Promoting DV 2013 is not the objective of this blog. However, given the high level of interest – an lack of info – among readers, I decided to present a few extracts from US State Departement’s document, titled ‘Instructions for the 2013 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV-2013)’.

DV REGISTRATION PERIOD: Entries for the DV-2013 DV program must be submitted electronically between noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Tuesday, October 4, 2011, and noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Saturday, November 5, 2011. Applicants may access the electronic DV Entry Form (E-DV) at www.dvlottery.state.gov during the registration period. Paper entries will not be accepted. We strongly encourage applicants not to wait until the last week of the registration period to enter. Heavy demand may result in website delays. No entries will be accepted after noon, EDT, on November 5, 2011.

REQUIREMENTS FOR ENTRY

* To enter the DV program, you must be a native of one of the listed countries. See List Of Countries By Region Whose Natives Qualify.
Native of a qualifying country: In most cases, this means the country in which you were born. However, there are two other ways you may be able to qualify. First, if you were born in a country whose natives are ineligible but your spouse was born in a country whose natives are eligible, you can claim your spouse’s country of birth—provided that both you and your spouse are on the selected entry, are issued visas, and enter the United States simultaneously. Second, if you were born in a country whose natives are ineligible, but neither of your parents was born there or resided there at the time of your birth, you may claim nativity in one of your parents’ countries of birth if it is a country whose natives qualify for the DV-2013 program.

* To enter the DV program, you must meet either the education or work experience requirement of the DV program: You must have either a high school education or its equivalent, defined as successful completion of a 12-year course of elementary and secondary education; OR two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience to perform. The U.S. Department of Labor’s O*Net OnLine database will be used to determine qualifying work experience. For more information about qualifying work experience for the principal DV applicant, see Frequently Asked Question #13.
If you cannot meet either of these requirements, you should NOT submit an entry to the DV program. PROCEDURES FOR SUBMITTING AN ENTRY TO DV-2013

INFORMATION REQUIRED FOR THE ELECTRONIC ENTRY

There is only one way to enter the DV-2013 program. You must submit the DS 5501, the Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form (E-DV Entry Form), which is only accessible online at the EDV website www.dvlottery.state.gov. Failure to complete the form in its entirety will disqualify the entry. Those who submit the E-DV entry will be asked to include the information below on the E-DV Entry Form.

NOTICE: The Department of State strongly encourages applicants to complete the entry form without the assistance of “Visa Consultants,” “Visa Agents,” or other individuals who offer to submit an entry on behalf of applicants. If you use the services of somebody else to complete your entry form, you should be present when the entry is prepared, and you should retain the confirmation page and your unique confirmation number. Facilitators may try to withhold confirmation numbers in order to make an unlawful demand for money in exchange for notification information that should have been directly available to you.

Your confirmation number from your DV-2013 online entry registration is required to enable you to go to the E-DV website and receive notification of whether your entry has been selected through the Entrant Status Check available as of May 1, 2012, on the E-DV website www.dvlottery.state.gov. Entrant Status Check will be the sole means of informing you of your selection for DV-2013, providing instructions to you on how to proceed with your application, and notifying you of the date and time of your appointment for your immigrant visa interview. If you lose your confirmation information, you will not be able to check your DV entry status, and we will not resend the confirmation page information to you.

SELECTION OF APPLICANTS
Based on the allocations of available visas in each region and country, the computer will randomly select individuals from among qualified entries. All DV- 2013 entrants will be required to go to the E-DV website Entrant Status Check using the confirmation number saved from their DV-2013 online entry registration to find out whether their entry has been selected in the DV program. Entrant Status Check will be available starting May 1, 2012, at the E-DV website www.dvlottery.state.gov. Selectees will be directed to a confirmation page that will provide further instructions, including information on fees connected with immigration to the United States. Entrant Status Check will be the ONLY means by which selectees will be notified of their selection for DV-2013. The Department of State will not be mailing out notification letters. Those selected in the random drawing are NOT notified of their selection by e-mail. Those individuals NOT selected will be notified of their non-selection through Entrant Status Check. U.S. embassies and consulates will not provide a list of selectees. Selectees’ spouses and unmarried children under age 21 may also apply for visas to accompany or follow-to-join the principal applicant. DV-2013 visas will be issued between October 1, 2012, and September 30, 2013.

Processing of entries and issuance of DVs to selectees meeting eligibility requirements and their eligible family members MUST occur by midnight on September 30, 2013. Under no circumstances can DVs be issued or adjustments approved after this date, nor can family members obtain DVs to follow-to-join the principal applicant in the United States after this date.

In order to receive a DV to immigrate to the United States, those chosen in the random drawing must meet ALL eligibility requirements under U.S. law. These requirements may significantly increase the level of scrutiny required and time necessary for processing for natives of some countries listed in this notice including, but not limited to, countries identified as state sponsors of terrorism. Important Notice Electronic online entry in the annual DV program is FREE (there is no fee). The U.S. government employs no outside consultants or private services to operate the DV program. Any intermediaries or others who offer assistance to prepare DV entries do so without the authority or consent of the U.S. government. Use of any outside intermediary or assistance to prepare a DV entry is entirely at the entrant’s discretion. The ONLY website on which people can officially register to participation in the Diversity Program is www.dvlottery.state.gov. A qualified electronic entry submitted directly by an applicant has an equal chance of being randomly selected by computer, as does a qualified electronic entry received from an outside intermediary on behalf of the applicant. However, receipt of more than one entry per person will disqualify the person from registration, regardless of the source of the entry.

Download and Read the ‘Instructions for the 2013 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV-2013)’. [PDF| 280 kb]

See also the Diversity Visa Program webpage for information about:

• Important fraud warning
• DV qualifying occupations
• Diversity Visa program DV-2012 entrants may check the status of their DV-2012 entry at http://www.dvlottery.state.gov
• Diversity Visa 2011 selectees – Visas must be issued or adjustment of status completed by September 30, 2011.