Tag Archives: Diversity Visa Status

The DS-260 form, also known as the Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration Application, is a crucial document that must be completed accurately for your Diversity Visa (DV) interview. This guide is on how to fill out the DS-260 form correctly. The principal applicant and all family members applying for a diversity visa program must complete Form DS-260. You will need to enter your DV case number into the online DS-260 form to access and update the information about yourself and your family that you included in your DV entry.

If your family circumstances have changed after you entered the Diversity Visa program, for example, if you have gotten married or had a child, you will need to add your new family members to your case. (“Family member” refers to a spouse and/or unmarried children who had not reached age 21 before you entered the DV program.) When adding family members to your case, you will need to upload a document to prove your relationship to the family member being added.

How to Fill Out the DS-260 Form Correctly

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to fill out the DS-260 form correctly:

• Step 1: Access the DS-260 Form

Go to the Consular Electronic Application Center (CEAC) website. Select the option for “DS-260, Online Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration Application“ and enter your Case Number.

• Step 2: Personal Information

Provide your personal information, including your full name, date of birth, place of birth, and nationality. Enter your passport information, including the passport number, issuing country, and expiration date.

• Step 3: Address and Phone Number

Enter your current address and phone number. If your address changes before your interview, update this information in the DS-260 form.

• Step 4: Marital Status and Family Information

Indicate your marital status and provide information about your spouse and children (if applicable). Include their full names, dates of birth, and passport information.

• Step 5: Previous U.S. Travel Information

Provide details about any previous travel to the United States, including the purpose of your visit, dates of travel, and locations visited.

• Step 6: Work/Education/Training Information

Provide details about your work, education, and training history. Include your current employer or school, as well as any previous employers or schools.

• Step 7: Security and Background Information

Answer questions about your background, including criminal history, immigration violations, and other relevant information.

• Step 8: Medical and Health Information

Answer questions about your medical history, including any physical or mental health conditions that may require treatment in the United States.

• Step 9: Miscellaneous Information

Provide any additional information that may be relevant to your visa application, such as previous visa denials or other immigration issues.

• Step 10: Review and Submit

Review all the information you have entered on the DS-260 form carefully to ensure it is accurate and complete.

Click the “Sign and Submit Application” button to submit your DS-260 form. Once submitted, you will receive a confirmation page with a barcode. Print this page and bring it to your DV interview.

Be aware that KCC can only tell you if your form has been processed. KCC cannot tell you whether or not you or your family members are eligible for diversity visas. Only the consular officer who interviews you can make that decision.

Note: On the Sign and Submit page of the DS-260, you will need to re-enter your DV case number without the zeros (e.g. if the case number is 2023AF0000012345, enter ‘2023AF12345’). Entering the full case number with zeros will generate a validation error.

In Conclusion:

Filling out the DS-260 form correctly is essential for your DV interview. By following these steps and providing accurate information, you can increase your chances of a successful visa application process. Once you’ve submitted the DS-260 online, you must print the confirmation page so you can bring it to your visa interview at the U.S. consulate in your country.

DISCLAIMER: This post and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. This site is not offering any Diversity Visa and is not the official site for DV Lottery program. The information presented in this post should not be construed to be formal legal advice. If you have any questions about the DV lottery, please contact an immigration professional/officer or a licensed attorney.

The Visa Bulletin for May 2024 that should be released in this month of April was released few days ago. This article will focus on details/analysis concerning the June 2024 cut-off numbers in the DV-2024 program.

Before you proceed, read this: Visa Bulletin For May 2024 and Cut-Off Numbers for June 2024 Published

Though the cut-off numbers in this year’s program is on a low, generally. The reason why, for those who are not aware of that reason, it stems from caution being applied by the visa office as a result of the unfortunate experience that they had at the end of the DV-2023 program.

Just to recall, last year, around the month of July, we saw a close to reaching the total number of visas that should have been issued out in the DV-2023 program. Unfortunately, those who should have been monitoring the statistics of the DV-2023 program were not doing their work as it were.

It happened that the program issued out nearly all of the 55,000 visas very early in the month of September, whereas KCC had already served so any interview notifications for the remaining three weeks in that month. So only one week into the month of September, the DV-2023 program came to an abrupt end, and all of the interviews that that had been scheduled for the rest of the month of September were canceled.

For DV-2024 applicants, it’s very likely that the Visa Office would apply caution when it comes to moving the cut-off numbers related to the DV-2024 program. On the overall, that is what we have experienced, and that’s the primary reason why we have the low movements in the cut-up numbers in the just released visa bulletin.

There are other reasons which concern specific regions like the Asia and the Europe regions. But when it comes to the overall slow movements or low movements in the cut-up numbers in the DV-2024 program, including what we just experienced, then it is due to the caution that is being applied by the visa office as a result of their bad experience with the DV-2023 program.

It is true that some people would like to see the cut-off numbers in the visa bulletin increase at a faster pace. But you should also understand that the diversity visa program operates in a specific context. There is a limited number of visas to be issued out every year, and those running the program take that into consideration, when it comes to moving the cut-off numbers.

Then, in addition to that, their bad experience with the DV-2023 program has also caused them to ensure that that mistake from the DV-2023 program is not repeated in the DV-2024 program.

So it is true that you would like to see the cut-off number move at a faster pace, but you should also take this into consideration. The big question which some people will be asking, based on the caution being applied by the visa office based on their experience with the DV-2023 program, is what to expect, will this continue? Will the low movements in the cut-off numbers continue up to the end of the DV-2024 program?

Those questions will be answered in upcoming articles.

Concerning the first of those four cut-up numbers, we have already experienced what we expected. When it comes to the remaining three, in the next Visa Bulletin, the low cut-off number of movements may continue. It is in the final two Visa Bulletins that the change actually occur.

Those are thoughts concerning the just-released Visa Bulletin, as well as upcoming Visa Bulletins in the DV-2024 program.

DISCLAIMER: This post and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. This site is not offering any Diversity Visa and is not the official site for DV Lottery program. The information presented in this post should not be construed to be formal legal advice. If you have any questions about the DV lottery, please contact an immigration professional/officer or a licensed attorney.

The much-awaited Visa Bulletin For May 2024 has now been released with the cut-off numbers that have been established for the month of June 2024 as part of the DV-2024 program.

Let’s now go over to the advanced notification section of the bulletin and consider the June cut-off numbers. Below are the June 2024 cut-off numbers:

The Africa region was previously established at 52,000. For the month of June, it has been increased to 57,000. This means that case numbers from the Africa region that have just become current are case numbers from 52,000 to 56,999.

In the case of the Asia region, the cut-off number for the month of May was 8,000. For the month of June, it has been increased to 9,000. So the case numbers from the Asia region that have just become current are case numbers going from case number 8,000 to 8,999.

In the case of the Europe region, for the month of May, the cut-off number established was 18,000, and for the month of June, it has been increased to 21,000. This means that the case numbers from the Europe region that have just become current are case numbers going from case number 18,000 to case number 20,999.

In the case of the North America region, the cut-off number for the month of May has been maintained for the month of June, and that cut-off number is 15. So the case numbers that were previously current from the North America region are the case numbers that remain current for the month of June.

To Oceania region, the previous cut-off number for the Oceania region was 1,650. For the month of June, it has been increased to 1,850, which means that the case numbers that have just become current are case numbers from case number 1,650 to case number 1,849.

Then in the case of the South America region, the total number that was previously established was 2,600, which was for the month of May. For the month of June, it has been increased to 2,750, making the case numbers that have just become current from the sub-American region to be case numbers from case number 2,600 to 2,749.

Then in the case of the exception countries, Algeria was previously at 51,000. It has been increased to 56,950. Egypt was previously at 32,000, that is for the month of May. It has been maintained at 32,000 for the month of June. Morocco was previously at 35,000. That is for the month of May, and it has been increased to 41,500 for the month of June.

Then to the exception countries from the Asia region, that is Iran and Nepal, both of those exception countries were previously at 7,100. That’s their cut-off number for the month of May, and that cut-off number has been increased to 8,500 for each one of those exception countries from the Asia region for the month of June.

Finally to the Europe region where previously, that is for the month of May the cut-off number established for Russia was 17,750, and for the month of June, it has been increased to 20,240. Then the final exception country from the Europe region, Uzbekistan, made cut-off number was at 8,000, and that cut-off number has been increased to 9,000 for the month of June.

Those are the cut-off numbers to apply during the month of June 2024, as well as the case numbers that just became current in the DV-2024 program. In an upcoming article, we will have the time to take a closer look at those numbers.

DISCLAIMER: This post and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. This site is not offering any Diversity Visa and is not the official site for DV Lottery program. The information presented in this post should not be construed to be formal legal advice.

DV Interview scheduling reports: This guide will explain what the interview scheduling reports are all about, and using examples, you will know how you can use these interview scheduling reports.

Note: Concerning the different case number ranges that are reported in the various interview scheduling reports. The case number ranges in the interview scheduling reports are actually case numbers that appear or that are shown the CEAC data. Most of you are aware that at the end of the working week, Xarthisius extracts the data from the CEAC website, and posts on their website. It is the case number ranges that are shown in the CEAC data that Xarthisius extracts that are present in the interview scheduling reports.

