The Diversity Visa lottery is conducted every year, under the Immigration and Nationality Act. Through the DV lottery program, 50,000 permanent resident visas are made available to people belonging to countries with low rates of immigration to America. The winners of the DV-2013 program have been registered and certified by the Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky.
The number of winning applications is around 105,628. But not all these selected applicants will receive an immigrant visa to the United States. Only half the number will qualify for an immigrant visa. People who had applied for an immigration visa through this program may check their status, using the confirmation number, through the entrant status check on the E-DV website. If they find that they had been selected, they may file a petition for an immigrant visa.
The total number of qualified applicants who registered for the DV-2013 program was 7,941,400 (12,577,463 with derivatives). These applications were received during the 30-day application period from October 4, 2011 to November 5, 2011. The applications registered through the Green Card lottery program 2013, have been selected from the 7,941,400 applications. The KCC has distributed the visas among six geographic regions. It is distributed in such a way that a maximum of seven percent of the visas will be made available to individuals born in a single country.
The principal visa applicant will be required to submit a proof of a high school graduation or an equivalent, during the visa interview. If the applicant is not a high school graduate, he must show two years of work experience in a job that requires at least two years of training, in the past five years. Derivatives of the principal applicant such as spouse and children, who wish to accompany or follow the principal applicant, will be entitled for the derivative diversity visa only till the 30th of September 2013.
The selected applicants are not required to act on their immigrant visa petitions immediately as they should follow the instructions that they will receive through the entrant status check, in the E-DV website.
Applicants who are already in the United States on some other legal status must contact the USCIS, if they wish to apply for adjustment of status. The USCIS will provide the required information about the procedures and requirements for adjustment of status.
The program for the fiscal year 2013 will end, after the usage of the total 50,000 visas. If the selected applicants do not get visas before the 30th of September 2013, they cannot get access to any visa benefits from their registration for the DV-2013 program. The US Department of State will publicize the dates for the DV-2014 program, in the upcoming months.