2016 Diversity Visa Program Registration

The 2016 Diversity Visa Program (DV-2016) will open at noon (EDT) on Wednesday, October 1, and will close at noon (EST) on Monday, November 3, 2014.

Applicants must submit entries electronically during this period using the State Department’s electronic DV entry form.  Paper entries will not be accepted.  All entrants must print and retain their online confirmation page after completing their DV entries so that they will be able to check their entry status.  Applicants are strongly encouraged not to wait until the last week of the registration period to enter.  Heavy demand may result in website delays.

There are a maximum of 55,000 Diversity Visas issued each fiscal year.  These are made available to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.  The annual DV program makes visas available to persons meeting the simple, but strict, eligibility requirements. A computer-generated, random drawing chooses selectees, which are then distributed among six geographic regions, with a greater number of visas going to regions with lower rates of immigration, and with no visas going to nationals of countries sending more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States over the period of the past five years.  For DV-2016, natives of the following countries are not eligible to apply because the countries sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States in the previous five years: BANGLADESH, BRAZIL, CANADA, CHINA (mainland-born), COLOMBIA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, ECUADOR, EL SALVADOR, HAITI, INDIA, JAMAICA, MEXICO, NIGERIA, PAKISTAN, PERU, PHILIPPINES, SOUTH KOREA, UNITED KINGDOM (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and VIETNAM.  A “native” ordinarily means someone born within a particular country, regardless of the individual’s current country of residence or nationality. Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and Taiwan are eligible.