One reality that you should be aware of is that, all of that data is imported into this CEAC system by data entry workers at the U.S State Department. At the end of the working week, their staff enters the data. It is possible for the interview scheduling range that is reported for an embassy to not reflect the reality.

In other words, in the DV interview scheduling report, you may have a case number range that is lower than the actual case number range where interviews are being scheduled.

Over the weekend, those who enter the data in the CEAC system do not work, but when they resume work the following week, they continue from where they start. And so, generally, if at the end of one week, the exact situation or the reality is not presented in the interview scheduling report, the following week, the update will have been done and what you will get at the end of that second week will be the reality.

The CEAC data that Xarthisius extracts and posts on their website contains data related to interview scheduling. The importance of that data for you, a diversity visa applicant, is to give you an idea of how far or how close interview scheduling is from your case number.

For example, in the interview scheduling report, if Nairobi is currently at the 42,000 case number range, it tells applicants who are with case numbers just above 42,000 case number range that interview scheduling has come close to their case number range and that soon they can expect to be scheduled for interview.

It also indicates to those applicants assigned to the embassy in Nairobi with much higher case numbers, e.g 80,000 case number range, for example, that interview scheduling is still far from their case number, and so they cannot expect to be scheduled for interview soon.

That is how you should understand or interpret the various case number ranges that are present in the interview scheduling reports every weekend.

It doesn’t only concern your case number, the Interview scheduling reports also reflect the performance and the prospects of the embassy where you are assigned. How does that work? The time that interview scheduling takes at a certain case number range at an embassy, is an indication of the performance and the prospects for interview at that embassy.

For example, for Accra embassy, since the first CEAC data were released at the beginning of this year, Accra has been at 3,704, that’s the highest case number that have so far been at the Accra Embassy. And for the last three months, Accra has remained at that same position. That is an indication that the Accra Embassy is not performing well.

In addition to that, that is also an indication that prospects for interview at the Accra Embassy are bad. That’s another way you can use interview scheduling at your embassy as a diversity visa applicant.

With that, there should be no need why applicants should continue to ask concerning their chances of interview at this embassy or at the other embassy. Both the interview scheduling reports and the embassy prospects report should indicate to you as a diversity visa applicant, your chances of being scheduled for interview or the prospects of you being scheduled for interview, at each one of the various embassies represent in these reports.

That is how you should use DV interview scheduling as a diversity visa applicant.

In case you are in the position to access the CEAC data and see how far interview scheduling is at your embassy on a regular basis, say on a weekly basis, then it’s okay. But in case you cannot do that for yourself, perhaps you do not have the time, then the easier option will be to follow the interview scheduling report here because just by reading for a few minutes, you will have an idea of whether interview scheduling has taken a step closer to your case number range.

You will have an idea of your prospects or your chances for interview being assigned at your embassy.

Also, this concerns all regions, not just the Africa region, using Nairobi and Accra as examples, if you are not assigned at that embassy, all you need to do is to apply the concept to your own case. That is how it works.

DISCLAIMER: This post and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. This site is not offering any Diversity Visa and is not the official site for DV Lottery program. The information presented in this post should not be construed to be formal legal advice. If you have any questions about the DV lottery, please contact an immigration professional/officer or a licensed attorney.

Don’t do the following things, it will harm you when it comes to the Diversity Visa interview because you will get your visa refused and some of them will block you from ever entering the United States.

Are you a DV winner or are you waiting for the DV results, and you are hoping to become a selectee? Are you waiting for the 2NL? Are you waiting for the visa? Therefore the following things, if you intend to do them, they will utterly harm you.

Things That Will Deny You The Diversity Visa During the Interview

• Don’t overstay your United States visa or don’t overstay any other countries visa

If you are on a visit visa and that visa has given you a step period of maybe two months, don’t exceed. The date was supposed to be out of the United States and ensure you are out of the United States. If you are there on a business visa and there are terms and conditions of up to when, if you are on any other visa, visit visa, tour visa or any other visa, and there is a time period because it is a nonimmigrant visa, just stay within that time period and be out of the United States once the time expires.

By so doing, you will be safe, if you dare overstay, that will ruin your chances, and it will most likely prevent you from ever being to the United States. So don’t overstay your visa.

• Never force a marriage

This might affect a majority of the selectees or the DV winners, never forced a marriage. This applies to all those who applied a single. If you applied a single, and definitely life must continue as usual, if the relationship that you are taking yourself into will end up being fraud, don’t involve yourself in that.

If you applied a single, you end up getting engaged and you want to add this as your spouse after you’ve married, it is very much subjective, meaning that you have to really prove to the consulate or the embassy that it is not fraud, though it’s not an easy thing.

The only way it can successful, based from the previous experiences, is when the affected parties had documents to prove the existing relationship that can lead to marriage even before they were selected, even before they won DV lottery. If they can provide that, then they will approve for their visas. That is the only way that you can prove that this is not fraud, you are not forcing a marriage.

Let no one tell you to get married because they want to go to the United States, you will ruin your chance. Don’t get into that trap. If you applied a single, just continuous single, even if you end up in the United States, you can still come back and arrange for that marriage, but not within that period if you know it can affect you.

If you don’t have the proof documents, printed documents to show that there was a legit relationship, even before that, then don’t try to force a marriage. Also, if you applied as married because you are living together and you have kids, and according to your customs, you were married, only that you don’t have any legal documents like a marriage certificate to prove that, then that is a different one.

You can just obtain the marriage certificate because you have enough evidence to prove that, then go ahead with that process as married, because you are married locally within your customs, only that you need to legalize it using a formal document.

• Don’t commit crimes

Remember there are three categories of crimes that are really detrimental or can really be detrimental to your visa process. These three crimes, they include,

1. Aggravated felonies.
2. Crime involving moral turpitude.
3. Crime involving illegal drugs.

The aggravated felonies, according to the United States, is when you try to do something that will harm people, for example, murder or drug trafficking, that also falls under aggravated felony. Maybe trying to force a fraud, you want to con someone, you want to harm that person. Don’t commit that type of crime.

Also that the crimes involving the moral turpitude, they also are those illegal intentions that you have upon someone. Maybe you are planning to murder someone. You are planning to steal from someone, you are planning to maybe commit a sexual offense against someone, you are planning or intending to cause harm to the public. Don’t do that, it will affect your visa.

Then we also have those crimes around the drug trafficking, drug abuse. If you are found or if you commit a crime that involves drug trafficking, illegal drug trafficking, then you will have no chances. So don’t commit these crimes if you want to get a successful interview. Just protect yourself against these crimes. Play it safe, be a good person, that is all it requires.

• Social media

Remember, when filling the DS-260 form, you are supposed to list all the social media accounts that you have, if you don’t list, you are risking your chance. You cannot hide. Just list everything that you have on the internet.

When you have this account, don’t dare post any harmful content, either to a minor or any harmful content to any person in the public, or any harmful content towards the United States. Don’t post any criminal content in that social media. Don’t post any content that causes terrorism. Anything that puts or poses a threat on the United States, don’t dare do that. Anything that you post that causes or poses harm on the United States will cost you your visa, so don’t dare do that.

Those are just some of the things that we’re not supposed to do, though, there are also others.

DISCLAIMER: This post and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. This site is not offering any Diversity Visa and is not the official site for DV Lottery program. The information presented in this post should not be construed to be formal legal advice. If you have any questions about the DV lottery, please contact an immigration professional/officer or a licensed attorney.

DV 2024 cut-off numbers Issue: We are now aware of the cut-off number that have been established in the DV 2024 program for the month of May 2024, as published in the Diversity Visa Bulletin For April 2024.

What those cut-off numbers have done is, they have established fear in the minds of so many diversity visa applicants, and that is the case because of two reasons.

The first reason is that most applicants expected the cut-off number for their region to go beyond where they were actually established for the month of May. And then in addition to that, some people has already established what they believe will be the final cut-off numbers in the DV 2024 program. Accordingly, that was based on the DV 2024 CEAC data.

Note: The CEAC data or the data of a DV program is not the only factor that determines the final cut-off numbers of that program. There are other factors that could override the data, and that have been seen different times. So anyone who limits himself to the data of the program to determine what the final cut-off numbers will have one of these three problems.

The first problem that such a person could have is that they may be new to the diversity visa program. The second problem that such a person may have, is that they base their reasoning more on theory than on what happens in practice. If that is not the case, then such a person does not learn from past experience. So it is either one of those three problems that such a person, a person who bases their reasoning only on the data has.

There are other factors that could play a part in determining the final cut-off numbers in the Diversity Visa Program:

The first of those factors that could influence the final cut of numbers in the diversity visa program is the approach that is taken by those who are in charge of running the program. What does this mean? Data in the diversity visa program is important. In case those who are running the program have a certain approach, that approach is going to override what the data is suggesting.

A notable instance was the end of the DV 2023 program. When the data was showing that they had reached the 55,000 visas to be issued out, those who were running the program were still sending out interview notifications to applicants. Was it the right thing to do? No, it was not the right thing to do, but it was what was done. So not always what the data suggests, not always what should happen ends up happening.

