Tag Archives: dv lottery family application

Marriage Questions and Answers on DV Lottery Process: This guide will answer some family questions regarding the Diversity Visa.

Marriage Questions and Answers on DV Lottery Process

Question: I filled single during the initial entry (Diversity Visa Lottery Application), yet I was married, can I add my spouse in the DS-260 form?

Answer: The answer is directly no.

When entering the diversity visa lottery program, you are supposed to be truthful. Meaning, if you’re married, you are supposed to choose you’re married.

If you had a spouse or children prior to submitting your original entry, but you did not include them on your original entry form, such errors may render you, as well as any of your family members, ineligible for a diversity visa.

If you listed a spouse or child on your original entry who was not your spouse or child at the time of entry, such errors may render you, as well as any of your family members, ineligible for a diversity visa.

If you’re married to a non-citizen of the United States, you indicate that. If you are married to a United States citizen, then you indicate that as well.

But if you’re married and you indicate you are single, there’s no way you can add the spouse in the DS-260. Since you said you are single. Such results to fraud, and fraud definitely will deny you Green card visa, if you did this.

If you applied as single, yet you are married, be sure that you will end up being denied the visa because this is fraud.

If you’re married, indicate you’re married and include the details of your family. If you’re single, just include your single and continue the process.

If your family circumstances have legitimately changed after submitting your original entry, you should add those family members and all family members’ applications will be reviewed.

Find out more about Marriage-Based Green Card Interview Questions and Answers

Question: I filled married because I was customarily married, during the process i separated with my spouse and therefore I cannot obtain a separation document or a divorce document. What will I do?

Answer: To answer this, if at all you cannot prove your separation legally, then there’s no way you will receive your Green card visa.

If you can find ways to get a legal separation, then that’s the only way. But if you are separated and you cannot obtain the legal separation document, then you are screwed. You cannot receive your diversity visa.

Find out more about Marriage-Based Green Card Interview Questions and Answers

I hope the answer to those questions is very clearly.

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.

Single parents in the DV Lottery Program: This guide is for the single parents that are intending to apply for the DV lottery or are selected or they are selectees in the DV lottery.

Categories of Single Parents in the DV Lottery Program

We have two categories of single parents:

Category one: Maybe you have never gotten married in your life, but you have kids and that means that even when getting the kid, delivering the kid, there was no manly figure that was there to claim paternity of the kid or the kids.

Or if you’re a man, the lady gave birth to the kid and left the kid immediately, and therefore you are the custodian of that child as a man.

Category two: You are a single woman because you have a relationship with a man, and therefore you have kids whose birth certificate have the name of the second parent as well as yours. That means that during birth of your kids, that man was there to give you support and claim paternity of that kid.

You are in either of these situations or scenarios and you want to apply for the DV lottery or you have been selected a winner in the DV lottery.

1. If you are in either of those scenarios and you are intending to apply for the DV lottery, the first key point that you should note is that you are supposed to apply as a single.
2. Applying as a single, you have to add all of your kids. All of your kids must be lined up in the application.

Those two things must be done. If you get successful and you are selected, the process begins. So you proceed the way you did in the application.

When it comes to your kids and immigration, of course, no country will allow anyone to get out of the country with any kid without the consent of both the parents.

For the first case that you are single and your kids, no one came to claim paternity. That means that you have the full custody over your child. That means the children belong to you solely, you alone. No one claims the other parenthood.

In that case, you have nothing to worry about. You don’t need to look for any consent. In any case, whose consent are you looking for? You don’t have anyone claiming paternity.

Even on the birth certificate, there is no indication of the other parent. It is only you. And therefore that means these children belong to you. No consent is needed. You are right to go ahead and immigrate with them. You have the full custody over your children.

But when it comes to the single parent who is maybe in a relationship or was in a relationship and the kids have the second name of the parent in their birth certificates. So there’s someone claiming the parenthood of the children as well. In this case is when you will be required to have the consent of the other parent.

You cannot move out with the children without the consent of the other parent claiming parent hold of the children. It does not mean that it’s a hard process. You just need to get the other parents to sign a consent letter.

It must be a notary consent letter, meaning before an advocate or a court that is signed and stamped by the legal authority that the other parent intends the children to immigrate with you. In this case, you will be required to look for that consent letter and it should be notary, that should be noted.

If you are a single parent, and you have another parent claiming parenthood of the children, then look for his or her consent.

