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The congressionally mandated
Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is administered on an annual basis by the
Department of State and conducted based on United States law, specifically
Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). This law provides
for a class of immigrants known as ―diversity immigrants,‖ with visas made
available to persons from countries with historically low rates of immigration
to the United States. For fiscal year 2013, 50,000 diversity visas will be
available. The annual DV program makes visas available to persons meeting
simple, but strict, eligibility requirements. A computer-generated, random
drawing chooses selectees for DVs. The visas are distributed among six
geographic regions, and within each region, no single country may receive more
DV REGISTRATION PERIOD
Entries for
the DV-2013 DV program must be submitted electronically between noon, Eastern
Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Tuesday, October 4, 2011, and noon, Eastern
Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Saturday, November 5, 2011. Applicants may access
the electronic DV Entry Form (E-DV) at www.dvlottery.state.gov during the
registration period. Paper entries will not be accepted. We strongly encourage
applicants not to wait until the last week of the registration period to enter.
Heavy demand may result in website delays. No entries will be accepted after
noon, EDT, on November 5, 2011. To enter the DV program, you must be a native
of one of the listed countries. In most cases, this means the country in which you were born.
To enter the DV program, you must
meet either the education or work experience requirement of the DV
program: You 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. The U.S. Department of
Labor’s O*Net OnLine database will be used to determine qualifying work
experience If you cannot meet either of these requirements, you should NOT
submit an entry to the DV program.
PROCEDURES FOR SUBMITTING AN ENTRY TO
DV-2013
The
Department of State will only accept completed E-DV entry forms submitted
electronically at www.dvlottery.state.gov
during the registration period
between noon, EDT (GMT-4), Tuesday, October 4, 2011, and noon, 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. You may prepare
and submit your own entry or have someone submit the entry for you. There are
NO COSTS or FEES to register for the DV Program. A successfully registered entry will result
in a confirmation screen containing your name and a unique confirmation number.
You must print this confirmation screen for your records using the print
function of your web browser and ensure that you retain your confirmation
number.
Starting
May 1, 2012, you will be able to check the status of your DV-2013 entry by
returning to www.dvlottery.state.gov Entrant Status Check and entering your
unique confirmation number and personal information. Entrant Status Check will
be the sole means of informing you of your selection for DV-2013, providing
instructions to you on how to proceed with your application, and notifying you
of your appointment for your immigrant visa interview. Therefore, it is
essential you retain your confirmation number. The U.S. Department of State is
unable to provide your entry confirmation number if it is lost. Paper entries are no longer accepted. The sole
method for entry to the 2013 Diversity Visa Program is through this electronic
process.
Instructions for Submitting a Digital
Photograph (Image)
A digital photograph (image) of you,
your spouse, and each child must be submitted online with the E-DV entry form.
The image file must adhere to the compositional and technical specifications
listed below. Entrants may test their photos for suitability through the photo
validation link on the e-DV website before submitting their entries. The photo
validation provides additional technical advice on photo composition, along
with examples of acceptable and unacceptable photos.
Compositional Specifications: The submitted digital image must
conform to the following compositional specifications or the entry will be
disqualified.
Head Position: The person being photographed must
directly face the camera.
The head of the person should not be
tilted up, down, or to the side. The head height or facial region size
(measured from the top of the head, including the hair, to the bottom of the
chin) must be between 50 percent and 69 percent of the image's total height.
The eye height (measured from the bottom of the image to the level of the eyes)
should be between 56 percent and 69 percent of the image's height. The person
being photographed should be in front of a neutral, light-colored background.
Dark or patterned backgrounds are not acceptable.
Taking a New Digital Image: If a new digital image is taken, it
must be in the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format. The maximum
image file size is 240 kilobytes (240 KB). Minimum acceptable dimensions are
600 pixels (width) x 600 pixels (height). Image pixel dimensions must be in a
square aspect ratio (meaning the height must be equal to the width). 
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