Sometimes, the approach that is being applied by those who are running the program could overrun what should happen, could overrun what the data are suggesting. That is one thing that you must get clear as a diversity visa applicant.

Another factor that could influence the final cut-off numbers in the diversity visa program is policy. The movements in the diversity visa cut-off numbers are a very effective way of implementing policy. Let’s take this example, In case the State Department wants a certain number of applicants to be interviewed at a certain time during the fiscal year. They don’t have to go through any difficulty. They will simply play with the numbers, play with the number of the region concerned, and they get what they want.

If, for example, they want to reduce the number of applicants from a specific region, all they need to do will be to keep the number of that region low. At the end of the day, many applicants from that region will not be interviewed, and that policy will be implemented. Their goal will be achieved.

On the other hand, in case they want a high number of applicants from a certain region, all they need to do is to push the numbers further. They are going to get so many applicants current, and those applicants will end up being interviewed, and they get what they want.

So, considering only the data to draw conclusions as it relates to the final cut-off numbers in the diversity visa program is not an effective way of getting to know the final cut-off numbers. Any of those other factors above could overrun what the data is saying, and what will happen will not be in line with what the data suggests it originally.

Based on past experience, in case you have been following a diversity visa program, you will realize that the data is not the only factor that affects the determination of the final cut-off number.

There is another reason why you cannot wholly rely on the data in the current context of the diversity visa program, when it comes to determining the final cut-off number in this year’s program. Next post will expose other reasons to you.

But this was just to say to you that data in the current context of the diversity visa program is not the only factor that could influence the determination of the final cut-off number. Look out for that other post which exposes the next reason why you cannot wholly rely on data in the current context of the diversity visa program.

DISCLAIMER: This post and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. This site is not offering any Diversity Visa and is not the official site for DV Lottery program. The information presented in this post should not be construed to be formal legal advice.

The Diversity Visa Bulletin For April 2024, which should be published in this month of March 2024, has been published. This Diversity Visa Bulletin For April 2024 shows the cut-off numbers to apply in the diversity visa program during the month of May 2024, as well as the case numbers that have just become “Current” as a result of the release of this bulletin.

Diversity Visa Bulletin For April 2024 and Cut-Off Numbers for May 2024 Analysis

Below is the Diversity Visa advanced notification section of the just released visa bulletin and the details:

As you can see from the above image, the cut-off number that has been established for the Africa region for the month of May is 52,000. It was previously at 45,000. This means that case numbers from the Africa region that have just become “Current” are case numbers from 45,000 to 51,999.

In the case of the Asia region, the cut-off number that has been established is 8,000. Previously, it was 7,000. The case numbers that have just become “Current” are case numbers from 7,200 to 7,999.

In the case of the Europe region, the cut-off number that has been established for the month of May is 18,000. Previously, it was 17,500. The case numbers that have just become “Current” from the Europe region are case numbers from 17,500 to 17,999.

In the case of the North America region, the new cut-off number to apply in the month of May is 15. Previously, it was 13.

In the case of Oceania, the new cut-off number that has been established for the month of May is 1,650. Previously, it was 250, and so the case numbers from Oceania that just became “Current” are case numbers from case number 1,250 to case number 1,649.

In the case of the South America region, the cut-off number to apply in the month of May is 2,600. Previously, it was 2,400, and that means that the case numbers from that region that just became “Current” are case numbers going from case number 2,400 to 2,599.

Then in the final column of the table, we have the new cut-off numbers to apply in the exception countries. For Alger, it is 51,000. Previously, it was at 42,000. For Egypt, it is now 32,000, it was previously at 30,000. For Morocco, it was 35,000 for the month of April, and it has been maintained at 35,000 for the month of May.

Then in the Asia region, in the case of both exceptional countries, the new cut-off number to apply is 7,100. Previously, in the case of Iran, it was 7,000, and in the case of Nepal, it was 6,000. Both have been increased to 7,100.

Finally, in the Europe region, the cut-off number that has been established for Russia for the month of May is 17,750. Previously, it was 17,400, and it has been increased to 17,750. And for Uzbekistan, the cut-off number to apply in the month of May is 8,000. Previously, it was at 7,000.

Those are the cut-off numbers to apply during the month of May 2024 as part of the DV 2024 program, as well as the case numbers that have just become “Current” in the different regions.

With those new cut-off numbers, interview scheduling at your different embassies and councilors will now have the possibility of going beyond their current limit.

Next post will take a closer look at the details of this visa bulletin. Thanks for reading it.

DISCLAIMER: This post and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. This site is not offering any Diversity Visa and is not the official site for DV Lottery program. The information presented in this post should not be construed to be formal legal advice.

We have only few days remaining before the DV-2025 lottery results are out, the exact date is May 4, 2024, and that will be 12 noon the eastern time (EDT), the New York time, that’s when the results will be out. You can convert that to your local time and see when that will be.

When the result is out there will be no form of communication to you notifying you of the results, or there will not be any communication to tell you that the results are out. Neither will there be a message telling you that you have won, that you need to do such and such a thing for you to proceed. You are the one to do that. You are the one to go ahead and visit that website, Dvprogram.state.gov.

When opened, you’ll see a page there on the entrant status check, that’s where you’ll find a place to enter your confirmation number, year of birth, your last name (that is the surname) and then you get access to the result. You are the one to go and check for yourself.

Let no one come with fake emails or fake messages telling you that you have won. That is lies. You’re the one to visit the site and check for yourself. There have been many speculations out there about this selection process and people have tried to figure out how the process happens. But this guide below fully explained that.

Read: DV Lottery Program Selection Process | How DV winners are selected

The DV lottery is a free and fair program, you apply for free, you pay no charges and you also check the result yourself, for free. After checking, that’s when you get the response whether you’ve won or you’ve not won. It is very random, that’s why it’s called the diversity visa lottery.

It deals with the diverse, the diversity of the immigrants in the United States. They are just providing a free opportunity or a free avenue of immigrants to go to the United States and try their life there. It is free and the selection is very random indeed.

By random, that also means that everyone has equal chances in that program. Everyone who applied and applied correctly have equal chances of getting selected, it is not based on any achievement. Even if you had a very good profession and another person had no profession, but had qualified, once you enter into the program, the program is completely random. You have equal chances, it is not based on any achievement in life. You just meet the basic qualification, the minimum qualification, and all of you have the equal chances of getting selected.

Remember, this program is run by computer program, all the entries, they are put in a computer program that randomly selects when it runs to pick the successful selectees. Then after that, all the selected will be subjected to further screening. That is to mean the information there will be checked and especially the quality of the photo.

If the photo passes the qualifications, then you remain in the selection. But if you have some errors and especially in your photo or with your photo, then you are eliminated. That is to mean you are removed from those that were selected, leaving behind a space that is called a hole. So that’s how it does happen.

DV Selection Process

These are some of the factors that are not considered in the DV selection process:

The first factor they will not consider is the country of birth. It will not matter which country you come from. Whether you from the east, from Africa, from the Oceania, etc, that will not matter. Everyone has equal chances.

Another thing that will not matter is how many times you entered. In fact, if you entered more than once, that is considered fraud and you are instantly eliminated. You will not even enter into the first phase of selection. Once you place multiple entries, you are disqualified outrightly. So it does not depend on the number of times you applied.

Another thing is the gadget that you used. People have applied using computers and they have not been selected. Others have applied using the mobile phones, the pcs, the Mac. They have applied using different gadgets. They have not been selected. Whereas others have used the same mobile, the same laptop, the same computer and they have gotten selected. So it’s not based on the gadget that you used when it comes to selection.

Another thing is, it will not matter how many times you visited the United States. The frequency of you visiting the United States, that will not matter. It will not matter how long you have stayed in the United States. Even if you have stayed maybe doing business for like ten years or three years. If you have been there for a visit visa for about three months, it will not matter the length. It is completely not based on those facts. It is random.

It’s good that we get to know such things.

DISCLAIMER: This post and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. This site is not offering any Diversity Visa and is not the official site for DV Lottery program. The information presented in this post should not be construed to be formal legal advice.

Diversity Visa Lottery 2NL: In regards to DV-2024 lottery interviews, many people are already getting their second notification letters (2NL) while others are still waiting for them.

While you are waiting for the second notification letter. What are you supposed to do? Because for you to pass your DV lottery interviews, there are many determining factors and you need to get ready for the DV lottery interview.

Remember, after getting your second notification letter, you are given about six weeks of preparation before the interview date, that means that is some short time for you to amply prepare. So you need to have prepared even before the second notification letter. This is what we are going to learn in this guide. The end result of it is that you need to get a successful interview, get equipped for the DV lottery interview, for you to get your Visa approved.

What you are supposed to do, even as you’re waiting for the Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery second notification letter (2NL)?

• Always keep track of the Visa bulletin

Always check on the Visa bulletin, especially if your number is not yet current, keep an eye on the Visa bulletin. Because the visa bulletin informs all the numbers that will be ready for certain month. All the numbers that are current for a given month.

