2023 U.S. Green Card Lottery Set To Open Next Week – State Department Announces

The U.S. government announced on Friday October 1, 2021 that registration for the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program for Fiscal Year 2023 (DV-2023), popularly known as the visa lottery, will officially open up next week.

The Department of State, which administers the program, said the electronic enrollment period will roll out on Wednesday, Oct. 6, at noon.

The entry period for the immigration program — which will allocate up to 55,000 immigrant visas or green cards in 2023 — will close on Tuesday, Nov. 9 at noon, authorities said.

Foreigners interested in immigrating legally to the United States must submit their applications electronically only through dvprogram.state.gov. “Do not wait until the last week of the registration period to enter as heavy demand may result in website delays,” officials recommended.

“No late entries or paper entries will be accepted. The law allows only one entry per person during each entry period,” they said in the https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Diversity-Visa/DV-Instructions-Translations/DV-2023-Instructions-Translations/DV-2023-Instructions-English.pdfinstructions for the 2023 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program. Attempting to enter the program more than once automatically disqualifies the applicant, they said.

2023 Diversity Visa Program

The 2023 Diversity Visa Program provides permanent resident visas to foreign citizens in countries with low immigration rates to the United States in the previous five years. Participation in the DV-2023 program is free and the application process is quite simple.

Winners are determined through a randomized computer drawing. Applicants must meet simple but strict eligibility requirements to qualify, according to the Department of State, which distributes the immigrant visas among six geographic regions. The program is widely popular around the globe because it does not require a U.S. sponsor to immigrate. For the DV-2022, the program received 7,336,302 qualified entries — 13,191,296 foreign nationals including family members of principal applicants.

Applicants must submit entries for the DV-2023 program electronically at dvprogram.state.gov with the entire “E-DV Entry Form” completed.

We strongly encourage you to complete the entry form yourself, without a ‘visa consultant,’ ‘visa agent,’ or other facilitator who offers to help,” authorities said in reference to unscrupulous visa facilitators who “have been known to assist entrants with their entries, retain the confirmation page printout, and then demand more money in exchange for the confirmation number.”

There is no fee charged to submit an electronic entry. However, if you are selected and apply for a Diversity Visa, you must pay all required visa application fees at the time of visa application and interview directly to the consular cashier at the U.S. embassy or consulate.

If you are a selectee already in the United States and you apply to USCIS to adjust status, you will pay all required fees directly to USCIS.

If you are selected, you will receive details of required fees with the instructions provided through the E-DV website at dvprogram.state.gov.

The results will be available from May 8, 2022, through at least Sept. 30, 2023. Therefore, it is important that applicants retain the unique confirmation number received after completing the entry, as well as a printout of the confirmation screen, authorities recommended.

If selected, an individual will be directed to a confirmation page that provides further instructions, including legal fees related to immigration to the United States. All winners, including family members, must be issued immigrant visas by Sept. 30, 2023, to be able to obtain a green card under the visa lottery category.

But first, selectees go through a strict consular interview process.

“Interviews for the DV-2023 program will begin in October 2022 for selectees who have submitted all pre-interview paperwork and other information as requested in the notification instructions.”

African Countries Eligible For 2023 Visa Lottery

Algeria
Angola
Benin
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Cabo Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Comoros
Congo
Congo, Democratic Republic of the
Cote D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
Djibouti
Egypt*
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Eswatini
Ethiopia
Gabon
Gambia, The
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Kenya
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius
Morocco
Mozambique
NamibiaSenegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Somalia
South Africa

South Sudan
Sudan
Tanzania
Togo
Tunisia
Uganda
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Niger
Rwanda
Sao Tome and Principe

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Story Culled from Miami Herald