The State Department announced the number of winners of the 2023 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, also known as “The Green Card Lottery.”
The number of Nepali winners for DV 2023 is 3808. In Asia, 5,506 Iranians have won the DV lottery for 2023.
In Africa, 5,526 Algerians, 4,385 from Congo, 5,529 from Egypt, 4,469 from Morocco, and 4,863 from Sudan have won the DV lottery. In Europe, 5,504 people from Russia and 5,511 from Uzbekistan have won the DV lottery. Thus, Nepalis are ranked ninth in the world in winning the DV lottery. 3,808 from Ukraine have also won the DV lottery.
The Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky has registered and notified the selectees who are eligible to participate in the DV-2023 Diversity Visa (DV) program. Random selection of DV participants was conducted under the terms of section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which makes up to 55,000 permanent resident visas available annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.
Approximately 119,262 prospective applicants (i.e., selectees and their spouses and children) have been registered, notified, and may be eligible to make an application for an immigrant visa. Since selection is blind to the number of family members who might immigrate with the selectee, and it is likely that some of the selectees will not complete their cases or will be found ineligible for a visa, this larger figure should ensure that all DV-2023 numbers can be used during fiscal year 2023 (October 1, 2022, until September 30, 2023).
Entrants registered for the DV-2023 program were selected at random from 9,570,291 qualified entries received during the 35-day application period that ran from noon, Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday, October 6, 2021, until noon, Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, November 9, 2021. The visas have been apportioned among six geographic regions with a maximum of seven percent available to persons born in any single country.
During the visa interview, principal applicants must provide proof of a high school education or its equivalent, or show two years of work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience within the past five years. Those selected will need to act on their immigrant visa applications quickly. Applicants should follow the instructions in their notification letter and must fully complete all required steps.
Selectees who are physically present with legal status in the United States may apply to adjust their status by first contacting the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for information on the requirements and procedures. Once the total 55,000 visa numbers have been used, the program for fiscal year 2023 will end. Selectees who do not receive visas by September 30, 2023, will derive no further benefit from their DV-2023 registration. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2023 principal applicants are only entitled to derivative DV status until September 30, 2023.
Dates for the DV-2024 program registration period will be widely publicized in the coming months. Those interested in entering the DV-2024 program should check the Department of State’s Diversity Visa web page in the coming months.
The Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) passed by Congress in November 1997 stipulated that up to 5,000 of the 55,000 annually-allocated diversity visas be made available for use under the NACARA program. This will result in reduction of the DV-2023 annual limit to approximately 54,850.
Kishor Panthi
View More PostsKishor Panthi is the founder and editor-in-chief of Khasokhas and NepYork. He is the author of three books, “Kampan,” "UNTRANSLATABLE" and “Zero Mile.” He writes about social issues, immigration, and politics.