Remember, for you to be current, your case number should be lying below that cut-off number. So how do you expect to know if you’re current if you don’t keep track of the Visa bulletin? How do you expect to know when your number will become current, if you don’t keep track of the Visa bulletin? How will you know, if you’re supposed to change an embassy for the interview, if you cannot keep track of the visa bulletin?

It’s very important that you keep track of the Visa bulletin because there you’ll get the cut-off number. You’ll be able to gauge your fate, the fate of your case number, and therefore take the necessary steps. So the first thing, always keep track of the visa bulletin. In this site, you will always get update you on the visa bulletins.

• Gather all relevant information

The second thing that you need to do is, as you’re waiting for the second notification letter, ensure that you gather all relevant information. Gather the relevant information pertaining the DV lottery. Have, if possible, all information about the diversity visa process. Know the steps, the stages, the requirements, the documents that you are needed. Everything that surrounds the DV lottery program, know about that. All the material that is needed, everything that will lead to a successful visa interview, you need to gather that information. Make the dvprogram.state.gov your friend and follow every rightful information and you’ll have a successful interview.

• Latest performance statistics of your current embassy

The other important thing that you are supposed to do is, also try to understand or to get the latest performance statistics of your current embassy, the embassy in which your interview is scheduled. Try and look for information, get to know about the performance of your embassy from the relevant resources.

You know where your case is, try as much as possible and get to know the performance. If you gauge your case number against the performance of your embassy and you realize that for sure, you are at risk of not getting an interview or your opportunity, then you need to take necessary steps. You need to transfer it. Get a better performing embassy that you can access and transfer your case there.

If you can move to that country, that is the best. If you have free movement from one country to your neighbor, and then you can also transfer to that country. Get to know the performance of your embassy as you’re waiting for the second notification letter.

• Gather evidence that you need pertaining your case

The other important thing to do, and this is very crucial, is gather all the evidence that you need pertaining your case. You know how your case is, and you know everything that you need, you need to get those evidences.

The document proofs that have been requested, and also those that have not been requested or outlined in the checklist but you need them to solidify the truth or the veracity of your case, you need to get them. All the documents in the checklist, those that need notarization, you get the notarized documents, all those documents that are not mentioned there and they need also notarization, get them, even if they don’t need any certification.

For example, if you applied as single but you are in a relationship intending to get engaged and marry, then you need to get proof documents to show that there was an existing relationship before even you won DV Lottery, just to make sure that this is not a fraud and to get your visa approved.

The point is, get all the documents, anything that is required. As you’re waiting for the certification letter, ensure that you gather them. Remember, it is very risky for you to fall under the 221G visa refusal because time is running out and you never know, if you get into that position how much time it would take for you to be called back.

Some 221G have gone even beyond six months, so make every effort to get all the relevant documents that you may not be put to 221G or be refused the visa.

• Always your email for any update

You keep checking your email for any update. Remember, communication comes through your email. The email that you listed on the DS-260 form. Through that, the communication from KCC will come regarding the second notification letter (2NL). It is the email that notifies you that you have your 2NL in the Dvprogram.state gov’s website that you need to go there and put your details and access the second notification letter. That notification is sent to you via the email.

Some Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

Question: About the email, can one changed it on filling the DS-260 rather than the one he/she used during the entry?

Answer: Yes indeed

Question: My high school diploma is French language so while filling the diploma or certificate received in ds260 should I write it in French like written on my diploma or I translate in English?

Answer: If your embassy/ where you will be interviewed is francophon, you don’t need to. If it’s another, then you’ll need to translate.

Question: I have High school certificate, will the embassy still demand for transcript of high school?

Answer: No, the high school diploma is enough. No transcripts needed

Question: It ok to certify academic certificates and collect police clearance before 2NL?

Answer: For the police clearance -yes but for the education, you only do it after 2NL

DISCLAIMER: This post and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. This site is not offering any Diversity Visa and is not the official site for DV Lottery program. The information presented in this post should not be construed to be formal legal advice.

We saw in the previous guide that the visa bulletin for the month of March 2024, which shows the cut-off numbers to apply during the month of April 2024 as part of the DV-2024 program was released. There are some major questions that comes up every month about the new released visa bulletin. In this guide, we will look at the March 2024 Visa Bulletin and APRIL Cut-Off Numbers Analysis and answers to some of those questions about Visa Bulletin and APRIL Cut-Off Numbers.

Diversity Visa Bulletin for March 2024 and APRIL Cut-Off Numbers Analysis

Many people are disappointed because they expected to see the cut-off number of their region move further than it has actually moved, and that why they ask some of these questions, whenever the visa bulletin is published.

For example, why did the Africa region increase from 40,000 to 45,000 and not beyond? Because that was the wish of many applicants. Or why the Asia region moved from 7000 to 7200, etc.

The expression that usually comes up in such a case is analysis. For the coming days, applicants will be demanding analysis concerning the various movements in the regional and exceptional countries cut-off numbers. Below is the analysis or explanation as to why the cut-off number of your region or your exceptional country moved to a small extent, as it has done in this visa bulletin:

The visa bulletin cut-off numbers that we see on a monthly basis do not just come about anyhow. There is a principle behind the movement or as non-movement in some cases, in the visa bulletin. The visa office moves the cut-off numbers or decide not to move them based on necessity.

If it is necessary to move, it moves them, if it is not necessary to move them, they remain as they were. What does this necessary or not necessary mean? All depends on what is expected concerning interviews for the month under discussion or the month concerned. In this case, the month of April.

The principle is that, moving the visa bulletin cut-off number is meant to make new cases current because in order for cases to be scheduled for interview, the first must be current. When the visa bulletin cut-off number moves, it moves because the visa office wants more cases to become current so that they can be interviewed.

If the embassies inform the visa office that there is no need to take new cases, the visa office will not move the cut-off numbers for the region or the exceptional country concerned.

If they say that they need only a few cases, the visa office will move the cut-off number to a small extent to allow only a few cases to be made current, because it’s only a few cases that are needed to be interviewed or added to the ones that are already waiting to be interviewed during the month concerned. So that is the principle.

Why is it that, for the Africa region, for example, the movement was from 40,000 to only 45,000? Why in the case of the Asia region, the movement was from 7000 to only 7200? In Oceania, for example, from 1200 to 1250 because of the same reason.

For the month of April, there are many cases already waiting to be interviewed, as a result of that it was not necessary to give any region a leap. That’s the reason why on the overall in this visa bulletin, we observe that there is not much of a leap in the various cut-off numbers.

If you should observe the situation one month ago, you will realize that for most regions, perhaps all regions, there was a leap or a high increase in the various cut-off numbers. Take Africa, for example, it left from 26,500 to 40,000. In the case of Asia, the cut-off number left from 5500 to 7000, which is a relatively high increase. Oceania, for example, left from 875 to 1200. What that did is that it made many cases current waiting to be interviewed.

With the low increases that we have observed in this visa bulletin, we can then expect leaps or higher increases in the visa bulletin cut-off numbers after now, even if it is not for all of the regions. But after now, we can look forward to leaps taking place or higher increases happening because the many cases will now be reduced.

That is how you should take the movements that occur in the visa bulletin cut-off numbers, which will allow you to understand every time the visa bulletin is published, why this happened and why that happened. It will also give you an insight into what you should expect concerning upcoming visa bulletins. That is the analysis.

Thanks for reading.

DISCLAIMER: This post and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. This site is not offering any Diversity Visa and is not the official site for DV Lottery program. The information presented in this post should not be construed to be formal legal advice.

As the DV 2024 program progresses, this is the statistics of the program at the end of the January 15 to January 19 working week. Before we go into the statistics, we are all aware that this data is extracted by Xarthisius and posted to their website. This guide will break in details, the information that features in the DV 2024 CEAC data table.

2024 Diversity Visa Interview Statistics

Below is the current status of interviews and visas in the DV 2024 Program, as at January 20th, 2024.

What makes this above presentation interesting is that it shows you how cases progress after the current for interview scheduling stage of the diversity visa application process. In other words, this presentation shows you the stages that cases go through after they get scheduled for interview.

As shown in the table, they first appear is “In Transit”. That is, they are shown being transferred from KCC to their respective embassies and consulates.

Next is the “Ready Stage”, which shows cases registered at the different embassies and consulates ready for interview.

Then after that, come the interview outcome stages. That is, what happens to the cases after they are interviewed. And as you can see from the table, either they are placed on ordinary “Administrative Processing”, placed on “221G Administrative Processing”, “Permanently Refused”, or they get “Issued”.

There is another important aspect of this presentation that you will discover as to get closer to the end of interview scheduling in this year’s program, it will be shared soon.

Going into details of the data above, there are a couple of things to note on.

Firstly, the number of visas that have so far been issued out. That is found in the final column in the data. As you can see for the Africa region, so far, a total of 3,158 diversity visas have been issued out. For Asia, 1,117. For Europe, 3,536. For North America, 5, for Oceania, 181, and for South America, 290, bringing the total number of visas issued out so far in the DV 2024 program to 8,287.

Knowing that there are a total of about 55,000 visas allocated to the DV 2024 program, it means that there are still around 47,000 visas left to be issued out. But some of those visas have already been booked by the cases that are currently awaiting interview.

