On October 6, 2021 the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program known commonly as the “DV Lottery” opened up its annual online registration.  The registration period will close on November 9, 2021.  Applicants must submit registrations online at the following site: https://www.dvlottery.state.gov. The DV lottery is a program designed to promote permanent residence for foreign nationals that do not normally have a high rate of green card applications coming from their countries or areas of the world.  55,000 applicants are selected from the registration pool that is accessible to all countries except the following: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (including Hong Kong SAR), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, Venezuela, and Vietnam. These countries are excluded because they have had more than 50,000 immigrants coming to the U.S. in the past 5 years.

Not all applicants are eligible to register for the DV lottery. Applicants must meet the following educational/experiential requirements:

• at least a high school education or its equivalent, defined as successful completion of a 12-year course of formal elementary and secondary education;

OR

• two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience to perform. The Department of State will use the U.S. Department of Labor’s O*Net Online database to determine qualifying work experience.

Please note that unlike other employment-based or family-based green card programs it is permissible to register for the DV lottery without any negative implication for those possessing single-intent visas such as B-1/2 visitors, F-1 students, J-1 exchange visitors, and TN Free trade workers.  Tafapolsky & Smith LLP (“T&S”) encourage all applicants eligible for the program to register for it.