State Department Revises FY 2019 DV Lottery Registration Entry Period Due to Technical Problems

---

Executive Summary

• Entrants will now have from Wednesday, October 18, 2017 at noon EDT until Wednesday, November 22, 2017 at noon EST to register online at the State Department’s official lottery website.

• Entries submitted during October 3-10 are invalid and must be resubmitted when the lottery registration period reopens.

• Lottery applications must conform to the State Department’s strict requirements.

---

The situation

Due to an ongoing technical issue with its application website, the State Department is revising the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Diversity Visa (DV) lottery registration period. The agency will accept online registrations for the FY 2019 DV lottery starting Wednesday, October 18, 2017 at noon EDT and ending Wednesday, November 22, 2017 at noon EST.

The application website is currently down for maintenance. The filing period originally opened on October 3, 2017 and was to close on November 7, 2017.

Some lottery entries must be resubmitted

Entries that were submitted during October 3-10 are considered invalid and have been excluded from the DV lottery website.  

These entries must be resubmitted between October 18 at noon EDT and November 22 at noon EST to be considered for selection in the lottery.

Complying with lottery application requirements

• Eligible entrants must apply online and submit a digital photo through the official DV lottery website. DV lottery applicants may include a spouse (same-sex or opposite-sex) and children in their initial entries or add a spouse and children after their initial registration.

• Only one entry is permitted per person. If there are multiple registrations on behalf of one person, all of them are disqualified.

• Applicants must carefully follow the State Department’s official lottery instructions. Lottery entries and digital photos that do not precisely conform to the instructions will be disqualified.

• Once the application is accepted, applicants will receive a confirmation number, which can be used to check the status of their application.

• Entrants can use an attorney or other legal representative to submit their application, but should beware of fraudulent lottery websites and service providers. Find out more about protecting against DV lottery fraud here.

How lottery winners are chosen and notified

The State Department chooses lottery winners by random computer selection. Results will be published starting May 15, 2018 through at least September 30, 2019, on the official DV lottery entry status website.

Foreign nationals can learn whether they were selected only by visiting the official website and entering their confirmation number. The State Department does not notify entrants by letter, e-mail, fax or telephone. The official website is the only legitimate source of lottery results.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions about the DV lottery, please contact the immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen.