The DV-2013 Immigrant Visa Program, commonly known as the “Green Card Lottery,” started on October 4, 2011 for the fiscal year 2013.

Under this program 50,000 green cards are made available to persons from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States who meet the simple, but strict, eligibility requirements. If you want to become a permanent resident of the United States, you will have to apply for a green card.

Entries for the DV2013 Lottery can be submitted electronically between noon, EDT, on October 4, 2011, to noon EDT, November 5, 2011. Applicants may access the electronic DV Entry Form (E-DV) during the registration period. Paper entries will not be accepted.

A computer-generated, random drawing chooses selectees for DVs. The visas are distributed among six geographic regions, and within each region, no single country may receive more than seven percent of the available DVs in any one year. Nationals of countries who have sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States over the past five years are not eligible to apply for the Diversity Visa program.

The countries of the six geographic regions, whose citizens are eligible to apply, can be found here.

For DV-2013, natives of the following countries are not eligible to apply because the countries sent a total of more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States in the previous five years:
Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.

Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and Taiwan are eligible.

Changes in eligibility this year: natives of South Sudan and Poland are now eligible for selection, while Bangladesh natives are now ineligible.

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