The Green Card Lottery operates on a schedule that has two important months during the year: May and October.
Most often, October is the month where people looking to file for the Green Card Lottery can file. This is called the registration period and it lasts for about a month and can sometimes spill over into November.
This is the period where the future Green Card winners are put into a pool for selection.
The month where the winners are selected will be May of the year following the registration period. After one checks whether or not they have won the lottery they can begin the application process for a Green Card.
Below is a list of the official names of the Green Card Lotteries throughout the years and the months in which the registration periods and selection dates were.
DV-2013 — Registration period took place in fall of 2011, winners announced in 2012, Green Cards to be distributed in 2013.
DV-2014 — Registration period took place in fall of 2012, winners to be announced in 2013, Green Cards to be distributed in 2014.
DV-2015 — Registration period takes place in fall of 2013, winners to be announced in 2014, Green Cards to be distributed in 2015.
DV-2016 — Registration period takes place in fall of 2014, winners to be announced in 2015, Green Cards to be distributed in 2016.
It is important to note that although the Green Card Lottery has been around for many years now, it may not always be available. There is a great deal of discussion regarding immigration reform in the United States Congress. There has also been talk about ending the Divesity Visa Program.
DV-2015 may very well be the last time that anyone will be able to take advantage of this fantastic immigration program.