Applicants for the US Diversity Visa Program (DV-23), popularly known by Kenyans as the Green Card Lottery for the 2023 fiscal year, will find out whether they were selected starting today.
“DV-2023 Entrants may enter their confirmation information through the link below starting at noon (EDT) on May 7, 2022,” the US Department of State Diversity Visa Program said on a notice posted on their website.
CLICK HERE TO CHECK YOUR STATUS: LINK: https://dvprogram.state.gov
Citizens from countries where less than 50,000 immigrated to the US in the last five years are eligible to apply. According to the World Population Review website, Nigeria was the only ineligible African country in the DV-23 fiscal year lottery.
Less than 3000 Kenyans won the lottery for DV-22. We’re yet to find out how many Kenyans will win the opportunity for DV-23.
To check whether they have won, applicants should visit the website: https://dvprogram.state.gov and click on the Check Status button, enter the confirmation number, names, and year of birth.
While 50,000 immigrants worldwide will have an opportunity to immigrate to the US as permanent residents, also known as Green Card holders, some might miss the chance if their are found ineligible during the interview process or if they fail to follow through with the final application process.
Information for DV-2023 applicants will be available on the site until September 30, 2023.
“DV-2023 Entrants should keep their confirmation number until at least September 30, 2023,” the DV Program instructions stated.
Last year participants – DV-2022- who have not checked their results have until September 30, 2022, to check or lose the opportunity if the deadline passes.
“DV applicants for the 2022 fiscal year (DV-2022) should wait to be notified of the scheduling of an interview in accordance with the phased resumption of visa services framework. All DV-2022 diversity visa program applicants must be found eligible for, and obtain, their visa or adjust status by the end of fiscal year 2022 (September 30, 2022),” a notice on the USDS stated.
The DV program’s goal is to increase the number of immigrants from developing nations with a low immigration population in the previous 5 years. Kenyans have always qualified.
According to US Department of State data, almost 12 million people applied for the program in 2021. Out of the number, nearly 5 million were applicants from African countries.
Congo-Kinshasa had the highest number of African applicants, posting almost 750,000 applicants in 2021, followed by Ethiopia and Sudan, who sent more than 546,000 and 391,000 entrants, respectively.
Kenya had 173,000 applicants in 2021, a significant drop from 2020 when over 570,000 Kenyans applied.
The principal applicant must have a high school diploma or two years of qualifying work experience to qualify for the DV Program.
Click this link to find the complete qualification instructions from the State Department website.