MIAMI.- The State Department will announce the results of the 2025 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, also known as the Visa Lottery, which provides the opportunity for migrants to reside and work legally in the United States.
This immigration program, established by the Immigration and Nationality Law, annually draws 55,000 residency cards or green cards to thousands of applicants for permanent residence, who are chosen at random by computer.
Citizens from countries with low immigration rates to the United States who meet the requirements to qualify can register and apply for the visa between October and November, and the results are announced in May of the following year.
This year, the Visa Lottery results for fiscal year 2025 will be announced starting this Saturday, May 4 at 12 pm Eastern Time, and will be available until September 30, 2025.
The document granted in this lottery gives the beneficiary permanent legal residence in the United States, and in the future will potentially allow them to obtain US citizenship.
How do you know if you were selected?
To know if they were selected, applicants must access the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program website and select the “Check Participant Status” function.
Before accessing the page, it is important to have on hand the 16-digit confirmation number received at the time of registration, the surnames as recorded in the form, the year of birth and the authentication code provided by the system.
Then, enter the required data and the authentication captcha and press “Submit” to find out the result.
What to do if you win?
If selected, you will be directed to a confirmation page, which will provide you with detailed instructions regarding the following requirements, including the fees associated with the immigrant visa application.
Once the result is known, they can begin their Immigrant Visa Application and Foreigner Registration process, and must electronically submit Form DS-260, by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS, for its acronym in Spanish). English).
They will then proceed to an in-person interview at the US embassy or consulate, in which issues such as criminal records and security issues will be evaluated to determine eligibility to immigrate to the US.
Including family members, successful applicants must obtain their visas by September 30, 2025, as no visas will be issued or adjustments approved after that date.
Unique verification method
The State Department authorities reiterated that they will not send notification letters or emails about the selection, nor will the information be released through the country’s embassies and consulates, because the only official method to know the winners is website established by the program.
They also indicated that having won the lottery does not guarantee receiving residency and that all those selected must meet all eligibility requirements, according to US law.
These include being a citizen of a country with a low immigration rate to the US, having 12 years of primary and secondary education or its equivalent, and at least two years of work experience within the last five years in an eligible occupation.
The US government publishes each year the list of countries whose residents cannot apply because more than 50,000 natives of these countries immigrated to the US in the previous five years.
For the 2025 process, countries that were not eligible to apply include Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Korea of the South, the United Kingdom, Venezuela and Vietnam.
People who participated in the Visa Lottery have until September 30, 2024 to check if they won.
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Source: With information from Telemundo, La Nación and El Tiempo
