Diversity Lottery

Green Card Through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program

The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV Program) makes up to 50,000 immigrant visas available annually, drawn from random selection among all entries to individuals who are from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. The DV Program is administered by the U.S. Department of State (DOS).

For an applicant to adjust status under the DV Program, you must establish that:

• Have been selected for a diversity visa by DOS’s lottery;
• Have an immigrant visa immediately available at the time of filing an adjustment application (Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status); and
• Are admissible to the United States.

For visa availability, check the latest month’s DOS Visa Bulletin. Section B contains a chart showing the current month’s visa availability in the Diversity Immigrant category. The chart shows when the Diversity Immigrant cut-off is met. When the cut-off is met, visas will be available in that month for the applicants with Diversity Immigrant lottery rank numbers below the specified cut-off numbers for their geographic areas.

Section C contains a chart showing the Diversity Immigrant category rank cut-offs for the following month, which represents the advance notification of Diversity Immigrant visa availability. As soon as a monthly Visa Bulletin is published, anyone with a lower rank number than the rank cut-off number shown in Section C is eligible to file for adjustment of status. This provides lottery winners the opportunity to file for adjustment of status up to six or seven weeks before a visa number can actually be allocated. This gives USCIS additional time to determine your eligibility for adjustment of status before the end of the fiscal year.

A Diversity Immigrant-based adjustment application cannot be adjudicated until a visa can be allocated, as indicated in the Visa Bulletin’s current Diversity Immigrant rank cut-offs for a particular month.

For assistance with this category, please contact Younossi Law.