The second item at the bottom of the third column, the number of applicants who are currently ready for interview. From the data, there are 15,399 applicants currently awaiting interview in the DV 2024 program, and as most of them will be issued visa at the end of the day, we can say that if you have not yet received your interview notification, then the total number of visas left for you to be issued is actually far less than 47,000.

The 15,399 applicants currently ready for Interview include those that are still to be interviewed during what is left of this month of January, all of those that are to be interviewed during the month of February, and most of those that are to be interviewed during the month of March.

Interview notifications continue to be sent out for the month of March, so in case your case number falls within the range that are indicated for your region as being concerned by interviews to be conducted during that month of March, after the last visa bulletin was released, then continue to look out for your interview notification because at any time it could show up, provided your case has reached the end of your embassy queue.

Those are the statistics of the DV 2024 program at the end of the January 15 to January 19 working week. This is an exercise that is going to be presented on a weekly basis, and so look out for the next statistics for this year’s program on subsequent weeks.

DISCLAIMER: This post and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. This site is not offering any Diversity Visa and is not the official site for DV Lottery program. The information presented in this post should not be construed to be formal legal advice.

A lot of attention has been on the CEAC data and DV-2024 interview scheduling at different embassies and consulates. But now, the visa bulletin for the month of February 2024, for MARCH Cut-Off Numbers, has now been released

This post will show you what the Visa Office has decided concerning the month of March as it relates to cut-off numbers in the diversity visa program.

Without further ado, let’s go over to the advanced notification section of the just-released Visa Bulletin and consider the March cut-off numbers.

DV 2024: MARCH Cut-Off Numbers Published

For March, immigrant numbers in the DV category are available to qualified DV-2024 applicants chargeable to all regions/eligible countries as follows. When an allocation cut-off number is shown, visas are available only for applicants with DV regional lottery rank numbers BELOW the specified allocation cut-off number:

Below is a well detailed description of the Diversity (DV) Immigrant category rank Cut-Off Numbers, as published at U.S Department of State official webpage, which will be apply in March 2024.

• For South America Region

Beginning at the bottom of the table in the South America region, the cut-off number to apply in the month of March is 2,200. For the month of February, it was 1,600, and it has been increased to 2,200 for the month of March.

• For Oceania Region

Moving just above to Oceania, where the cut-off number has been established for the month of March at 1,200. For the month of February, it was 875, and it has been established at 1,200 for the month of March.

• For North America Region

Next is the North America region, where the cut-off number for the month of March is 13. It was 5 for the month of February, and it has been increased to 13 for the month of March.

• For Europe Region

Then to the Europe region, where the cut-off number for the larger Europe region has been established at 16,000. For the month of February, it was 13,500, and it has been increased to 16,000 for the month of March.

Europe Exception Countries

Europe has two exception countries. The first is Russia, and the cut-off number to apply in the case of Russia for the month of March is 15,500. For the month of February, it was 13,250, and it has been increased to 15,500 for the month of March.

For Uzbekistan

Next is Uzbekistan, where the cut-off number for the month of March has been increased to 5,750. For the month of February, it was 5,500, and it has been increased to 5,750 for the month of March.

• For Asia Region

Then to the Asia region, where the cut-off number for the larger Asia region for the month of March has been established at 7,000. For the month of February, it was 5,500, and it has been increased to 7,000 for the month of March.

ASIA Exception Countries

Asia also has two exception countries. In the case of Iran, the cut-off number to apply in the month of March is 6,750. For the month of February, it was 5,450. And for the month of March, it has been increased to 6,750.

For Nepal

Next is Nepal, where the cut-off number to apply in the month of March is 5,000. For the month of February, it was 4,500, and it has been increased to 5,000 for the month of March.

• For Africa Region

Then to the Africa region, where the cut-off number to apply in the larger Africa region for the month of March is 40,000. A leap occurred from 26,500 for the month of February to 40,000 for the month of March.

The Africa region has three exception countries. In the case of Algeria, the cut-off number that has been established for the month of March is 35,000. For the month of February, it was 26,000, and it has been increased to 35,000 for the month of March.

For Egypt

Next is Egypt, the only region and exception country where the February cut-off number has been maintained in this visa bulletin. For the month of February, as well as the month of March, to apply in the case of Egypt is 25,000.

For Morocco

And to the final exception country from the Africa region, Morocco, where the cut-off number to apply in the month of March is 27,500. For the month of February, it was 25,000, and it has increased to 27,500 for the month of March.

That’s to inform you that the new Visa Bulletin For February 2024 has now been released and to acquaint you with the new cut-off numbers, which will be apply in March 2024. To access Visa Bulletin for February 2024 and MARCH 2024 Cut-Off Numbers, visit the official webpage, and once on the page, scroll down to the Diversity Visa section of the Bulletin.

In the upcoming post/guide, we will have the opportunity to take a closer look at issues relating to this visa bulletin.

Thanks for reading.

DISCLAIMER: This post and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. This site is not offering any Diversity Visa and is not the official site for DV Lottery program. The information presented in this post should not be construed to be formal legal advice.

As at the time of posting this guide, this is the second week since the first CEAC data was released, and today we will learn about the second report concerning DV-2024 interview scheduling at your different embassies and consulates.

The situation of interviews at your embassy or consulate is key to determining your prospects for interview in a diversity visa program. That is why I present these interview scheduling reports on a weekly basis.

Visit this site every week for updates relating to interview scheduling at your embassy or consulate.

DV 2024 Second Interview Scheduling Report

Below is the situation of Interview Scheduling at embassies or consulates:

From the above image, At the U.S Embassy in Doha Qatar, for the Africa region, interview scheduling is currently at 5,900 plus, and for the Asia region is 2,300 plus.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the Africa region is 9,400 plus, the Asia region, 4,300 plus. Warsaw, Poland, that’s in the Europe region, interview scheduling at that embassy is currently at 13,100 plus.

Rangun, Burma, or Myanmar, that’s in the Asia region, interview scheduling is currently at that embassy is currently at 5,400 plus.

To Alger, Algeria, 25,100 plus. Next is Da’er Salam, Tanzania, 19,500 plus. Dakar, Senegal, 25,100 plus. Lomé, Togo is 26,400 plus.

Then to London, the UK, and for the Africa region, interview scheduling is currently at 24,600 plus, for the Asia region, 5,200 plus. For the Europe region, 12,700 plus. And for the Oceania region, 400 plus.

Mumbai, India, For the Africa region, interview scheduling is currently at 26,100 plus at that embassy, and for the Asia region, 5,300 plus.

Next is Johannesburg, South Africa, where interview scheduling is currently at the 20,800 plus. Then to Yerevan, Armenia, where for the Asia region, interview scheduling is currently at 5,400 plus, and for the Europe region, 11,300 plus.

Suva, Fiji, Interview scheduling at that embassy is currently at 800 plus. Islamambad, Pakistan, that’s in the Asia region. Interview scheduling is currently at 5,400 plus.

To Abu Dhabi, the UAE, for the Africa region, interview scheduling is currently at 19,500 plus. For the Asia region, 5,400 plus, and for the Europe region, 6,400 plus.

Freetown, Sierra Lone, Interview scheduling is at 25,800 plus at that embassy, followed by Kigali, Rwanda, 10,800 plus.

Colombo, Sri Lanka, in the Asia region, Interview scheduling is currently at 1,600 plus at that embassy.

Monrovia, Liberia, 26,400 plus. Accra, Ghana is 3,700 plus, followed by Yaoundé, Cameroon, 26,400 plus.

Then to Kathmandu, Nepal, and for the Africa region, interview scheduling is currently at 17,500 plus, and for the Asia region, 3,800 plus.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where interview scheduling is at 1,800 plus, followed by Nairobi, Kenya, 26,400 plus, and finally to Harari, Zimbabwe, where interview scheduling is currently at 25,700 plus.

Source: DV and More

DISCLAIMER: This post and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. This site is not offering any Diversity Visa and is not the official site for DV Lottery program. The information presented in this post should not be construed to be formal legal advice.

CEAC website for DV 2024 is now open, the database is open for every DV 2024 winner to check their status and the Highest Case Numbers in DV2024 for each Region have been Revealed. That means you can now visit the CEAC website, put your case number information and gauge the status of your DV progress. The data was released by the U.S State Department.

The exact website where you can check for your case information is here. The CEAC information for DV2024 lottery comes out from the beginning of January 2024. When you open the site, put your information, and check your status. There are lot of information about the DV lottery 2024 from this website.

Another link to open is https://dvcharts.xarthisius.xyz/ceacFY24.html, it’s going to take you to the DV 2024 CEAC data page. This is the first DV 2024 CEAC data as presented by xarthisius website.

On this guide, we are going to consider three items, beginning with the table below, that table shows the statistics for the cases that have so far been scheduled for interview in the DV 2024 program, the issued visas, those under AP administration, those under 221G refusal, those refused ready transit and the totals for all the regions.

In the first column, as you can see above, we have the various regions. We are going to concern ourselves to only two columns in this table. The first is the second column where we have the statistics for issuances, that is the number of visas that have so far been issued to DV 2024 applicants.

