Being selected for the DV Lottery is the first step among a couple of steps that selectees will need to take in order to successfully obtain US immigrant visas. How quickly a selectee is able to follow these steps can determine whether they eventually move to the US or not.
Why is this? According to the United States Department of State, being selected in the Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery does not automatically guarantee that you and your loved ones will get US immigrant visas. It only means that you are now eligible to apply for a Diversity Immigrant Visa and potentially become a lawful permanent resident. You must still meet all eligibility requirements.
When selected, you will be in competition with over 100,000 other selectees for the available 55,000 US immigrant visas that are given by the United States. Knowing what steps to take can give you a boost in getting processed faster. According to the United States Department of State, these are the steps you will need to take if selected:
1). DS-260 Form
The selected applicant should complete and file the online DS-260 application immediately with with the US State Department’s Kentucky Consular Center (KCC), and start moving closer towards scheduling an interview appointment at their appropriate US Embassy or Consulate.
2). Qualifications
The principal DV applicant (the person who applied in the Green Card lottery) is supposed to have a high school education, or its equivalent, or two years of qualifying work experience. If you have been selected but do not have the required education or qualifying work experience, you will be disqualified. According to the State Department, a high school education means successful completion of a formal course of elementary and secondary education comparable to a 12-year course in the United States. Only formal courses of study meet this requirement; equivalency certificates (such as the G.E.D.) are not acceptable.
If you are qualifying with work experience, you must have two years of experience in the last five years, in an occupation which, by U.S. Department of Labor definitions, requires at least two years of training or experience that is designated as Job Zone 4 or 5, classified in a Specific Vocational Preparation (SVP) rating of 7.0 or higher. The US Department of Labor provides information on job duties, knowledge and skills, education and training, and other occupational characteristics on their website http://www.onetonline.org/.
3). Submitting DS-260 form
Once you confirm your education or work experience, you (principal applicant) and all your family members applying must complete DS-260 Form. You will need to enter your DV case number into the online DS-260 form to access and update the information about yourself and your family that you included in your DV entry. On the Sign and Submit page of the DS-260 form, you will need to re-enter your DV case number without the zeros (e.g. if the case number is 2023AF0000012345, enter ‘2023AF12345’). Entering the full case number with zeros will generate a validation error. After submitting the DS-260 form online, print the confirmation page. You must bring the confirmation page to your visa interview.
If your family circumstances have changed after you entered the Diversity Visa program, for example, if you married or had a child, you will need to add your new family members to your case. (“Family member” refers to a spouse and/or unmarried children who had not reached age 21 before you entered the DV program.) You will need to upload a document to prove your relationship to the family member being added when adding family members to your case.
Failure to include an existing spouse or children on your original entry form may make you, as well as any of your family members, ineligible. Also, listing a spouse or child on your original entry form who was not actually your spouse or child, may make you, as well as any of your family members, ineligible. If you have a child who is not biologically yours (step-child) and they have a birth certificate with their biological father’s name on it, you will need the biological father’s consent, or a court order stating that the mother (your spouse) has full custody of the child.
4). Supporting documents
Once the Kentucky Consular Centre receives and processes your DS-260 application form, you will receive instructions for how to submit required supporting documents. You will need to prepare copies and any required translations of original documents or certified copies of the documents for you and any family members who will accompany you from an appropriate office, authority, or issuing entity in your country. You will be required to bring the original documents to your visa interview at the U.S. embassy or consulate, along with any translations required.
These documents will include birth certificates, police clearance certificates (Each applicant aged 16 years or older), passport (Send a photocopy of your biographic data page to Kentucky Consular Center; Bring your original passport plus one photocopy of the biographic data page to your visa interview at the US Embassy or Consulate), military records, court and prison records.
5). Medicals and The interview
After the Kentucky Consular Center has reviewed your completed DS-260 form, you may receive an e-mail from KCC to let you know that an interview has been scheduled at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate you selected on your DS-260 form. The e-mail will instruct you to log into the Entrant Status Check on the Electronic Diversity Visa (E-DV) website, using your DV entry confirmation number, to view the date, time, and location of your interview. Print this information to take with you to your interview.
Everyone in your family applying for a diversity immigrant visa will need to be present at the interview. You will only be scheduled for an interview when and if there is a visa number available for you. Visa number allocations are determined by provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) which determines the number of diversity immigrant visas available each year. The total number of diversity visas is allocated by visa category and region of the world. The allocations are monthly as available visas are issued.
Each DV applicant will need to bring two (2) identical photos to the interview. Please review the detailed information about photo requirements to ensure that your photos will be acceptable.
You (and each family member applying for a visa with you) are required to schedule a medical appointment with an authorized physician in the country where you will be interviewed. In Kenya, medicals are done at the United Nation’s IOM. You must complete your medical examination, along with any required vaccinations, before your scheduled visa interview date. When your medical exam is completed, if you are given a medical exam envelope, you must bring it sealed (not opened) to your visa interview. Some physicians will send the medical exam results directly to the embassy or consulate.
On your interview date, bring the following documents; Appointment information printed from the Entrant Status Check on the E-DV website; DS-260 form confirmation page printed from the Consular Electronic Application Center any time after you complete your DS-260 form and application; Two identical color photographs for each applicant; English translations (where applicable); Passport(s) valid for six months beyond the intended date of entry into the US for you and each family member applying for a visa; Original documents or certified copies of civil documents including marriage certificate, marriage termination document, custody documentation, evidence of qualifying education or work experience, deportation document if applicable.
Before the interview, each applicant must pay the Diversity Visa fee which is nonrefundable, whether a visa is issued or not.
6). After the interview
At the end of your immigrant visa interview at the US Embassy or Consulate, the consular officer will inform you whether your visa application is approved or denied. When approved, you will be informed how and when your passport and visa will be returned to you. If denied, you will be informed why you are ineligible to receive a visa.
Your diversity visa will be placed on a page in your passport. Please review the printed information right away to make sure there are no errors. Contact the embassy or consulate immediately if there are any spelling errors. You will also receive a sealed packet containing documents that you must present to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at a port-of-entry (often an airport) upon your arrival in the United States. You must not open the sealed packet. You must pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) after you receive your immigrant visa and before you travel to the United States.
7). Traveling to US
You must arrive and apply for admission in the United States no later than the visa expiration date printed on your visa. A diversity visa is usually valid for up to six months from the date of issuance unless your medical examination expires sooner, which may make your visa valid for less than six months.
When traveling to the United States, the primary (or principal) applicant must enter before or at the same time as family members with visas. With your diversity visa (before it expires), and your sealed packet, you will travel to a U.S. port-of-entry (often an airport) and request permission to enter the United States. A visa does not guarantee entry into the United States.
READ MORE: Why you might win US DV Lottery and fail to move to America
