DV 2017 – Selected Entrants

The Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky has registered and notified the winners of the DV-2017 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 83,910 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-2017 numbers will be used during fiscal year 2017 (October 1, 2016 until September 30, 2017).

Applicants registered for the DV-2017 program were selected at random from 12,437,190 qualified entries (19,344,586 with derivatives) received during the application period that ran from noon, Eastern Daylight Time on Thursday, October 1, 2015, until noon, Eastern Daylight Time on Tuesday, November 3, 2015.  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 2017 will end.  Selected applicants who do not receive visas by September 30, 2017 will derive no further benefit from their DV-2017 registration.  Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2017 principal applicants are only entitled to derivative diversity visa status until September 30, 2017.

Dates for the DV-2018 program registration period will be widely publicized in the coming months.  Those interested in entering the DV-2018 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-2017 program: 

AFRICA
ALGERIA  1,561ETHIOPIA  4,500 NIGER  34
ANGOLA  80GABON  26RWANDA  277
BENIN  617GAMBIA, THE 46SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE  0
BOTSWANA  15GHANA  3,170SENEGAL  357
BURKINA FASO  217GUINEA  1,233SEYCHELLES  1
BURUNDI  106GUINEA-BISSAU  3 SIERRA LEONE  2,065
CABO VERDE  7KENYA  2,090SOMALIA  215
CAMEROON  2,096LESOTHO  1SOUTH AFRICA  427
CENTRAL AFRICAN REP.  9LIBERIA  3,105SOUTH SUDAN  17
CHAD  52LIBYA  274SUDAN   2,522
COMOROS  5MADAGASCAR  13SWAZILAND  4
CONGO  94MALAWI  17TANZANIA  89
CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE  3,835MALI  82TOGO  963
COTE D’IVOIRE 891MAURITANIA  27TUNISIA  169
DJIBOUTI  53MAURITIUS  9UGANDA  240
EGYPT  4,501MOROCCO  1,905ZAMBIA  36 
EQUATORIAL GUINEA  3MOZAMBIQUE  7ZIMBABWE  106  
ERITREA  316NAMIBIA  12  
ASIA
AFGHANISTAN  285JAPAN  204QATAR  33
BAHRAIN  12JORDAN  259SAUDI ARABIA  253
BHUTAN  16NORTH KOREA  0SINGAPORE  20
BRUNEI  0KUWAIT  101SRI LANKA  375
BURMA  213LAOS  0SYRIA  356
CAMBODIA  824LEBANON  183TAIWAN  260
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMIN. REGION  37MALAYSIA  39THAILAND  41
INDONESIA  115MALDIVES  0TIMOR-LESTE  0
IRAN  4,500MONGOLIA  144UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 97
IRAQ  302NEPAL  4,000YEMEN  694
ISRAEL  127OMAN  9 
EUROPE
ALBANIA  2,373HUNGARY  153NORWAY  24
ANDORRA  0ICELAND  13POLAND  517
ARMENIA  1,669IRELAND  63PORTUGAL  36
AUSTRIA  71ITALY  443ROMANIA  480
AZERBAIJAN  470KAZAKHSTAN  518RUSSIA  2,290
BELARUS  899KOSOVO  348SAN MARINO  0
BELGIUM  95KYRGYZSTAN  292SERBIA  376
BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA 119LATVIA  64SLOVAKIA  49 
BULGARIA  666LIECHTENSTEIN  3SLOVENIA  16
CROATIA  36LITHUANIA  183SPAIN  204
CYPRUS  12LUXEMBOURG  5SWEDEN  94
CZECH REPUBLIC  53MACEDONIA  286SWITZERLAND  96
DENMARK  44MALTA  3TAJIKISTAN  414 
ESTONIA  34MOLDOVA  1,762TURKEY  2,186
FINLAND  51MONACO  4TURKMENISTAN  91
FRANCE  467MONTENEGRO  25UKRAINE  4,500
  French Polynesia  1NETHERLANDS  82UZBEKISTAN  4,501
  New Calendonia  1  Aruba 2VATICAN CITY  0 
GEORGIA  680   Curacao  1 
GERMANY  532  Sint Maarten  4 
GREECE  86NORTHERN IRELAND  13 
NORTH AMERICA
BAHAMAS, THE  10  
OCEANIA
AUSTRALIA  748NAURU  5SOLOMON ISLANDS  0
  Cocos Islands  3NEW ZEALAND  213TONGA  42
FIJI  404  Cook Islands 8TUVALU  1
KIRIBATI  3PALAU  0VANUATU  5
MARSHALL ISLANDS  0PAPUA NEW GUINEA  6 
MICRONESIA, FEDERATED STATES OF  2SAMOA  10 
SOUTH AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN 
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA  11DOMINICA  8SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS  0
ARGENTINA  53GRENADA  7SAINT LUCIA  9
BARBADOS  1GUATEMALA  29SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES  4
BELIZE  3GUYANA  10SURINAME  0
BOLIVIA  30HONDURAS  44TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO  34
CHILE  27NICARAGUA  9URUGUAY  12
COSTA RICA  18PANAMA  12VENEZUELA  1,134
CUBA  493PARAGUAY  3 

Natives of the following countries were not eligible to participate in DV-2017:  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.