We see that at the bottom of that column, a total of 6,110 visas were issued during the months of October, November, and December. Another comment to make concerning this table is that the numbers you see outside of the parentheses represent the number of applicants, and what you have in parentheses represents the number of cases that those applicants belong to.

For example, the 6,110 that we see at the bottom of the issued column are the total number of applicants that have been issued visas from 3,074 cases. And that is why you have 3,074 in parentheses representing the number of cases and 6,110 outside of parentheses representing the number of applicants.

The next column to draw your attention to is the sixth column, which is the ready column. That’s the number of applicants that are currently scheduled for interview at the different U.S embassies and consulates. At the bottom of that column, we see that 6,792 cases are currently scheduled at the various embassies and consulates, and that amount to 14,721 applicants.

The next item on this page that to consider is the DV 2024 CEAC data for embassies. That’s the next section on that page. If you scroll down a bit to where you have DV 2024 CEAC data for embassies, in the table that is presented there, we have the same information, but this time for individual embassies and consulate.

In case you would like to have details concerning interviews that have so far been scheduled at your embassy, then enter the name of your embassy in the space where you have choose an embassy.

The final item of interest to us is found at the top of this page. Just above the first table, there is a link that reads FY 2024 CEAC current CSV. Clicking that link will allow you to download the spreadsheet file that shows the current status of individual cases.

In addition to the current status of individual cases, that file also tells us how far interview scheduling has gone at your various embassies and councilors. For more explanations on downloaded file, continue to follow this site as you will learn the situation of interview scheduling at your various embassies and consulate in those weekly Embassy Performance Reports.

Highest Case Numbers In DV2024 For Each Region Revealed

The final thing concerning this first downloadable spreadsheet file for the DV 2024 program is that it reveals to us the highest case number in each region. And so for this year’s program, the highest case numbers are as follows:

For the Africa region, 122,907

For the Asia region, 42,876

For the Europe region, 66,932

For the North America region, 19

For Oceania, it is 4,999

For the South America region, it is 5,574.

Those are the highest case numbers in the DV 2024 program and that concerns the first CEAC data for the DV 2024 program. Those are just the first data. From now on, the data will be released regularly by the State Department. Xarthisius posts them to their website every weekend, and that is going to continue up to the end of the DV 2024 program.

As the data is made available by xarthisius, we will have the opportunity on this site to consider them.

How many cases there are before and after me?

If you’re a DV selectee you can check how many cases are in front of you by filling out the form in the box there, e.g Case number (e.g. 2024AF123)

DISCLAIMER: This post and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. This site is not offering any Diversity Visa and is not the official site for DV Lottery program. The information presented in this post should not be construed to be formal legal advice.

DV Interviews: One of the factors that determine the number of selectees that will be scheduled for DV interview in a certain embassy, is the family size.

If you have been following guides in this site, you might be knowing that the number of visas for a DV lottery, they are 55,000 per every DV lottery. These 55,000 visas, they are meant for both the principal applicant and the derivatives.

In other words, both the derivatives and the principal applicants, they share in these visas. There are no side visas for derivatives. It is the 55,000 visas that are shared with both the principal applicant and their beneficiaries.

Having known that, it’s now clear that the number of interviews per embassy depends on the size of the families.

When you apply for the DV Lottery, the one known in the case is the principal applicant, that is the person applying. Since the principal applicant is the one that has been selected, then there are people attached to that principal applicant, if they had families.

If you are an applicant and you are selected, and you have a family, of course you included the family in the application. Let’s say, for example, you have a family of four that is you, the wife or the husband, and some two kids.

When you win, that is one visa. Then your wife or your husband takes the second visa and the children take the third and the fourth visas, in total becoming four visas out of the 55,000 visas. Those are four visas from the 55,000 visas.

The family size will determine the number of interviews scheduled in an embassy. You might find out that one embassy has principal applicant, and in that country, the principal applicants they tend not to have families.

In other countries, you’ll find them having a high rates or high tendency of having families. So in one particular embassy, you find, for example, 1,500 applicants, and of these 1,500 applicants, you find that around 1,200 of them have families.

So if we take, for example, the 1,200 applicants with families have a family of 3. That is to mean, it is 1,200 multiplied by 3, and that brings about 3,600. So if they are successful, that means 3,600 visas out of the 55,000 visas have been removed from the 55,000 visas.

That means, that embassy will have fewer interviews because visas get exhausted after every interview. After this interview, three of them have gone. After the next interview, another three. After the next interview, another four, depending on the size of the family, and therefore keeps on decreasing the number of interviews to be scheduled in a particular embassy.

I hope this has been explained at length and clearly.

If you applied a single and later on you married, that is a visa added. You are single, meaning you were to use one visa. But since you’ve gotten married and you’ve added the spouse, then those are two visas from the 55,000 visas.

Another thing, let’s say you marry within the early stages of the DV lottery, and then your wife conceives, or you as the wife conceives. Then, before you are scheduled for the interview, the child comes, you have a kid. You become three.

You applied as one, but you have become three. Those are three visas from the 55,000 visas. And that means you decrease the number of interviews that will be scheduled at your embassy.

Another instance is this. If you are married when applying, you are two of you, your husband or your wife and you yourself. Those were two visas. And then along the way, as you’re waiting for the interview or during the DV process, you happen to be blessed by a kid. That is another visa added on top, and it becomes three. So you are reducing the number of interviews to be scheduled.

Another way, you find a family. One person applies as a single applicant, and then in the process of the DV lottery, she gets married or he gets married, and the spouse comes in with step-children. Let’s say, for example, three. So that is one principal applicant, and then has added a spouse plus other three kids. It becomes a family with a total of five members. So it was one visa, but now four others have added, and that is five visas from the 55,000 visas.

Therefore it reduces the number of interviews to be scheduled at the embassy.

Also, it may also happen that you apply as a family of three, and then a long-long process. By the way, something tragic happens, maybe one of you passes on, then you’ve lost one. That mean you have decreased the number of visas used by one, and therefore you’re increasing the number of interviews to be scheduled at your embassy.

If something happened and you applied as a family and some of the members get lost, those are some of the visas that have been spared within the 55,000 visas, therefore increasing the number of interviews to be scheduled at that embassy because of those extra visas.

So if a family decreases, visas become available. But if the family increases, then visas, they decrease, and therefore reducing the number of interviews to be scheduled.

In conclusion

The number of interviews to be scheduled at any embassy will also depend upon the size of the family, which is called the family rate. Some countries have higher rate than the others. You may find that other countries have high tendency of principal applicants having families while other countries have lower tendency of principal applicants having families.

DISCLAIMER: This post and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. This site is not offering any Diversity Visa and is not the official site for DV Lottery program. The information presented in this post should not be construed to be formal legal advice.

This guide comes as an advice to those that ignore details in the DV process. Never ignore Embassy DV Instructions, you should know that by doing simple mistakes, simply by ignoring things can be very detrimental.

How a Woman Almost Missed Her Green Card Visa

Recently, someone shared her interview on the internet. She spoke very well of how by doing very slight mistake on one of the documents, ended her being put to 221G visa refusal, that is administrative processing for more than eight months.

She was put under 221G for more than eight months. She did the interview in January and was put to AP until September the 22nd, 2023. This is what happened.

She is a single lady with kids and she applied a single and was selected and she won. Then she filled the DS-260 form, including the details of her kids and submitted.

In the process of waiting for the second notification letter (2NL), she gathered information and she came to realize that she will need a consent letter for the kids from their father.

She had a low case number, so she was expecting the interview very early in the fiscal year.

She got the information that she needed the consent letter and she went ahead to organize for one. She liased with the father of her kids and the father was so willing. They went ahead to the court and they signed the consent letter prepared by a lawyer. The lawyer prepared the letter and then presented to the father to sign that he consents the kids to immigrate with the lady.

She has this document together with other documents. The second notification letter comes and then she scheduled for the interview in the month of January 2023, and then she goes ahead for the medical examination, pays all the fees required in the medical examinations. Then she proceeds to the interview on the interview date.

During the interview, she goes through the processes with the consular officer, and then she gets the visa refusal, 221G.

She is told that your interview is successful, but there is some problem with this document, the consent letter.

On the consent letter, the lawyer, instead of putting, immigrating with the kids, the lawyer had put traveling with the kids. There’s a difference between those two terms.

There is traveling, meaning moving with the kids from one country to the other freely, going to and back from the country, that is traveling. Immigrating means moving with the kids out of the country to go and relocate to a new country and live there.

In other words, to immigrate is to come and live in that country, that new country. So there was that mistake. The lawyer put traveling with instead of immigrating with.

The consular officer at the embassy pointed out that mistake and then told the lady that we will put you to 221G visa refusal and presented the yellow document circling that statement saying “the consent letter”.

Then she was told to go and get the consent letter corrected and that’s what she did. Within three days, she had corrected the consent letter and then sent it back to the embassy through the DHL.

After some time, she wrote to the embassy to confirm whether they had received the consent letter, and the embassy responded that they had received and they are now doing the administrative processing. They are going through the document. But this did not happen so soon. It did not happen so quickly. It was not fast.