However, there is a second option, if at all you cannot reach the other parent, maybe you were in a relationship long time ago and there’s no way you can access this other parent, then you need to look for the full custody through a court, the full custody of your children. It is called the sole custody.

That means that before a court or an advocate, you will sign the sole custody of your children. It means all of the decisions around your children be imposed on you, be transferred to you.

When you obtain the sole custody over your children, then you have the right to make all decisions, be it academic, be it immigration, about your children, you are allowed to do that. That is the second option.

If at all you cannot reach the other parent in whichever way, then you can go and seek to sign the sole custody of your children and you’ll have all the decisions over your children by yourself without needing any consent letter.

Finally, remember that in this case, if you don’t or you are unable to get the consent letter, you will not be allowed to get out of the country with your children.

Some Questions About Applying As Single Parents In The DV Lottery Program

Question: Is there any advantage applying as a single parent?

Answer: No.

Question: What if I don’t want to initially travel with the kids and later pick them up? Should I tell them so or keep it to myself.

Answer: First, even if you don’t want to go with them, you have to add them in application and also in ds260. And in DS-260 you select not immigrating with them.

Question: I’m the principal applicant and have a husband and daughter, I filled DS-260 with both as my accompany but we got issues with the husband, can I travel alone with daughter, what do I expect on interview because since we separated he won’t be coming, can I remove him?

Answer: First, a consent letter for the kids from him is a must. Second, you can immigrate without him.

Question: Will you be denied visa if you applied as single parent but you want to leave your child behind?

Answer: So long as you included the kid in the application you are safe. You can choose not to immigrate with him. However if you left the kid out, you will be denied visa.

Question: Can you be denied visa if you are married for like 20 or 25 years and you recently got your marriage certificate like this year.

Answer: No you won’t be denied. You did good to get the certificate.

Question: The person on my son birth certificate died some yes back which was my uncle, since the father deny the pregnancy and I don’t have any information about his dead. How am I going to do to have consent letter for my child, can a lawyer sign the consent letter for me?

Answer: A lawyer cannot sign. What you do, get the uncle death certificate. You will be totally safe.

Question: What if one is a widow how do you go about it?

Answer: You use the death certificate of the husband.

Question: If I happen to fill DS-260 form before I give birth and I don’t include my baby, will I be denied visa? or where will I fill baby’s details? Or I can wait to start the process once I give birth?

Answer: You will fill the DS-260 early, and unlock it to add the newborn.

Question: Does the consular at the embassy ask for consent letter during interview or is it at the port of entry you are asked for?

Answer: At the embassy.

I hope this information for the single parents is clear.

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.

Which Children To Add As Derivatives in DV Lottery? This guide will focus on which children to be added as derivatives during the application in the Diversity Visa Lottery Program.

In my previous post, we learned about the qualifications of a spouse who is supposed to be added as a derivative during the application in the Diversity Visa Lottery Program.

In this next guide, which is part two, we are going to learn in details on the qualifications of the children who are supposed to be added as derivatives in the application.

Therefore, we will learn about the three classes of children that are considered qualified as derivatives in the Diversity Visa Lottery Program. But first of all, all these three categories of children should fulfill the following:

• They should be under the age of 21 years old.
• They all should be unmarried and single.

Submit individual photographs of each of your children using the same technical specifications as your own photograph.

Based on the document from the travel.state.gov, as shown in sample below, in number 15, it covers about the children.

It says…..

When applying in the diversity visa lottery, you are supposed to list the number of children that you have, and you also include all these details about the children.

All unmarried and under the age of 21 years of age, regardless of whether you are living with them or intend to accompany you or follow to join you.

Which Children To Add As Derivatives in DV Lottery?

As you proceed down, you see the three categories of children that qualify as derivatives in the application.

• The first category of children include all living natural children.

This means all the children that you have given birth to or all the children that are biologically yours, they are eligible to be added as derivatives in the application.

• The second category is all living children that are legally adopted to you.

These are the children that through court procedures or legal procedures, they have been acquired by you. By the law, they belong to you. They all are eligible to be added as derivatives.

• The third category include all step-children.

These are the children of your spouse, and this spouse must be legally married to you. All the children that he or she came in to join you with, they all are qualified to be added as derivatives.

