Immigrant Visas

Diversity Immigrants (Diversity Visa Lottery Program)

Since October 1, 1994, 50,000 immigrant visas have been made available annually to natives of foreign states which the U.S. Attorney General has determined to have had a low ratio of immigrants admitted under the other sections of the immigration law. Such immigrants are identified by random selection each year by the Secretary of State from among persons who submit applications during a specified period. Applicants for diversity immigrant status must have a high school education or two (2) years of recent work experience in a skilled job.

• Applications for the 2009 Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery will be accepted between noon Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Wednesday, October 3, 2007 and noon Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-5) Sunday, December 2, 2007. 
• For detailed information on DV-2009, please visit the U.S. Department of State's 2009 DV Lottery Instructions page.

Warning: Diversity Immigrant Visa Fraud

There have been many recent instances of fraudulent websites posing as official U.S. Government sites, and "scam" e-mails posing as Diversity Visa lottery notification and soliciting funds.

Actual notification of DV lottery success will originate from the Kentucky Consular Center, generally in the form of written notification mailed to the address provided in the application process. Legitimate U.S. Government notification of Diversity Visa lottery registration will never solicit payment. Diversity Visa applicants will not be required to pay any fees until the day of the personal interview at the U.S. Embassy.

In a similar fraud scheme, some companies posing as the U.S. Government have sought money in order to "complete" lottery entry applications. There is no charge to complete the Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form. To learn more see the Department of State Warning and the Federal Trade Commission Warning.

Only the website of the U.S. Embassy in the Czech Republic, and domestic U.S. Government sites (which always end with ".gov" as the last three letters of the address) should be trusted as authoritative sources of travel and immigration information.