Qualifications
Application Process

Moving from the most complex procedure to the easiest, let's go over the diversity visa lottery. Several years ago, the U.S. Department of State ("DOS") instituted a program known as the Diversity Immigrant Lottery (or, the DV). Under this program, each year approximately 50,000 green cards are issued to foreigners chosen randomly from a computer program. Each fall, the DOS announces a one-month period during which you may send in your application; at the conclusion of that period, the applications are logged into a computer and then names are pulled from the hat. If your name is chosen, congratulations, you get the lightening track to green card status. But don't start packing your bags yet because over 8,000,000 people apply for those 50,000 spots.

Qualifications

The U.S. government does limit this lottery to a rather broad applicant pool. To be eligible, you must have either (1) a high school education or its equivalent, defined by the government as "successful completion of a 12-year course of elementary and secondary education; or (2) two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience to perform. That's it. Not too much to ask right? Hell, if you're reading this web site, you almost certainly qualify. If not, just get your parents, siblings, spouse, anyone who does to apply. This is too easy to pass up.

For DV-2007, natives of the following countries are not eligible to apply because they sent a total of more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. in the previous five years:

CANADA, CHINA (mainland-born), COLOMBIA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, EL SALVADOR, HAITI, INDIA, JAMAICA, MEXICO, PAKISTAN, PHILIPPINES, POLAND, RUSSIA, 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.

ENTRIES FOR THE DV-2007 DIVERSITY VISA LOTTERY MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY BETWEEN WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2005 AND SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2005. APPLICANTS MAY ACCESS THE ELECTRONIC DIVERSITY VISA ENTRY FORM AT 'WWW.DVLOTTERY.STATE.GOV' DURING THE REGISTRATION PERIOD BEGINNING NOON ON OCTOBER 5. PAPER ENTRIES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. APPLICANTS ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST WEEK OF THE REGISTRATION PERIOD TO ENTER. HEAVY DEMAND MAY RESULT IN DELAYS. NO ENTRIES WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER NOON ON DECEMBER 4, 2005.

Read the full qualifications list here

Application Process

Now, if you're eligible, let's go over how to apply. You must submit the Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Forms submitted electronically at www.dvlottery.state.gov during the registration period beginning at 12:00 pm EST (GMT-5) on October 5, 200 5 and ending at 12:00 pm EST (GMT-5) on December 4, 2005. listed on it: (1) A digital photo (image) of each applicant, his/her spouse, and children must be submitted on-line with the electronic Entry Form.; The image file can be produced either by taking a new digital photograph or by scanning a photographic print with a digital scanner.(2) the date and place of your birth; (3) your native country, if it is different from your place of birth; (4) the name, date, and place of birth of your spouse and any children you may have; (5) your complete mailing address; (6) Your Mailing address (7) Phone Number (Optional) (8) Marital status (9) NUMBER OF CHILDREN THAT ARE UNMARRIED AND UNDER 21 YEARS OF AGE (10) SPOUSE INFORMATION - Name, Date of Birth, Gender, City/Town of Birth, Country of Birth, Photograph (11) CHILDREN INFORMATION - Name, Date of Birth, Gender, City/Town of Birth, Country of Birth, Photograph

That's it! No money, no sob stories, nothing. This is pure charity - just give them your information so that if they pull your application out of the pile, they can get in touch with you. But please follow the electronic submission instructions last year they disqualified 2,500,000 of the 8,000,000 applications for not following the directions: stapling the photograph, not signing the paper, etc. Don't screw this up, it's just sitting there for you on a platter.

Okay, now we've stressed you out a little by mentioning the disqualifications. We suggest you calm yourself by reviewing the official State Department press release that goes over, in painstaking detail, every element of this application process. You can read it at http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/ or on the DOS consular web site.

A few final points. First, there is just a one month window in which to send off your application, usually the month of October, but it could vary, so be sure to check out the DOS web site for next year's lottery. The way to keep track of these lotteries, which are named after the year, is to think of the year in which they'll make their decision. The most recent lottery was DV-2006 because, although the applications were due in November 2005, the names weren't pulled out until this year. Check out this press release to see how it all turned out with DV-2005 (The results for DV-2006 haven't been published yet). The next one is DV-2007, which should begin this coming fall. Don't miss it.