US State Department “Reboots” the Diversity Visa Lottery

By Maryanne Kline

On October 16, 2017, the US Department of State (DOS) shut down registration for the FY 2019 Diversity Lottery due to a technical problem and will restart the registration period on October 18, 2017. All entries submitted online prior to October 18, 2017 are not valid and have been excluded from the system. 

The technical issue has been resolved and a new full entry period will commence at 12:00 noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on Wednesday, October 18, 2017 and run until 12:00 noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on Wednesday, November 22, 2017. Only entries submitted during this new period will be accepted and eligible for selection in the lottery. Such new entries will not count as disqualifying duplicate entries of those submitted in the earlier period. DOS suggests that confirmation numbers and any other documentation of an earlier submission be destroyed.

Please refer to the DOS website at https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/diversity-visa/instructions.html for additional information about eligibility for this year’s lottery and https://www.dvlottery.state.gov/ for the link to the 2019 Diversity Lottery entry system.

Please contact your Mintz Levin immigration attorney with any questions about the Diversity Visa Lottery.

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Maryanne Kline

Practice Group Associate

Maryanne Kline is a Practice Group Associate at Mintz. Her practice focuses on US federal immigration law, with a concentration on business-based immigration issues. Maryanne counsels clients on issues related to hiring foreign nationals, executives, managers, and other workers.