The U.S. State Department will begin accepting online registrations for the 2022 Diversity Visa (DV) lottery aka green card lottery starting October 7, 2020 at noon EDT. Those who wish to enter the lottery have until Tuesday, November 10, 2020 at noon EST to file online.

For FY 2022, the DV lottery program will make up to 55,000 green card numbers available through random selection and the results will be announced in May 2021. Those selected in the lottery can submit their green card applications starting on October 1, 2021.

To register for the DV Lottery, you must meet the following eligibility criteria:

  • Be born or have a spouse (and in some circumstances, a parent) born in a country with low rates of US immigration. The following countries are excluded from the FY2022 lottery, so if you are born in one of these countries, you are not eligible to participate in the lottery:
    • Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (including Hong Kong SAR), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.
  • Must have a high school education (or equivalent) or at least two years of qualifying work experience.
  • Must submit an online form and a digital photo through the official DV lottery website. DV lottery applicants may include a spouse (same-sex or opposite-sex) and children in their entry. Only one entry is permitted per person.

It is critical to carefully follow the State Department's official lottery instructions , or you may be disqualified. Also, very important to only use the official DV lottery website is located on the State Department website and to remember that the State Department does not charge a fee for lottery registrations. To learn more about DV lottery fraud, visit the websites of the State Department and the Federal Trade Commission.

If lottery assistance is needed, seek competent advice or reach out to us. Good luck to all the DV lottery entrants!

Disclaimer: This Alert has been prepared and published for informational purposes only and is not offered, nor should be construed, as legal advice. For more information, please see the firm's full disclaimer.