The Diversity Immigrant Visa program is a United States congressionally-mandated lottery program for receiving a United States Permanent Resident Card. It is also known as the Green Card Lottery. The lottery is administered on an annual basis by the Department of State and conducted under the terms of Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Section 131 of the Immigration Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-649) amended INA 203 to provide for a new class of immigrants known as "diversity immigrants" (DV immigrants). The Act makes available 50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.
To enter the DV lottery, a person must be a native of one of the listed countries (see DV 2013 Country List document; For DV-2013, natives of the following countries are not eligible to apply because the countries sent a total of more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States in the previous five years.
BANGLADESH, BRAZIL, CANADA, CHINA (mainland-born), COLUMBIA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, ECUADOR, EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HAITI, INDIA, JAMAICA, MEXICO, PAKISTAN, PERU, PHILIPPINES, SOUTH KOREA, UNITED KINGDOM (except Northern Ireland) and it dependent territories, and VIETNAM.
Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau, SAR, and Taiwan are eligible. Chances in eligibility this year: For DV-2013, natives fo South Sudan and Poland are now eligible for selection, while Bangladesh natives are now ineligible.
Native of a qualifying country: In most cases, this means the country in which you were born. However, there are two other ways you may be able to qualify:
First, if a person was born in a country whose natives are ineligible but their spouse was born in a country whose natives are eligible, that person can claim their spouse's country of birth provided both are on the selected entry, are issued visas and enter the U.S. simultaneously.
Second, if a person was born in a country whose natives are ineligible, but neither of their parents were born there or resided there at the time of his/her birth, that person may claim nativity in one of their parents' country of birth if it is a country whose natives qualify for the DV-2013 program.
To enter the lottery, a person must meet either the education or work experience requirement of the DV program. A person must have either a high school education or its equivalent, defined as successful completion of a 12-year course of elementary and secondary education; OR, two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience to perform.
If a person cannot meet either of these requirements, they are not eligible to submit an entry to the DV program.
The Department of State will only accept completed Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Forms submitted electronically at www.dvlottery.state.gov during the registration period between noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Tuesday, October 4, 2011 and noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4) Saturday, November 5, 2011.
All entries by an individual will be disqualified if more than ONE entry for that individual is received, regardless of who submitted the entry. A person may prepare and submit their own entry, or have someone submit the entry for them.
A successfully registered entry will result in a confirmation screen containing their name and a unique confirmation number, which can be printed. You must print this confrimation screen for your records using the print function of your web browser and ensure that you retain your confirmation number.
Starting May 1, 2012 a person can check the status of their entry by returning to the Web site and entering the confirmation number and personal information.
For more detailed information about the DV 2013 process you can refer callers to the Department of State website at
It is highly recommended you make sure your digital photo(s) meet all the requirements (see questions below) before you attempt to fill out the application. Once you have done all the necessary preparation, you can click this link to begin the online application:
Like passport photos, there are strict requirements for the composition, format and size of the photos you upload as part of the application. See the following website for tips and examples of proper composition:
If your digital photos meet the composition requirements, you can use this "photo check" to make sure they also meet the format (JPEG) and size requirements (640x480 for digital photos or 600x600 for scanned photos):
Yes. If you only need to change the format or size, or remove (“crop”) extra space around the sides, and if you feel comfortable following the instructions below, you can make an appointment and do this on a library computer:
If you require more assistance with your digital photos, it is highly recommended you visit the library at the locations and times listed below, where more help can be provided.
The Mid-Manhattan Library can take a digital photo of you and provide laptops for online registration. The Bronx Library Center can scan an existing photo onto a required flash drive. This service is only available during limited hours, as listed below.
Bronx Library Center (NO digital photos / scanning available ONLY)
310 East Kingsbridge Road, 10458
Bronx, New York 10458
718 579-4244
2pm - 4pm
Friday, October 7, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
5pm -7 pm
Friday, October 21, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Mid-Manhattan Library Digital photos ONLY/NO scanning available
455 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10016
(212) 340-0863
4th-floor Computer Classroom
Provide laptops for online registration.
10:30am - 1:30pm
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Ronald & Michelle Reyes. 15 Palm Court, Flatbush, Brooklyn. October 25, 1978. NYPL Photography Collection.
One of 700,000 pictures in the NYPL Digital Gallery
NYPL Photostore