It is important to note that even if the child does not currently live with you, or even if you are no longer married to that spouse, even if you broke up, these children, they are still eligible to be added as derivatives in your diversity visa lottery application.

Married children and children who are already age 21 or older, they are not eligible. Even if your child is under the age of 21 and he or she is married, he or she is not eligible to be added as derivative.

There is another important clause from the sample above, and this is the Child Status Protection Act. What does this act do?

This act was put forth to protect all the children that attain the age of 21 years during the processing of the diversity visa. This means that when you were applying in the diversity visa lottery program, the child was not 21 years of age yet. But during the process, he or she turned 21. This act will protect that child.

Even if he or she is above 21 years during the processing, he or she is considered as under the age of 21 and is eligible for the visa.

Finally, the last clause says, a child who is already a U.S citizen or a legal permanent resident when you submit your diversity visa entry will not require to be issued a diversity visa.

This is because he or she is a citizen or she holds the green card. So he or she will not require to be issued another one.

It’s continued to say, even if you omit that child that is already in the United States in your application, you will not be penalized. So if you include him or her or you exclude him or her, it’s not a penalty.

I hope that is very clear and the information is useful. Don’t make a mistake of including any unqualified child because this will cost you the visa.

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.

In this guide, we will learn who qualifies to be added as your derivative when applying for the diversity visa lottery. What is the spouse Diversity Visa lottery?

First of all, we know that if you are a family man or woman, you are required to add the members of your family as your derivatives when applying for the diversity visa lottery without leaving anyone out.

Speaking of the family, here it is referring to the immediate family, that is the nuclear family, the spouse together with the children. But who qualifies to be your spouse? Or who qualifies to be your children when applying the diversity visa lottery?

The answer to this question will be divided into two parts.

In the first part, we are going to discuss on the qualifications of a person to be your spouse and as a derivative in the Diversity Visa Lottery Program. In the second part of this answer, we are going to discuss on the qualification of the children that are supposed to be added as your derivatives.

Therefore, read this guide to the end to avoid jumping into conclusions that are not valid.

Who is your spouse that qualifies to be added as a derivative?

A spouse is your legally married husband or wife. This means that you have a certifying document issued by the government showing that this is your wife or this is your husband. To be more precise, you should be having a marriage certificate issued by the Registrar of Marriages in your country.

Having known that, who does not qualify to become your spouse that you should add as a derivative when applying in the diversity visa lottery?

1. Your girlfriend or your boyfriend does not qualify as a spouse to be added as the derivative when entering the diversity visa lottery program.
2. Partnering is not allowed. That means if you are residing with a man or a woman or cohabiting with a lady or a gentleman, that lady or gentleman is not your spouse. He or she does not qualify to be added as a derivative in the Diversity Visa Lottery Program.
3. Your fiancé is not a spouse or your fiancée is not a spouse. You are not yet married, meaning you don’t have the marriage certificate. Therefore, during application and you have a fiancée, you are supposed to apply a single and not as married.

But you will continue with your plans and get married and then add him or her as your spouse in the DS-260 form, after marriage.

4. Your second wife, your third wife, or any other wife apart from your first wife, is not considered as your spouse. So if you are married to several wives, then they are not all qualified as your spouse. Only the first wife is your spouse and is the only one that you will add as the derivative when applying in the Diversity Visa lottery Program.

What if I’m married, but I don’t have that certifying document or the marriage certificate?

If you were customarily married, that means you took your wife or your husband and you went to your parents and you were given a go ahead to go and marry, and therefore you don’t have any certifying document.

Then you will be required to follow the legal procedures for you to obtain the marriage certificate before you enter the diversity visa lottery. Or in some cases, you might apply as married because you’re married, only that you don’t have the certificate. Then you follow the legal procedures and obtain a marriage certificate before you are interview date.

You apply as married because you’re married, yes. Then file for the marriage certificate and make sure you obtain the marriage certificate before you attend your diversity visa interview.

There are many cases where people who are married customarily and did not have the marriage certificate, but after entering the Diversity Visa Lottery Program, they were selected, and what they did, they went ahead and obtained the marriage certificate because without the marriage certificate, you wouldn’t be given visa. Only the marriage certificate will you prove that you are married.

If you are engaged to marry each other and you have applied as a single person because that is what is required, and then you are selected, and in the process you get married and you have your marriage certificate. You will go ahead and add your spouse in the DS-260 form.

