Diversity Visa lottery results available May 3

Diversity Visa lottery winners for fiscal year 2017 will be announced Tuesday, May 3.

Key dates and procedures:

• Beginning noon EDT May 3, individuals may check their status online at the Entrant Status Check webpage.
• Those who entered the lottery will need their entry confirmation number, lastname, and year of birth to check their results.
• Individuals who were selected in the lottery will be given instructions in Entrant Status Check about how to apply for immigrant visas for themselves and for eligible family members.

Background: The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program provides 50,000 green cards per year to individuals from countries with historically low levels of immigration to the U.S. Entries for the 2017 fiscal year were accepted from Oct. 1 to Nov. 3, 2015.

BAL Analysis: Entrants are reminded that the Entrant Status Check webpage is the only source for instructions on how to proceed with the application process. They must use the official website to find out if they have been selected in the lottery and to check for the date of their immigrant visa appointment, as the U.S. government does not directly notify entrants of this information. The State Department also instructs entrants to keep their confirmation numbers until at least Sept. 30, 2017.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice group. For additional information, please contact BerryApplemanLeiden@bal.com.

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