Diversity Visa (DV) Electronic Registration for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 opens October 6, 2021, at noon ET and closes on November 9, 2021, at noon ET.

There is no cost to register, but, if selected, applicants must pay the visa application or I-485 Adjustment of Status fees.

Individuals born in certain countries are not eligible to apply because more than 50,000 natives of those countries have immigrated to the United States in the past five years. The list of ineligible countries is basically the same as last year, except Guatemala has been removed and Venezuela has been added.

The ineligible countries for FY 2023 are:

Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (including Hong Kong SAR), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, Venezuela and Vietnam. Individuals born in Macau SAR and Taiwan are eligible.

Although there is no registration fee, individuals may not submit more than one application. Doing so will lead to disqualification. Eligibility requirements are on the Diversity Lottery website. Interested applicants should apply early and not wait until the last week when heavy demand could lead to website delays. Applicants must apply online. No late or paper entries are accepted.

A few highlights from the instructions:

  • Applicants must have a valid, unexpired passport to apply. There are some waivers available, including for stateless applicants or applicants who cannot get a passport from a Communist-controlled country.
  • Cross-chargeability is a possibility. Applicants can apply based upon the country of birth of a derivative spouse or possibly based upon the country of birth of either of their parents if neither parent was a “resident” (other than on a temporary basis) of the applicant’s country of birth at the time of the applicant’s birth.
  • Applicants may apply from within the United States or from abroad.
  • Eligible applicants must have at least a high school education or its equivalent or two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience as defined by the Department of Labor.
  • No one eligible country will be allocated more than 7% of the 55,000 DVs that are available for the year.

FY 2023 DV entrants will be able to check the status of their applications online at www.dvprogram.state.gov starting on May 8, 2022.

Due to COVID-19, the 2021 Diversity Lottery has been mired in litigation. The hope is that the FY 2023 DV will not have similar problems.

If you have questions about the DV Program 2023 process, Jackson Lewis attorneys are available to assist.

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Photo of Forrest G. Read IV Forrest G. Read IV

Forrest Read is a Principal in the Raleigh, North Carolina, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. He has extensive experience in both business immigration law and employment law and has particular focus in legal issues in graduate medical education (GME).

Mr. Read’s immigration practice…

Forrest Read is a Principal in the Raleigh, North Carolina, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. He has extensive experience in both business immigration law and employment law and has particular focus in legal issues in graduate medical education (GME).

Mr. Read’s immigration practice focuses on assisting employers in obtaining employment-based nonimmigrant visas (e.g., H-1B, L, O, TN) for foreign national employees and work-related immigrant (green card) visas, including PERM Labor Certifications, and advising employers on compliance with U.S. immigration laws and regulations. He has broad experience in advising large, mid-size and small employers on their various immigration needs and developing strategies to help them navigate through complex immigration issues. He also has particular experience in counseling employers in the health care industry and addressing immigration-related issues that arise for their broad range of health care professional employees (including advising on and obtaining employment authorization for medical residents and fellows and obtaining J-1 visa waivers for foreign national physicians completing their medical training in the United States). His immigration practice also includes defending employers in connection with Department of Labor H-1B and H-2B investigations.

Mr. Read’s employment law experience includes representing management, particularly academic medical centers in the GME context, in a wide array of workplace disputes and litigation before federal and state courts and administrative agencies, including matters related to discrimination, retaliation, harassment, disability, family and medical leave, various wage and hour issues, contracts, and intentional torts. He advises academic medical centers on the interplay between applicable academic law and employment law and the ramifications of what are divergent legal requirements and standards. Mr. Read also provides counsel with respect to the legal impact of competency standards for residents and trainees in GME, including situations involving discipline, remediation, and dismissal. He provides advice and guidance in the peer review process, including provision of verification and assessment of training in response to third party inquiries.

As a member of the Firm’s Corporate Diversity Counseling group, Mr. Read also has experience in providing assessments and making recommendations to corporate and institutional clients with respect to diversity and inclusion policies and initiatives, conducting related internal investigations, and shaping, developing and enforcing effective policies and initiatives to ensure consistency with client values and in furtherance of business goals and objectives.