But you must note that you must have evidence or proofs of your existing relationship or engagement before entering the Diversity Visa Lottery Program. You’ll have to provide documentation of your engagement or any proof of relationship prior your entry into the Diversity Visa Lottery.

You must have the proofs to prove that you were engaged, you had previous relationship.

Therefore, when applying in the Diversity Visa Lottery Program, ensure you don’t make these mistakes. Ensure that the spouse that you are adding is really your spouse, as we have discussed above.

I hope this information has been useful.

For the next part on the qualification of the children who are supposed to be added as derivatives in the diversity visa lottery application, check here.

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.

Confirmation number disappeared on the process of applying DV lottery, what should you do?

We are in period of the DV Lottery 2025 application, and majority of people have already applied for it, also majority have not yet. Maybe because they are taking their time in preparation, ensuring that the photo they are applying with meet the qualifications, and also ensuring that they have all the information about the DV Lottery application.

This guide will focus mainly on issues regarding “Confirmation number disappeared” on the process of applying DV lottery, “Same Photos Eligibility” and “Country of Birth”.

It is very important you know that is only when you have your confirmation number that is when you know that you have applied, and you must keep your confirmation number safe, don’t lose it.

This confirmation number, you have to save it very well. It is recommended that you print it out, that page that comes after you have filled your DV application, which says congratulations, you have successfully applied for the DV Lottery 2025, make sure you print it.

You print it out and store it within your important documents because you will require this confirmation number during the checking of your results. Without it, you cannot check for the results. So it is recommended that you print it out and save it.

If you are not able to print it out, maybe you filled the DV lottery form using your phone and you don’t have any access to any printing accessory, then what you need to do is to screenshot the success page. Just take a screenshot of it and preserve it.

You can save it on your phone if you trust your phone. Or you can save it on the Google Drive if you can. You can save it in whichever gadgets or any storage that you feel is safe.

Question: I have applied or just finished applying DV lottery, but I pressed the refresh button before saving my confirmation number, how can I retrieve my confirmation number?

If you did not save your confirmation number and you refreshed the page before saving it, what should you do?

Do not do a second DV lottery application with the aim of saving the confirmation number. If you have applied and you erroneously refreshed the page without you saving the confirmation number, the only option that you have is to wait till the results are out, that is next year in the month of May.

That is the only thing that you have to do, wait till May of next year. After the results are out, then, you will be able to recover your confirmation number.

But one thing that you should note is that, you will need your details (your last name and your year of birth). Your last name and your year of birth is what you should remember.

The name that you used in the application as your last name or the family name is what you need to remember. Also the year of birth that you used in the application. You are recommended to use that date of birth which is indicated on either your passport or birth certificate.

Use the exact date of birth on your birth certificate or passport, so that you can remember it easily. You must remember your year of birth and your last or family name for you to recover the confirmation number.

Find out more about How To Retrieve Lost DV Lottery Confirmation Number.

Same Photos Eligibility

Question: Can someone use the same photos that his or her spouse used for the DV lottery application?

Let say, the couple or the family, they took the photos, one set of it, the husband, the wife, and the kids or the husband and the wife. Can you use the same photos for application as your spouse? The correct answer is yes.

The same photos that you used in application, you as the principal applicant, is the same photos that your spouse should use for the application, use the same photos, there is no harm in that.

Find out more about Photo Requirements for DV Lottery.

Remember, when you applied and your spouse applied too, then you increase your chances, you have a double chances of getting selected for diversity visa.

Country Of Birth

The country of birth is the country that you use for eligibility. If you used your country of birth as the country of eligibility and you have some worries whether you should have used that, you did the proper thing. The correct thing to do is to use your country of birth as the country of eligibility.

Remember, there are other ways. If your country of birth is not in the list of the eligible countries for DV lottery, then if you’re married, you can use the country of your spouse as the country of eligibility, provided that the country is on the eligibility list.

If you used your country of birth as the country of eligibility, that is the correct way. You should not use the country of your citizenship if it is not the country of your birth as the country of eligibility, if you’re qualifying through the country of birth.

• For this year Diversity Visa lottery, natives of the following countries and areas are eligible to apply…..view list
• For this year Diversity Visa lottery, natives of the following countries and areas are not eligible to apply…..view list

If you are born in a country that is eligible, use the country of eligibility as the country of your birth.

