visa Lottery. Each person who wishes to be included in next Lottery must submit a new application.

5. How is the term "native" defined or "country of birth" ? Are there any bases upon which persons who have not been born in a qualifying country may be eligible to enter?
"Native" ordinarily means someone born within a particular country, regardless of the individual's current country of residence or nationality. According to Section 202(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, if a person was born in an ineligible country but his/her spouse was born in an eligible country, such person can claim the spouse's country of birth rather than his/her own. For example, a person born in an excluded country such as England may still apply if his or her spouse was born in a qualifying country. Also, if a person was born in an ineligible country, but neither of his/her parents was born there or resided there at the time of the birth, such person may be able to claim nativity in one of the parents' country of birth. For example, if one of your parents was born in France and the other was born in Germany, and you were born in Canada while they were visiting Canada, but had not established residency; you could claim France or Germany as your qualifying country.

6. Why do certain countries not qualify for the diversity program?
Diversity visas are intended to provide an immigration opportunity for persons from countries other than the main source countries of immigration to the U.S. The law states that no diversity visas shall be provided for "high admission" countries, that is, countries from which during the previous five years there were more than 55,000 immigrants in the Family-Sponsored and Employment-Based visa categories. The list of countries, which do not qualify, is subject to change from one year to the next.

7. Is each applicant limited to only one application?
Yes, the law allows only ONE application BY OR FOR each person during each registration period; SUBMISSION OF MORE THAN ONE APPLICATION WILL DISQUALIFY THE PERSON FROM ENTERING THE LOTTERY. Applicants may be disqualified at time of registration or at the time of the visa interview if more than one entry is detected. Submission of an application during one or more previous DV lottery has no effect on entitlement to participate in the next DV lottery.

8. May a husband and wife each submit a separate application?
Yes, if otherwise qualified, a husband and a wife may each submit one lottery application. If you receive a Green Card through the lottery, your spouse and unmarried children under 21 will also get green cards at the same time as you. Unmarried children under 21 may be included on each of their parents' application forms. All children over 21 years of age must file separate applications. Submitting separate applications for you and your spouse double your chances of winning.

9. Is there a minimum age to apply for the lottery?
There is no minimum age to apply for the visa lottery. However, the requirement of a high school education or work experience for each principal applicant at the time of visa issuance will effectively disqualify most persons who are under age 18.

10. How does the Green Card Lottery work?
At the National Visa Center all entries received will be separated into one of six geographic regions and individually numbered. After the end of the application period, a computer will randomly select cases from among all the mail received for each geographic region. Within each region, the first letter randomly selected will be the first case registered, the second letter selected the second registration, etc. When a case has been registered, the applicant will immediately be sent a notification letter by the National Visa Center, which will provide appropriate visa application instructions. Note: Entries that do not have all required information will be rejected. Also, entries received before or after the announced dates will be disqualified.

11. How would I know if I win?
Applicants will be selected at random by computer from among all qualified entries. Only winners will be notified by mail at the address listed on their application. The notifications will be sent to the winners between April and July, along with instructions on how to apply for an immigrant visa. Persons not selected will NOT be notified. U.S. embassies and consulates will not be able to provide a list of successful applicants. Anyone who does NOT receive a letter will know that his/her application has not been selected.

12. How many applicants will be registered?
There are 55,000 DV visas available, but more than that number of individuals will be registered. A total of about 90,000 persons, both principal applicants and their spouses and children, will be registered. Since it is likely that some of the first 55,000 persons who are registered will not pursue their cases to visa issuance.

13. May persons who are in the U.S. apply?
Yes, an applicant may be in the U.S. or in another country, and the application may be submitted in the U.S. or abroad.

14. May persons who are already registered for an immigrant visa in another category apply?
Yes, such persons may enter the lottery.

15. What is my chances of winning?
The winning chances cannot be determined at this time. It will depend on the number of applications to be submitted. Usually out of 6-7 million applications, 100,000 are selected initially. So, chances are 1:60-1:70. Which is much higher, than winning a regular lottery.

16. Where is the Lottery held?
DV-2007 application will only be accepted online.

17. What is the cost for entering the Lottery?
U.S. Government does not charge a fee for entering the DV program. Divlottery.com charges $15 for a single application and $20 for a family application. Divlottery.com guarantees that you application will be reviewed and submitted to the DV program.

18. How do I submit my photograph?
You will have to upload your photograph with your application or you can email it to us after submitting your information.