This week, the U.S. government opened the entry period to participate in the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program for Fiscal Year 2022 (DV-2022), which ends on Nov. 10, 2020.
Popularly known as the visa lottery, the program will once again give away 55,000 green cards to foreigners. Participation is simple and free.
The official instructions for the 2022 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program DV-2022 explain to the very detail how to enter the computerized draw, who qualifies and who doesn’t, and it also contains a section with frequent questions and answers, chief among them the requirement to have a valid, unexpired passport, to be able to submit the entry form.
But due to the huge worldwide interest in this popular program that allows foreigners to live and work legally and permanently in the United States — last year there were 6,741,128 qualified entries or 11,830,707 foreign nationals including family members — the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs has been publishing in its Twitter account some advice for visa hopefuls.
Tips from the U.S. government to qualify for the visa lottery 2022
▪ Don’t reuse photos submitted for previous Diversity Visa Program entries.
One of the essential requirements to participate in the lottery is to submit, along with the electronic application, a recent digital photograph, both of the main petitioner and of their spouse and children, that meets these U.S. government standards.
Photos must have been taken in the last six months. Here are some examples of how they should look like.
▪ Keep the confirmation number of your registry in the program.
At the end of the electronic registration process, which can only be completed through the site https://dvprogram.state.gov/, the program will give the applicant a registration confirmation number.
DV-2022 participants should visit the Entrant Status Check page beginning May 8, 2021, to find out whether their entry has been selected using the confirmation number they received when they submitted their forms.
▪ Include spouses and minor children in the application, even if they won’t travel with the petitioner
“If applying for DV-2022, you must list your spouse and all unmarried children under the age of 21, even if they will not be traveling with you,” says the State Department. Here are additional instructions.
How to enter the DV-2022 green card contest
Foreign nationals can sign up and submit their electronic entry at dvlottery.state.gov.
After registering online, the green card hopeful will see a confirmation screen containing his or her name and a unique confirmation number a person must print to verify if he or she was chosen when the results are out.
People who already live in the United States with legal non-immigrant status can also participate, provided their country of origin is included.
For 2022, foreigners must have been born in qualifying countries. Natives from these countries are not eligible for the DV-2022: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (including Hong Kong SAR), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.
You can read this story in Spanish in el Nuevo Herald.
Daniel Shoer Roth is a journalist covering immigration law who does not offer legal advice or individual assistance to applicants. Follow him on Twitter @DanielShoerRoth or Instagram. The contents of this story do not constitute legal advice.
Daniel Shoer Roth es un galardonado autor, biógrafo y periodista con 20 años en la plantilla de el Nuevo Herald, donde se ha desempeñado como reportero, columnista de noticias y actual productor de crecimiento digital. También es coordinador de AccesoMiami.com, una guía sobre todo lo que necesitas saber sobre Miami, asuntos legales e inmigración.