(CNN) — The US Government will grant some 55,000 legal residence documents through this “Visa Lottery” mechanism.
If you registered within the established deadlines, you will be able to see the results of the winners by entering this link: dvprogram.state.gov as of May 6.
What is the “visa lottery”?
The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program or “visa lottery” provides about 55,000 people a year the opportunity to obtain a permanent resident card, known as a Green Card, in the United States. The Green Card allows the holder to have permanent residence in the country and eventually be eligible to apply for US citizenship.
The immigrant visa lottery is primarily for people living outside of the US, although some winners may be in the country legally on other types of visas. Only countries that have had fewer than 50,000 immigrants in the past five years are eligible to participate.
Visas are distributed by region: Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America, Central America and the Caribbean. Here you can consult the complete list of eligible countries.
The Department of State is responsible for administering the program on a random basis. However, those selected must meet certain safety and eligibility standards.
How to check if you were a winner?
To find out if you were the winner of the visa lottery, which is officially called the Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) Program, you must enter the following information in the form on the website:
- The 16-digit confirmation number between letters and numbers (Example: 20231O0DZWY3DOV9) that was provided at the end of your registration
- Name and last name
- Year of birth
All data must match the ones you entered when registering for the raffle.
If you are the winner, you must log in at this link https://ceac.state.gov/IV/Login.aspx and fill out form DS-260 to apply for an immigrant visa. Subsequently, you will receive an email indicating an interview date with the embassy, in which the visa will be approved or denied.
It is important to check the results of the immigrant visa lottery to find out if you were selected. The Department of State will not send a letter or email to let you know if you were selected. If you get any kind of notice, ignore it because it could be a fraud.
With information from Leila Medina
