Announcements

2013 Diversity Lottery: October 4, 2011-November 5, 2011

The online registration period for the 2013 Diversity Visa Program (DV-2013) will begin at www.dvlottery.state.gov on Tuesday, October 4, 2011, at noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), and conclude on Saturday, November 5, 2011, at noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4).

Applicants can only apply online at the website listed, and are encouraged to apply early as heavy demand toward the end of the registration period may result in website delays

The Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) Program is administered on an annual basis by the Department of State and targets natives of countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. The visas are distributed among six geographic regions, and within each region, no single country may receive more than seven percent of the available DVs in any one year.

Nationals of countries that have sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States over the past five years are not eligible to apply for the Diversity Visa program. For fiscal year 2013, 50,000 diversity visas will be available, and persons born in the following countries are ineligible to apply: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, South Korea, U.K. (except N. Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.

It should be noted that for married couples, where one spouse is born in a disqualified country, and the other in a qualifying country, both spouses qualify to file a separate application each, and both are considered born in the qualifying country for purposes of the lottery.

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