Diversity Visa (DV) or Green Card Lottery 2016

The Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery opened on October 1st, 2014, and will close on November 3rd, 2014. The Diversity Visa program makes 50,000 permanent resident visas (more commonly known as Green cards) available to natives of countries with low rates of immigration to the US, including Ireland. Eligibility is by country of birth in most cases, not nationality. Any country which has sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the US in the previous 5 years is excluded from the program. The UK (except Northern Ireland) is excluded. The visas are distributed on a regional basis with those countries sending fewer immigrants receiving more DV visas. No single country can receive more than 7% (3,500) of the total number of visas. Approximately 100,000 winners are selected at random by computer so only half of those selected can successfully conclude the process. Only one DV entry per person is permitted; receipt of more than one entry will disqualify the applicant.