DV 2016 – Selected Entrants

The Kentucky Consular Center in Williamburg, Kentucky has registered and notified the winners of the DV-2016 diversity lottery. The diversity lottery was conducted under the terms of section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and makes available *50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Approximately 91,563 applicants have been registered and notified and may now make an application for an immigrant visa. Since it is likely that some of the first *50,000 persons registered will not pursue their cases to visa issuance, this larger figure should insure that all DV-2016 numbers will be used during fiscal year 2016 (October 1, 2015 until September 30, 2016).

Applicants registered for the DV-2016 program were selected at random from 11,391,134 qualified entries (17,573,350 with derivatives) received during the application period that ran from noon, Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday, October 1, 2014 until noon, Eastern Daylight Time on Monday, November 3, 2014. The visas have been apportioned among six geographic regions with a maximum of seven percent available to persons born in any single country. During the visa interview, principal applicants must provide proof of a high school education or its equivalent, or show two years of work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience within the past five years. Those selected will need to act on their immigrant visa applications quickly. Applicants should follow the instructions in their notification letter and must fully complete the information requested. 

Registrants living legally in the United States who wish to apply for adjustment of their status must contact the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services for information on the requirements and procedures. Once the total *50,000 visa numbers have been used, the program for fiscal year 2016 will end. Selected applicants who do not receive visas by September 30, 2016 will derive no further benefit from their DV-2016 registration. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2016 principal applicants are only entitled to derivative diversity visa status until September 30, 2016.

Dates for the DV-2017 program registration period will be widely publicized in the coming months. Those interested in entering the DV-2017 program should check the Department of State’s Visa web page in the coming months. 

*The Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) passed by Congress in November 1997 stipulated that up to 5,000 of the 55,000 annually-allocated diversity visas be made available for use under the NACARA program. The reduction of the limit of available visas to 50,000 began with DV-2000.

The following is the statistical breakdown by foreign-state chargeability of those registered for the DV-2016 program: 

AFRICA
ALGERIA  1,952ETHIOPIA  4,000NIGER  102
ANGOLA  108GABON  32RWANDA  412
BENIN  914GAMBIA, THE  67SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE  2
BOTSWANA  4GHANA  3,179SENEGAL  427
BURKINA FASO  199GUINEA  1,818SEYCHELLES  0
BURUNDI  208GUINEA-BISSAU  4SIERRA LEONE  2,141
CABO VERDE  6KENYA  2,729SOMALIA  272
CAMEROON  3,047LESOTHO  5SOUTH AFRICA  535
CENTRAL AFRICAN REP.  23LIBERIA  4,430SOUTH SUDAN  17
CHAD  40LIBYA  240SUDAN  3,216
COMOROS  3MADAGASCAR  75SWAZILAND  7
CONGO  124MALAWI  17TANZANIA  93
CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE  4,475MALI  114TOGO  1,241
COTE D’IVOIRE  1,129MAURITANIA  15TUNISIA  227
DJIBOUTI  92MAURITIUS  41UGANDA  453
EGYPT  4,024MOROCCO  1,993ZAMBIA  57
EQUATORIAL GUINEA  0MOZAMBIQUE  11ZIMBABWE  152
ERITREA  544NAMIBIA  18 
ASIA
AFGHANISTAN  406JAPAN  302QATAR  42
BAHRAIN  13JORDAN  349SAUDI ARABIA  267
BHUTAN  22NORTH KOREA  0SINGAPORE  39
BRUNEI  1 KUWAIT  143SRI LANKA  704
BURMA  236LAOS  1SYRIA  460
CAMBODIA  1,229LEBANON  225TAIWAN  297
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMIN. REGION  151MALAYSIA  95THAILAND  73
INDONESIA  126MALDIVES  3TIMOR-LESTE  0
IRAN  4,501MONGOLIA  185UNITED ARAB EMIRATES  103
IRAQ  330NEPAL  3,801YEMEN  724
ISRAEL  162OMAN  12 
EUROPE
ALBANIA  1,931GREECE  93NORWAY  35
ANDORRA  0HUNGARY  186POLAND  629
ARMENIA  1,277ICELAND  3PORTUGAL  58
AUSTRIA  50IRELAND  89  Macau  23
AZERBAIJAN  380ITALY  410ROMANIA  626 
BELARUS  811KAZAKHSTAN  376RUSSIA  2,200
BELGIUM  47KOSOVO  244SAN MARINO  0
BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA  92KYRGYZSTAN  209SERBIA  283
BULGARIA  865LATVIA  73SLOVAKIA  70
CROATIA  67LIECHTENSTEIN  0SLOVENIA  33
CYPRUS  28LITHUANIA  153SPAIN  193
CZECH REPUBLIC  74LUXEMBOURG  0SWEDEN  108
DENMARK  35MACEDONIA  258SWITZERLAND  122
ESTONIA  40MALTA  0TAJIKISTAN  337
FINLAND  57MOLDOVA  1,854TURKEY  1,795
FRANCE  510MONACO  0TURKMENISTAN  124
  French Polynesia  1MONTENEGRO  8UKRAINE  4,507
  Saint Martin  1NETHERLANDS  81UZBEKISTAN  4,300
  Wallis and Futuna  1  Aruba  4VATICAN CITY  0
GEORGIA  571  Curacao  2 
GERMANY  678NORTHERN IRELAND  9 
NORTH AMERICA
BAHAMAS, THE  16  
OCEANIA
AUSTRALIA  832NAURU  12SAMOA  5
  Cocos Islands  1NEW ZEALAND  208SOLOMON ISLANDS  0
FIJI  393  Cook Islands  4TONGA  26
KIRIBATI  4PALAU  4TUVALU  0
MARSHALL ISLANDS  0PAPUA NEW GUINEA  3VANUATU  5
MICRONESIA, FEDERATED STATES OF  3  
SOUTH AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA  0DOMINICA  6SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS  2
ARGENTINA  68GRENADA  7SAINT LUCIA  5
BARBADOS  0GUATEMALA  31SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES  7
BELIZE  0GUYANA  14SURINAME  3
BOLIVIA  49HONDURAS  73TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO  51
CHILE  17NICARAGUA  58URUGUAY  21
COSTA RICA  50PANAMA  5VENEZUELA  1,038
CUBA  1,488PARAGUAY  7 

Natives of the following countries were not eligible to participate in DV-2016: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born, excluding Hong Kong S.A.R., Macau S.A.R., and Taiwan), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.