The Department of State (DOS) released instructions on how to apply for the 2021 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program

The DOS annually administers the statutorily-mandated Diversity Immigrant Visa Program. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides for a class of immigrants known as “diversity immigrants” from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. For Fiscal Year 2021, 55,000 Diversity Visas (DVs) will be available. There is no cost to register for the DV program and it is safe for non-immigrant only visa holders to apply (i.e., F, J, etc.).

Applicants who are selected in the program (selectees) must meet simple but strict eligibility requirements to qualify for a diversity visa. The DOS determines selectees through a randomized computer drawing. The DOS distributes diversity visas among six geographic regions, and no single country may receive more than seven percent of the available DVs in any one year.

For DV-2021, natives of the following countries are not eligible to apply, because more than 50,000 natives of these countries immigrated to the United States in the previous five years: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam. Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and Taiwan are eligible.

Applicants must submit entries for the DV-2021 program electronically at dvlottery.state.gov between noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Wednesday, October 2, 2019, and noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-5), Tuesday, November 5, 2019. Do not wait until the last week of the registration period to enter, as heavy demand may result in website delays. No late entries or paper entries will be accepted. The law allows only one entry per person during each registration period. The DOS uses sophisticated technology to detect multiple entries. Individuals with more than one entry will be disqualified. Please visit the DOS website for instructions.