2019 DV Lottery Program to Restart October 18, 2017 !

The State Department issued a news release that the 2019 DV Lottery Program will begin again on October 18, 2018. All earlier entries have been deleted and all applicants will have to submit new applications again:

See announcement here: https://www.dvlottery.state.gov/ (as of October 16, 2017):

Due to a technical issue, the DV-2019 entry period that began on October 3 has been closed. Entries submitted during October 3-10 are not valid and have been excluded from the system; they will not count as a duplicate entry. The technical issue has been resolved and a new full entry period will begin at noon, U.S. Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday October 18, 2017 and will run until noon Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday November 22, 2017. Only entries submitted during this period will be accepted and considered for selection in the lottery. Please throw away any confirmation number or other documentation that you have if you submitted an entry during Oct. 3-10.

Our earlier post on this topic:

Sep. 14, 2017

The Department of State issued a notice providing information on how to apply for the 2019 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, under which 50,000 immigrant visas will be available. The notice includes information on eligibility, entry period, completing the electronic entry form, selection of applicants, photo requirements, and FAQs. (82 FR 43068, 9/13/17)

Applicants must submit entries for the DV-2019 program electronically at dvlottery.state.gov between noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), Tuesday, October 3, 2017, and noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST), Tuesday, November 7, 2017. The Department warns not to wait until the last week of the registration period to enter, as heavy demand may result in Website delays.

Starting May 1, 2018, applicants will be able to check the status of their entry by returning to dvlottery.state.gov, clicking on Entrant Status Check, and entering the unique confirmation number assigned to the entry and personal information. Entrant Status Check will be the sole means of informing applicants of their selection for DV-2019, providing instructions on how to proceed with the application, and notifying applicants of their appointment for their immigrant visa interview.