Entering the Diversity Visa lottery (aka green card lottery) involves filling out a simple form US Government website online, and it doesn’t cost anything. You can enter the lottery every year from early October through early November. The winners are selected at random by a computer, and they and their immediate families will then be eligible to apply for a green card.

There is no cost to register for the DV Program. You are strongly encouraged to complete the entry form yourself, and we also help you free of charge. The fee you pay here is for a raffle ticket for airfare to the USA and other services, such as US airport arrival Uber fare and a 3-month SIM card. If you win the DV Lottery, you win the free flight to the USA too!

The winners of the green card lottery are typically notified 7 months after submitting their entry. Once selected, it can take up to 14 months to be scheduled for your interview and receive your visa, depending on how soon you apply for your visa.

For example, if you apply for the 2026 green card lottery during the registration period (Oct-Nov 2024), the winners would be announced sometime in May 2025. You would only be allowed to apply for your visa during fiscal year 2026, which is from Oct. 1, 2025 through Sept. 30, 2026. The sooner you apply during that year, the sooner you will be scheduled for your visa interview and be issued your visa.

Once you have your visa, you must enter the United States on or before the expiration date printed on your visa. A Diversity Visa is typically valid for up to 6 months from the date of it was issued.

If you’re selected in the green card lottery, it’s important to act fast, even though it could still be a year or more before you’re able to come to the United States. There are two reasons to act immediately: First of all, your application must be processed and your visa must be issued by the end of the fiscal year for which you were selected. Second, there are more people selected for the Diversity Visa than there are visas available, and if you wait until the last minute there might not be any visas left.

When you’re notified that you won the Diversity Visa, you’ll get a numerical rank, which will tell you when you can apply for your visa. Towards the end of July, you can check the State Department’s visa bulletin to see when you can submit your application. The first visas are available on October 1, the first day of the U.S. government’s fiscal year, and you can submit your application up to 90 days ahead of time.