The Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky has registered and notified the winners of the DV-2021 diversity lottery.  The diversity lottery was conducted under the terms of section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and makes available *55,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.  Approximately 132,404 applicants have been registered and notified and may now make an application for an immigrant visa. Since it is likely that some of the first *55,000 persons registered will not pursue their cases to visa issuance, this larger figure should ensure that all DV-2021 numbers will be used during fiscal year 2021 (October 1, 2020, until September 30, 2021).

Applicants registered for the DV-2021 program were selected at random from 6,741,128 qualified entries (11,830,707 with derivatives) received during the 35-day application period that ran from noon, Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday, October 2, 2019, until noon, Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday, November 6, 2019.  The visas have been apportioned among six geographic regions with a maximum of seven percent available to persons born in any single country.  During the visa interview, principal applicants must provide proof of a high school education or its equivalent or show two years of work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience within the past five years.  Those selected will need to act on their immigrant visa applications quickly.  Applicants should follow the instructions in their notification letter and must fully complete the information requested.

Registrants living legally in the United States who wish to apply for adjustment of their status must contact U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for information on the requirements and procedures.  Once the total *55,000 visa numbers have been used, the program for fiscal year 2021 will end.  Selected applicants who do not receive visas by September 30, 2021, will derive no further benefit from their DV-2021 registration.  Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2021 principal applicants are only entitled to derivative diversity visa status until September 30, 2021.

Dates for the DV-2022 program registration period will be widely publicized in the coming months.  Those interested in entering the DV-2022 program should check the Department of State’s Visa web page in the coming months.

*The Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) passed by Congress in November 1997 stipulated that up to 5,000 of the 55,000 annually allocated diversity visas be made available for use under the NACARA program.  The reduction of the limit of available visas to 50,000 began with DV-2000. This will result in reduction of the DV-2021 annual limit to approximately 54,750.

The following is the statistical breakdown by foreign state of chargeability of those registered for the DV-2021 program:

Natives of the following countries were not eligible to participate in DV-2021: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.