They processed this document not for one month or two months or three months, not even for six months or seven. It was over eight months, and this lady was almost giving up because she had written to the embassy follow-up emails many times. Sending the follow-up email regarding the two-to-one visa refusal, but she was not successful.

She did the interview on January, and she waited for up to September towards the end of the fiscal year, 22nd of September, just few days to the end of that year.

Remember, that this year, DV-2023, it ended so early, even before the 30th of September. You can imagine the tension that she was in because of that slight error.

Lesson to Know

The simple details that you need to do and to follow to the letter, if you ignore, you have yourself to blame. Because this lady followed all the procedures to get the document, but only a slight mistake almost cost her the visa.

So every simple instruction given, if the embassy request you for the affidavit of support and you don’t have and you end up being put to 221G, you never know how long that case might take to be solved.

In fact, there are 221G visa refusals that are dealt with within a week or two weeks. But there are others that take months. Others, the fiscal year ends even without processing them, and those individuals, they end up not getting their visas just due to simple mistakes, ignoring the instructions.

So the point here is, avoid at all costs being thrown into AP processing. Avoid at all costs the 221G visa refusal. Don’t dare, because you don’t know how long your case might take if you are put to 221G visa refusal.

That was just a narration to clearly outline that there are things that you might ignore and seems to you very simple, but might end up denying you your visa. You need to be cautious.

It would be better you be over prepared than being less prepared and be thrown on 221G visa refusal.

Question: can you denied a visa if you lack to proof or produce police clearance certificate?

Answer: Yes indeed, you certainly will be denied because it’s one of the required documents.

Thank you for reading this guide, I wish you all the best. Please get prepared.

DISCLAIMER: This post and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. This site is not offering any Diversity Visa and is not the official site for DV Lottery program. The information presented in this post should not be construed to be formal legal advice.

This guide will focus on the answer to this very important question, Can a person with high case number receive their second notification letters (2NL) before a person with low case number?

By now you should know that KCC does process cases in the orderly manner, in the case order format. That means from the low case numbers up to the highest case numbers.

But having understood this, still people get confused because in some instances, people with higher case numbers have received their second notification letters (2NL) before those with lower case numbers.

Can High Case Number Receive 2NL Before Low Case Number?

To further explain this, yes people with higher case numbers may sometimes get their second notification letters (2NL) before those with lower case numbers. Why is it so?

To explain this in two scenarios:

First scenario: A person with a high case number in a country whose embassy is fast can receive his or her second notification letter before a person with low case number who is in a country where the embassy is working slowly.

In the recent past, especially for DV-2022, we’ve seen that there are many embassies that were performing poorly, where there are also many embassies that were performing well.

Therefore, those people in those embassies that were performing well, they received their notification letters, even if they had higher case numbers.

At the same time, other embassies, they were performing very slowly, and up to now, people with very low case numbers in some embassies or in some countries have not yet received their second notification letters and time has really died out.

That is one reason as to why higher case numbers sometimes receive their second notification letters before those with lower case numbers. It all depends with the performance of the embassy that you are attached to.

Second Scenario: You might be in the same embassy, but a person with higher case number than yours receives his or her second notification letters (2NL) before you receive, even if you have a low case number. Why does it happen so?

In this case, it now depends upon the complexity of processing your DS-260. What does mean? It mean, you might find some DS-260 are fast and quickly processed because the information in there is direct, simple and straightforward.

While in others, the DS-260s may be complex in processing, meaning the information in the DS-260 may require further background checks, and that means it might take longer.

If you have a slightly high case number and your DS-260 is simpler and can be processed faster, you can receive your second education letter before that person with slightly lower case number than yours, but whose DS-260 requires extensive background checks.

An example of DS-260 that would require further background checks is when you present in your travel history that you had recently visited a country that is highly prone or highly affected with terrorism.

Definitely, KCC will have to conduct some further background check to ensure the safety of the United States.

Those are some of the reasons as to why a person with high case number may receive his or her second notification letter (2NL) before you with a lower case number.

I hope that’s a clear and straightforward answer.

DISCLAIMER: This post and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. This site is not offering any Diversity Visa and is not the official site for DV Lottery program. The information presented in this post should not be construed to be formal legal advice.

There are some random questions, random concerns and issues that you might be having. The first concern is regarding the worries on your DV case number.

This is the DV lottery where lot of people are worried of their chances of getting an interview because of their case numbers, and it’s because it is one of the DV lotteries that have very high number of selectees.

You may be asking of your chances because of your case numbers. For example, let say your DV case number is AF 98,000, 50,000 and you are wondering whether you have any hope of getting an interview.

Or maybe you comes from that country whose embassy in the last DV lottery 2023 performed weakly. They did not meet the target and therefore majority of the selectees in that country ended up losing their opportunities.

To answer these questions: The fact is if you have very high case numbers, then it is highly possible that you might not be scheduled for an interview. If you have low case numbers, then definitely you might get this chance. What does this mean?

To determine the level of your case number, you just consider your region. If you come from EU or AS or AF, whichever region, you just take the lowest case number you’ve had of and you take the highest number that there is in that region and get the difference. Once you get the difference, you divide it into three equal parts, three equal portions.

The first part, the lower side, those are considered as low case numbers. The middle part is medium case numbers and the highest part is the high case numbers.

Most of the time those selectees that fall on the higher part, that is the part was the highest case number, they normally don’t get their chances of even getting an interview. While those in the medium to low, they get their chances.

If you’ve done that way and your category is above the medium level, then know that your chances are low. But it does not mean that you can’t be called for an interview, that you are completely out of the chances.

Even high case numbers, sometimes they get called for an interview, and that is affected by some embassies in a region performing poorly. If some embassies are extremely low in performance, then those embassies that are excellently performing their job, will have even high case numbers getting an interview appointment.

But normally, low case numbers have high chances of getting an interview appointment, while the highest case numbers they don’t.

There was this particular case where the individual that comes from an embassy that had a bad record in the previous DV lottery and this selectee was asking whether he or she might consider to transfer the interview location to a better country.

Can I Transfer My DV Case Number To A Better Embassy?

Transferring a case from one embassy to the next is not as we think or as we thought. What does that mean?

The only time as per the KCC, is if you are currently in this country, and your interview schedule in the embassy of your country or the country in which your embassy is affiliated to.

So if you are in this country and your interview is in this embassy, the only time you can change your interview location is in the case where you have completely moved to that new country.

For example, if you come from Kenya and you are selected, that means your embassy will be scheduled in the Nairobi embassy. If you happen to relocate, let’s say to South Africa, you can change your interview location to South Africa, Johannesburg. But if you have not physically moved, there is no way you are supposed to change that interview location.

If indeed you are this person that has relocated or moved to a new country, then you request unlocking of your DS-260 form and then update with the new location where you are. Then after that, you submit it back and you write a follow-up email informing KCC that you have moved to this location and this is your new address, and you give the proof of your address, of your new address in that email and then send it to KCC.

That way, KCC might consider changing your interview location to that location. But you have to prove it.

If you send the first time and they don’t do it, send a follow-up message until they take note of the changes. That is the only time that they can change it comfortably.

Normally, it is not an easy process. You need to send the first email and check whether they have noted. If they have not noted the changes, then you need to send a follow-up email.

Can you change it based on considering the performance of your embassy?

By that explanation, it is not based on that. You cannot just decide that my embassy is performing poorly, then I need to change it. It will be a tough process. Some people have tried it and they have succeeded.

Finally, you need to understand that sometimes, one embassy might be low in performance in a particular DV lottery but the next DV lottery they perform excellently well.

You might try to jump from your embassy to the next and you found out that your embassy was even better than that embassy that you are trying to shift to.

Only until January that you can get the very fast information from the CEAC website that might help you to know from the past month, how was the embassies doing.

DISCLAIMER: This post and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. This site is not offering any Diversity Visa and is not the official site for DV Lottery program. The information presented in this post should not be construed to be formal legal advice.

FEBRUARY 2024 Cut-Off Numbers for DV-2024: As we saw in the last guide, the Diversity Visa Bulletin for the month of January 2024 showing the cut-off numbers to apply across all regions and exception countries in the DV-2024 Program has been released.

In this guide, we are going to learn the various case number ranges that are concerned by interviews to be conducted during the month of February 2024, as part of the DV-2024 Program.

Diversity Visa Case Numbers Concerned

With the publication of the Visa Bulletin for January 2024, cases whose case numbers are eligible for interview during the month of February 2024 in the various regions and exception countries, excluding those whose interviews have already been scheduled are as follows:

Looking at the Diversity Visa Advanced Notification section of the Visa Bulletin below, as we consider the relevant case number ranges.

From the above image, these are the cut-off numbers to apply across the various regions and exception countries during the month of February 2024, as part of the DV-2024 Program.

Based on these cut-off numbers, the case numbers that are concerned by interviews to be conducted during that same month of February 2024 are as follows.

• South America Region

From the bottom of the table above, in the South America region, case numbers that are concerned by February 2024 interviews are case numbers from case number 1 to case number 1,599, which have so far not received their interview notification.

• Oceania Region

For Oceania region, the numbers go from case number 1 to case number 874, applicants with case numbers in that range who have so far not received their interview notification from the Oceania region are concerned by interviews to be conducted during the month of February 2024.

