The Immigration Act of 1990 established the Diversity Visa (DV) program, in which 55,000 immigrant visas are made available in an annual lottery, starting in fiscal year 1995.  The lottery aims to diversify the population in the United States by selecting applicants from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States over the previous five years.

To apply for a diversity visa, follow the steps on the Diversity Visa Process on usvisas.state.gov.  Once you have completed those steps, review the instructions given to you by the Kentucky Consular Center (KCC), along with the information presented on this website, for further guidance.

The Department of State, Office of Visa Services, advises the public of a notable increase in fraudulent emails and letters sent to Diversity Visa (DV) program (Visa Lottery) applicants. The scammers behind these fraudulent emails and letters are posing as the U.S. government in an attempt to extract payment from DV applicants. All applicants should be familiar with information about DV scams provided by the Federal Trade Commission. Applicants are encouraged to review the rules and procedures for the DV program so that you know what to expect, when to expect it, and from whom.

While DV applicants may receive an email from the U.S. government reminding them to check their status online through DV Entrant Status Check, they will not receive a notification letter or email informing them that they are a successful DV entrant. Applicants can only find out if they were selected to continue with DV processing by checking their status online through the DV Entrant Status Check at http://dvprogram.state.gov.

Finally, remember that fees for the DV application process are paid to the U.S. Embassy or consulate cashier at the time of your scheduled appointment.  The U.S. government will never ask you to send payment in advance by check, money order, or wire transfer.