Business Immigration Insights

The State Department online registration period for the Congressionally mandated 2019 Diversity Visa (DV) lottery begins October 3, 2017 (at noon EST), and ends on November 7, 2017 (at noon EST). The DV lottery allows nationals from certain countries to apply for immigrant visas (“green cards”) outside of the normal immigrant visa process. Individuals already being sponsored for immigrant visas by family members or employers may participate as well. Requirements include being a national of an eligible country (although an applicant may qualify based on his or her spouse’s nationality) and high school education or work experience. Complete eligibility requirements and filing instructions can be found here.

Before taking office, President Trump said that he would end the DV lottery and that the upcoming lottery may be the last.  We will update this blog if there are any changes to the DV lottery program