• North America (Bahamas) Region

In the case of the North America region, the first 4 case numbers that are concerned by interviews being conducted during this month of December 2023, as well as the month of January 2024, are the same 4 case numbers that are concerned by interviews to be conducted during the month of February 2024.

• Europe Region

For Europe region, the numbers go from case number 1 to case number 13,499. Applicants that are chargeable to countries from the Europe region with the exception of the two exception countries having case numbers in this range and who have so far not received their interview notifications are concerned by interviews to be conducted during the month of February 2024.

In the case of the two exception countries, applicants chargeable to Russia with case numbers going from case number 1 to case number 13,249, who have so far not received their interview notification are concerned by interviews to be conducted during the month of February 2024.

In the case of Uzbekistan, the numbers are case number 1 to case number 5,499. Applicants chargeable to Uzbekistan with case numbers in this range who have so far not received their interview notification are concerned by interviews to be conducted during the month of February 2024.

• Asia Region

For Asia region, the case numbers that are concerned by interviews to be conducted during the month of February 2024 are the same case numbers that are concerned by interviews to be conducted during the month of January 2024.

The numbers go from case number 1 to case number 5,499, and that concerns applicants chargeable to countries in the Asia region that are neither of the exception countries.

In the case of Iran, the first exception country, the numbers go from case number 1 to case number 5,449. Applicants chargeable to Iran who have so far not received their interview notification and whose case numbers fall within this range are concerned by interviews to be conducted during the month of February 2024.

In the case of Nepal, the numbers go from case number 1 to case number 4,499. Applicants within this range who have so far not received their interview notification and whose case numbers fall within this range are concerned by interviews to be conducted during the month of February, 2024.

• Africa Region

For Africa region where if you are an applicant who’s not chargeable to Algeria, Egypt or Morocco and you have a case number from case number 1 to case number 26,499 and so far you have not received your interview notification, then you are concerned by interviews to be conducted during the month of February 2024.

In the case of Algeria, the numbers go from case number 1 to case number 25,999. In case you are chargeable to Algeria with a case number within that range, and so far you have not received your interview notification, then you are concerned by interviews to be conducted during the month of February, 2024.

In the case of both Egypt and Morocco, the numbers go from case number 1 to case number 24,999. Applicants chargeable to both of those countries with case numbers within that range who have so far not received their interview notification are concerned by interviews to be conducted during the month of February 2024, as part of the DV-2024 Program.

Those are the case number ranges from the various regions and exception countries that are concerned by interviews to be conducted during the month of February 2024 as part of the DV-2024 Program.

In Conclusion

Cases whose case numbers are the same or higher than their regional or country cut-off are still not current or eligible for interview. Such cases cannot expect to receive their interview notification yet. Applicants concerned must check the Visa Bulletin when it is published in January 2024, to ascertain the status of their case number by then.

The Visa Bulletin is published every month, and it is by means of this tool that Diversity Visa applicants get to know the month when their case will be eligible for interview. Publication of the next Visa Bulletin, i.e the sixth showing cut-offs for the DV-2024 Program will be done some time in January 2024.

For more information concerning what the Visa Bulletin is all about, look at the bottom of this article.

READ: ALL VISA BULLETIN UPDATES

DISCLAIMER: This post and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. This site is not offering any Diversity Visa and is not the official site for DV Lottery program. The information presented in this post should not be construed to be formal legal advice.

As the year draws to a close, the eagerly anticipated 2024 Diversity Visa (DV-2024) Bulletin for January 2024 has been released by the U.S. Department of State (DOS), opening new doors for aspiring immigrants. That’s a big deal if you’re waiting for your priority date to be current so that your green card application can move forward.

The December Visa Bulletin, which is officially referred to as the Visa Bulletin for January 2024 has been released. In this guide, we will learn the cut-off numbers that will apply in the DV-2024 Program during the month of February 2024.

Also, this comprehensive guide, we will explore the insights provided by the January 2024 Diversity Immigrant Visa Bulletin, shedding light on the current state of visa availability and what it means for those seeking to embark on the journey to the United States.

For the previous cut-off numbers from the previous visa bulletin i.e the visa bulletin for the month of December 2023, check this post.

About Visa Bulletin

Department of State (DOS) publishes current immigrant visa availability information in a monthly Visa Bulletin. The Visa Bulletin indicates when statutorily limited visas are available for issuance to prospective immigrants based on their individual priority date.

On Nov. 20, 2014, the Secretary of Homeland Security directed USCIS to work with DOS to:

• Ensure that all immigrant visas authorized by Congress are issued to eligible individuals when there is sufficient demand for such visas, and
• Improve the Visa Bulletin system for determining when immigrant visas are available to applicants during the fiscal year.

Diversity Visa Program | Diversity Visa Bulletin for January 2024

This bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during January for: “Final Action Dates” and “Dates for Filing Applications,” indicating when immigrant visa applicants should be notified to assemble and submit required documentation to the National Visa Center.

Immigrant numbers in the DV category are available to qualified DV-2024 applicants chargeable to all regions/eligible countries as follows. When an allocation cut-off number is shown, visas are available only for applicants with DV regional lottery rank numbers BELOW the specified allocation cut-off number.

Looking at the Diversity Visa Advanced Notifications section of the Visa Bulletin and consider the February 2024 cut-off numbers. Below is the Diversity Visa Advanced Notification section of the Visa Bulletin for the month of January 2024, and here are the various cut-off numbers that will apply during the month of February 2024.

DV 2024: February Cut-Off Numbers Explained

• Africa Region

For Africa region, where the 22,000 cut-off number for the month of January has been increased to 26,500 for the month of February. Obviously, that does not apply to applicants chargeable to the three exception countries from the Africa region.

In the case of the first exception country, Algeria, the February 2024 cut-off number has been established at 26,000. It was 15,000 for the month of January 2024, and it has been increased to 26,000 for the month of February 2024.

In the case of Egypt, the cut-off number to apply during the month of February 2024 is 25,000. It is 15,000 for the month of January, and it has been increased to 25,000 for the month of February.

Finally to Morocco, where the cut-off number for the month of February has been established at 25,000. For January, it is 20,000 and it has been increased to 25,000 for the month of February 2024.

• Asia Region

For Asia region where the 5,500 cut-off number for the month of January 2024 has been maintained for the month of February 2024.

The 5,500 cutoff number applies to applicants that are not chargeable to the two exception countries from the Asia region.

In the case of the exception countries, the January 2024 cut-off number of 5,450 for Iran has also been maintained for the month of February 2024. For Nepal, the 3,000 cut-off number for the month of January has been increased to 4,500 for the month of February 2024.

• Europe Region

For Europe Region where the cut-off number to apply during the month of February 2024 as part of the DV-2024 Program has been established at 13,500. For the month of January 2024, it was established at 12,000, and now it has increased to 13,500 for the month of February, and that does not concern applicants chargeable to the two exception countries from the Europe region.

To the two exception countries, in the case of Russia, the cut-off number that has been established for the month of February 2024 is 13,250. For the month of January, it is 11,500 and it has been increased to 13,250 for the month of February.

In the case of Uzbekistan, the cut-off number that has been established for the month of February 2024 is 5,500. For January 2024, it was 4,750 and it has increased to 5,500 for the month of February 2024.

• North America (Bahamas)

For North America region, where the cut-off number for the months of December 2023 and January 2024 has been maintained for the month of February 2024, making the cut-off number to apply during that month in the North America Region to remain 5.

• Oceania Region

We have 875, that’s the cut-off number to apply in the Oceania region during the month of February 2024. The January 2024 cut-off number for Oceania was 650, and it has been increased to 875 for the month of February 2024.

• South America Region

For South America region, where the cut-off number that has been established for the month of February 2024 is 1,600. It is 1,000 for the month of January, and it has been increased to 1,600 for the month of February, and that concerns the South America region.

Those are the cut-off numbers to apply across all regions and exception countries during the month of February 2024 as part of the DV 2024 Program.

For those who would like to have more explanation concerning visa bulletin and possibly know what the visa bulletin is all about, click the article that is just below and you will be taken to the article.

READ: ALL VISA BULLETIN UPDATES

Determining Visa Availability

USCIS considers several factors to determine if there is a greater supply of visas than the demand for those visas. To determine visa availability, USCIS will compare the number of visas available for the remainder of the fiscal year with:

• Documentarily qualified visa applications reported by DOS;
• Pending adjustment of status applications reported by USCIS; and
• Historical drop off rate of applicants for adjustment of status (for example, denials, withdrawals and abandonments)

In Conclusion:

The Diversity Visa Bulletin for January 2024 serves as a roadmap for those embarking on the journey to secure a place in the United States through the DV Program.

By understanding the nuances outlined in the bulletin, applicants can make informed decisions, navigate the immigration process effectively, and increase their chances of success in the pursuit of diversity and opportunity in the U.S.

Thanks for reading this guide. See you very soon in the next guide.

DISCLAIMER: This post and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. This site is not offering any Diversity Visa and is not the official site for DV Lottery program. The information presented in this post should not be construed to be formal legal advice.