DV Lottery Resubmission Options

You can only apply once for the annual DV Lottery under your name in any particular year. If you submit more than one DV Lottery application under your name in a particular year, you will be disqualified. You can, however, submit one DV Lottery application under your name per year, year-after-year, as long as you still satisfy the eligibility requirements. For example, a person usually has to participate in the DV Lottery more than one year before he or she is randomly selected as a winner.  

If you apply twice for a Green Card under your name in the same year through the DV Lottery, you will be disqualified. In the event that you are legally married and both you and your spouse are eligible to submit separate DV Lottery applications, it is permitted for you to submit a DV Lottery application under your name and for your spouse to submit a separate DV Lottery application under his or her name. Each DV Lottery application would need to include details and photos of the main applicant, the other spouse and all dependent unmarried children under 21 years of age. If your DV Lottery application or your spouse’s DV Lottery application is randomly selected, then the entire family gets to continue the U.S. immigration process to apply for a Green Card!

Unfortunately, you cannot correct a mistake on the DV Lottery application after submitting it, so it is very important to complete your application carefully and correctly and to upload the photo(s) according to the DV Lottery regulations.

A person can apply for the DV Lottery once per year for as many years as desired, as long as he or she satisfies the eligibility requirements. In fact, an individual usually needs to participate in the DV Lottery more than one year before being randomly selected as a winner and given the opportunity to continue the process to apply for a U.S. Permanent Resident Green Card.

If you are randomly selected as a winner of the DV Lottery, the U.S. State Department will NOT send you an email informing you that you were selected. Rather, you must check on the U.S. State Department’s E-DV website if you were selected as a DV Lottery winner after the results are made available, which normally occurs starting in early May. As part of its service, USAFIS promptly contacts its customers who are randomly selected as DV Lottery winners, so they can take the next step in the U.S. immigration process as soon as possible.

Although the numbers vary from year to year, approximately 10-12 million main applicants participate in the DV Lottery each year, along with their dependent family members, and around 100,000 winners are randomly selected by computer from six global regions for the opportunity to apply for one of the 55,000 U.S. Diversity Immigrant Visas and Permanent Resident Green Cards that are authorized to be issued annually through this U.S. immigration program.

If you need to reschedule your Diversity Visa consular interview, you should contact the American Embassy or Consulate where your interview is scheduled as soon as possible to schedule the interview on another date. Keep in mind, however, that all of the Diversity Immigrant Visas must be issued no later than September 30th of the fiscal year and there are a limited number of Diversity Immigrant Visas that can be issued for various countries and global regions. Thus, it is best not to reschedule a consular interview if it is not absolutely necessary, because the delay might result in losing the opportunity to immigrate to the United States.

An individual can generally apply for the DV Lottery without it affecting a separate U.S. visa application.

According to the U.S. State Department, it is permissible to use a feature on a digital camera to reduce or prevent red eye, however, “you are not allowed to digitally enhance or alter the photo to change your appearance in any way.”