US Immigration News

The Results of the 2021 Diversity Visa Lottery

3 minute read
"The Diversity Lottery Visa Program is offered by the US government as a way to encourage immigration from countries that have relatively low levels of immigration to the US. Every year around 50,000 diversity visas are offered to immigrants from countries with a low level of immigration. Annually, around 20 million people apply for the program, therefore, there is a very steep chance of success. However, there is no fee required to apply for the program and the basic eligibility requirements are easy to meet. Therefore, it is still a chance for many immigrants to apply for permanent residence."
Written by My Visa Source Team
Published on:  Jul 3, 2021
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The Diversity Lottery Visa Program is offered by the US government as a way to encourage immigration from countries that have relatively low levels of immigration to the US. Every year around 50,000 diversity visas are offered to immigrants from countries with a low level of immigration. Annually, around 20 million people apply for the program, therefore, there is a very steep chance of success. However, there is no fee required to apply for the program and the basic eligibility requirements are easy to meet. Therefore, it is still a chance for many immigrants to apply for permanent residence. 

What Are the Eligibility Requirements for the Diversity Visa Lottery?

To qualify, applicants must be from an eligible country and have at least a high school diploma or 2 years of work experience in the last 5 years that require at least 2-years of education or training to perform. One must also have a valid passport to qualify. 

Every year, the US Department of State publicizes the invitation to register along with the list of countries that are ineligible to apply. For the most recent registration in 2020 for the lottery in 2021, the listed ineligible countries included: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China, Columbia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom and its dependent territories and Vietnam. 

Applicants from ineligible countries may still apply for the diversity visa lottery if their spouse is a registered national of an eligible country. This is also valid for children born to parents in an eligible country. 

Diversity visa lottery winners must clear all the grounds for admissibility to successfully obtain permanent residence through this visa. Having any type of medical or criminal inadmissibility will result in denied entry to the US.

How and When Can You Apply for the Diversity Visa Lottery?

The submission dates for the Diversity Visa Lottery are usually set in early October and early November on the dvprogram.state.gov website. The most recent lottery submissions were opened on October 7 till November 10, 2020 for the 2021 entrants.

It is important to apply before the deadline as the website receives a lot of new entries towards the end which results in significant traffic on the website leading to delays. Submitting more than one application will get an applicant disqualified. It is best to carefully read the instructions on how to fill the application to avoid making mistakes. Once your application is submitted, you will receive confirmation through physical mail or email.

What Were the Results of the 2021 Diversity Visa Lottery?

The Bureau of Consular Affairs (BCA) announced the winners of the 2021 Diversity Visa Lottery for the 2019 Entrants, which issued around 6,000 permanent resident visas to residents of each of the eligible countries. Egypt, Russia, Iran, Algeria and Sudan topped the list. The Visa Lottery Immigration Scheme allows immigrants from 6 geographic locations every year. Each country has a share of 7% of the total immigrants accepted every year. Around 55,000 immigrant visas are issued through this scheme annually.

For the 2021 Diversity Visa Lottery, the BCA invited 132,000 participants to apply to 132,000 participants in the lottery. This number also includes immigrants who might not apply for a visa despite their selection. The lottery received more than 6.7 million applications, meaning 11.8 million new immigrants for the 2021 lottery.

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