State Department Selects FY 2020 Diversity Visa Lottery Winners

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At a glance

• Lottery entrants must check the State Department’s official Diversity Visa Lottery website to learn whether they have been chosen. Entrants may experience delays accessing the official website due to heavy user traffic.   
• The State Department does not send direct notification to lottery winners.  
• Successful entrants can submit an application for permanent residence during FY 2020, which begins on October 1, 2019.

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A closer look

The U.S. State Department has chosen the winners of the Fiscal Year 2020 Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery. Foreign nationals who entered the lottery can visit the official Entrant Status Check website to learn whether they were selected to submit an application for permanent residence.

If you entered the FY 2020 lottery, the only reliable way to learn whether you have been selected is to visit the official website and enter the confirmation number of your entry, along with your last name or date of birth and a randomly generated authentication code. The State Department does not send direct notifications to lottery winners, so beware of emails, letters or other communications that claim you have won the lottery; they are likely to be fraudulent.

If your lottery entry was selected, the Entrant Status Check website will provide information on how to proceed with an application for permanent residence. Individuals selected in the lottery are eligible to submit an application for adjustment of status or an immigrant visa application during FY 2020, which begins on October 1, 2019 and ends on September 30, 2020. If your entry was not chosen, the status check website will state that fact.

Each fiscal year, the State Department makes 50,000 immigrant visas available through the DV lottery. Foreign nationals submit their lottery entries online during a designated time period. The filing period for the FY 2020 lottery ran from October 3, 2018 to November 6, 2018.

Protect yourself against DV lottery fraud

DV lottery scams are a common form of immigration fraud. Unscrupulous individuals set up deceptive web pages that pose as official government sites or purport to be authorized by the State Department to accept or administer lottery entries, sometimes for a very high fee. They also try to entice foreign nationals to provide personal information and money with promises of winning lottery entries.

Take precautions to avoid becoming a victim of lottery fraud. Though you may seek legal counsel or other assistance in preparing a lottery application, be wary of commercial enterprises that claim you have won the lottery, purport to register applicants outside the official registration period or claim to be authorized by the government. No fees or personal information should be sent to a questionable individual or entity. Detailed information on DV lottery fraud is available from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the State Department.

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