How to Enter the Green Card Lottery Lottery Yourself

You can easily enter the lottery yourself at the U.S. government web site if you follow our instructions below.  Please remember to enter your information in English only. There is no charge to register for the lottery. The U.S. government web site will not be active until the start of the open registration period.

NOTE: The 2008 edition of Win the Green Card Lottery, the Complete Do-It-Yourself Guide to the USA Diversity Visa Lottery, is now available FREE for download to registered members.  The hardcopy version is also available at Amazon.com and elsewhere. This booklet includes these instructions, additional tips for entry, what do to if you win, and much more to help you obtain your visa.

When can I apply?

Determine if you (or your spouse) are eligible

Fill out the electronic diversity visa entry (EDV) form

1. Enter full name

2. Enter date of birth

3. Enter gender

4. Enter city/town of birth

5. Enter country of birth

6. Enter country of eligibility if native country is different from country of birth

7. Enter photograph(s)

8. Enter mailing address

9. Enter country where you live today 

10. Enter phone number (optional)

11. Enter email address (optional) 

12. Enter the highest level of education you have achieved as of today

13. Enter marital status

14. Enter number of unmarried children under 21 years of age

15. Enter spouse information

16. Enter children information

When you are finished

Can I submit multiple applications?

When can I apply?

You can only enter the green card lottery during the open registration period. For calendar year 2008 (DV‑2010), the registration period is: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2008 to MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2008.

Do not wait until the last few days to enter. In prior years, the Department of State computer servers were unable to process the high volume of last minute applications.

Determine if you (or your spouse) are eligible

To be eligible for the visa lottery, you must:

• Be a native of a qualifying (visa eligible) country AND
• Have at least a secondary school education or its equivalent
• OR, you must have at least two years of training or experience in a skilled occupation or trade within the past 5 years. Your occupation must require at least two years of training or experience to qualify.

The list of visa ineligible countries is listed here.

If you are from a visa ineligible country, you cannot apply unless you have either a spouse or parent from an eligible country.

See this section for personal eligibility requirements . If you do not have a secondary education, see the list of occupations requiring at least two years of training or experience. Then, if you have one of these occupations you may substitute your training or experience for the required secondary school education.

Fill out the electronic diversity visa entry (EDV) form

If either you or your spouse is eligible, complete the Electronic Diversity Visa (EDV) Entry Form located at the State Department web site.

1. Enter full name

Enter your full name, with your (surname/family) name listed first.

List your name in this order: last name, first name, middle name.

Example: Garcia, Juan Pablo

2. Enter date of birth

Provide your birth date in the following order: day, month, year.

Example: 8 June 1952

3. Enter gender

Enter Male or Female.

4. Enter city/town of birth

Enter the city or town only.

5. Enter country of birth

Enter the current name of the country where you were born.

Note: you or your spouse must be born in or “chargeable” to a visa eligible country to qualify for the lottery. The list of visa ineligible countries is listed here . Your current country of citizenship is not considered.

If you were born in a visa ineligible country such as Mexico, you may still qualify for the lottery based on your response to Question 6 .

  

6. Enter country of eligibility if native country is different from country of birth

If you are claiming eligibility to your birth country, and your birth country is a visa eligible country, enter “Yes,” as shown below.

You may be chargeable to a visa eligible country if your spouse is a native of a visa eligible country, or if there are unusual circumstances regarding your birth. If you are from a visa ineligible country, see this section for details on chargeability if you feel you may qualify.

For example, if you claim to be a native of a country other than your place of birth, indicate the country from which you are claiming eligibility. For example, if Juan Garcia was born in Mexico City, but his wife was born in Argentina, he could claim eligibility via Argentina through his wife.

7. Enter photograph(s)

Follow the rules below for photographs:

• Applicant, spouse, and/or child must be directly facing the camera; the head of the person being photographed should not be tilted up, down or to the side, and should cover about 50% of the area of the photo.
• The photo should be taken in front of a neutral, light-colored background. Photos taken with very dark or patterned, busy backgrounds will not be accepted.
• Photos in which the face of the person being photographed is not in focus will not be accepted.
• Photos in which the person being photographed is wearing sunglasses or other paraphernalia, which detracts from the face, will not be accepted.
• Photos of applicants wearing head coverings or hats are only acceptable due to religious beliefs, and even then, may not obscure any portion of the face of the applicant. Photos of applicants with tribal or other headgear not specifically religious in nature are not acceptable. Photos of military, airline or other personnel wearing hats will not be accepted.
• The photograph must be submitted in the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format.
• The photograph must be submitted either in color or grayscale; monochrome images (2-bit color depth) will not be accepted.
• If a digital photograph is taken, it must have a resolution of 320 pixels high by 240 pixels wide and a color depth of 24-bit color, 8-bit color, or 8-bit grayscale.
•  If a photographic print is scanned, the print must be 2 inches by 2 inches (50mm x 50mm) square. It must be scanned at a resolution of 150 dots per inch (dpi) and with a color depth of 24-bit color, 8-bit color, or 8-bit grayscale. It must have a resolution of 300 by 300 pixels.
• The maximum file size accepted is sixty-two thousand five hundred (62,500) bytes (62.5K).
• Your photograph will be automatically checked by the government computer system to confirm it meets the required specifications for digital photographs.
• IF YOUR PHOTOGRAPH IS REJECTED, THE SYSTEM ALLOWS YOU TO RESUBMIT YOUR PHOTO BEFORE YOU GO TO THE NEXT STEP.

See this section for more detailed guidelines from the State Department to produce high quality photos.

8. Enter mailing address

Enter Address, City/Town, District/Country/Province/State, Postal Code/ Zip Code, Country.

This is the address where your notification will be physically mailed if you are selected as a winner. If you are planning to move before June 30, 2008, then provide the address where you planning to move. If you don’t know where you will be moving, then provide the address of a settled friend or family member who won’t move within the next year.

You can provide the address of someone who lives in the U.S. if you live in a country with poor mail service.

9. Enter country where you live today

10. Enter phone number (optional)

A telephone number is not required, but is helpful.

11. Enter e-mail address (optional)

We recommend you include your e-mail address if you are entering yourself.

12. Enter the highest level of education you have achieved, as of today?

13. Enter marriage status

Click the appropriate button depending on your marriage status.

14. Enter number of unmarried children under 21 years of age

If you have children, count all of your natural children, stepchildren, and legally adopted children. It does not matter if your children or your spouse’s children were born in a visa ineligible country. You do not need to count those children who are already U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.

When you are finished, press the “Continue” button. This is the end of Part One of the Application. If you have a spouse or dependents, proceed to Part Two – Dependents.

15. Enter spouse information

Enter Name, Date of Birth, Gender, City/Town of Birth, Country of Birth, and Photograph. Follow the same rules for photographs listed in Question 7.

If you are married or separated, you must enter your spouse’s information. It does not matter whether your spouse was born in a visa ineligible country.

Your spouse can apply for the green card lottery separately from you if he or she qualifies for the lottery. This will double your chances of winning. In this case, your spouse should submit a second registration and list you as the spouse.

Do not list your divorced spouse on your registration. However, if you are separated, you must list your spouse on your application and include his or her picture. Use the best available picture if your separated spouse's photo is not available.

16. Enter children information

Enter: Name, Date of Birth, Gender, City/Town of Birth, Country of Birth, and Photograph. Follow the rules for photographs listed in Question 7.

You must list all your children who are unmarried and under 21 years of age, whether they are your natural children, your spouse’s children by a previous marriage, or children you have formally adopted in accordance with the laws of your country, unless a child is already a U.S. citizen or Legal Permanent Resident.

List all children less than 21 years of age even if they no longer reside with you or you do not intend for them to immigrate under the DV program. If your spouse submits a separate entry in addition to yours, both of your entries should include the same children information. If your spouse is pregnant, you can still enter. Do not list the unborn child on the application.

For complete information on registering family members, read the rules for dependents.

When you are finished

When you have entered all your information and pressed the “Submit” button, you will receive a confirmation message on your screen that your photograph was received. You will have a chance to review the data you have just entered.

If you wish to change any information press the “Go Back to Part 1” button or Go Back to Part 2” button. DO NOT use the back button on your browser. If you do not receive a confirmation message after several minutes after you press the “Submit” button, you can resubmit your application again.

  

Can I submit multiple applications?

The DV Lottery system software accepts only one registration, per person, per year. If you submit more than one application it will be disqualified. Although there have been numerous cases in past lotteries where people registered multiple times in one year and won, the computerized system put in place beginning with DV-2005 detects multiple entries.

The only exceptions to this rule are as follows:

• Two separate registrations are allowed per married couple, per year. You can apply, listing yourself as the primary applicant. Your husband or wife can also apply as primary applicant on a second application if he or she qualifies based on education or work experience. In this case, submitting two separate applications will double your chances of winning the visa lottery.
• Your unmarried dependent child under the age of 21 years can also apply as a primary applicant if he or she is a secondary school graduate or has the required work experience. The child can also appear as a dependent on each parent’s application if he or she will be under 21 years of age and unmarried at the time the visa paperwork is submitted to the government. In this case, the child will appear on three separate lottery applications! Note: if she wins the lottery on her own application, she cannot sponsor her parents for permanent residency until she completes the steps required to become a U.S. citizen.