Thanks for reading this guide, continue applying for those who have not applied yet, and remember, you just apply once, not twice. If you apply twice, you are disqualified completely.

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.

In this guide, we will learn specific things that you must do for you to have a smooth and successful first DV interview and get your Diversity Visa approved.

It will focus mainly on the tips that you can use in preparation for the interview and also during the interview process to get your Diversity Visa approved.

As a first timer in the DV lottery interview or it’s your first time to attend the DV interview, there is a great tendency of panicking or missing some things in the preparation or during the interview.

Tips To Prepare For DV First Interview

1. You need to familiarize yourself with the whole interview process.

You’re going for the interview, just as the other normal interviews, the work interviews, or any other interview, you need prior preparation, you need to familiarize yourself with what it takes for the interview.

How do you do this?

You do this by simply consulting the previous interviews. Those people that have undergone through the interviews, and how do you consult with those interviews?

It is by going through the interview experiences. People are very generous with their information. Many that have gone to the United States, many that have passed through the DV interview, they have shared their interview experiences all over the internet and they are all different experiences.

You’ll find some for single persons, you’ll find some for married people, you’ll find some for married with kids, and others single with kids. When you go through those interview experiences, you’ll learn a lot of things. For example:

• You’ll know what happens during the interview.
• You’ll know what changes you can make during the interview.
• You’ll know what people to meet at the embassy.
• You’ll know what happens at the security check.
• You’ll know what size of baggage you should carry.
• You’ll know of the questions that you get during the interview, and you’ll know how to correctly go around those processes.

You need to go through the interview experiences.

Read: DV Interview Questions and Answers

Go through it, you’ll get to familiarize yourself with the whole process, and this will eliminate the panic that comes.

In other words, you will have gone through a mock interview. It’s like you’ve gone through a virtual tour of the whole interview process, and when you go for the interview, you’ll find yourself that whatever you’re meeting or encountering will be what you already know of.

So it’s very important to go through the DV interviews for you to get all this information. Go through the different interview experiences from those people.

2. You need to prepare the documents that are required correctly and they should be organized correctly.

The documents form the very important part of the DV interview because you’ll have to present those documents. What are those documents?

They are the supporting documents to the information that you field on your DS-260 form. Every document that is required, you need to have it.

Remember, there are some documents that need to be notarized. That is to certify them. They need a certified copy of the original one. So you have the original copy and a different one that is called certified.

READ: Original And Notarized Documents For DV Lottery Interview

You will get this certified from the custodian of your documents in your government. If it’s the birth certificate from the registrar of birth, for the marriage certificate from the registrar of marriage, etc.

For those documents that are listed as requiring certified documents, don’t forget to get the certified documents. Prepare your documents well, both you as a principal applicant and those of your derivatives, for a smooth interview.

3. Throughout the process, you have to be so honest.

Be honest with all information that you give. Be truthful. If you say yes, it’s a yes, and if it’s no, it’s a no.

If you don’t have these documents, don’t say you have them. Anything that you present should be true from the start to the end. Veracity is key. Lies are considered as fraud.

The principal item that will lead to your visa denial is for you speaking falsely, is for you presenting false information. That is fraud, and fraud is a definite visa refusal. So honest and truthful is what is needed in this process for a smooth interview.

4. You need to stay calm and be self-composed during the interview.

Fear can arise, the fear of unknown, not knowing whether you’ll be successful or you will fail and that can create anxiety. Fear can cause you not to be at ease.

Therefore, one thing that you need to do and you need to exercise is to be calm and to be self-composed. By this, you’ll have the confidence to answer the questions that are forwarded to you.

You create this confidence and calmness by going through the interview experiences for you to at least have the prior information of the process. Panicking can mess you up, be self-composed and calm when you are going through your DV interview.

5. You need to attend the interview with all your derivatives.

Derivatives must be present during the interview, if you leave the derivatives out then be sure you will not get your visa. All people that you included in your DV application as your family members (your spouse, your biological children, legally adopted children, stepchildren) you need to attend the interview with them, and they must be present there.

They should also have all the documents that they are required to have, e.g birth certificate, their passports, the police clearance certificate for all that are above 16 years of age. Every document that is attached to the derivatives must also be present.

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 is about Marriage, Fiancé and Spouse Issues in DV Lottery, and how it affect your Visa Approval.

Some Frequently Asked Questions About Marriage in DV Lottery

• Can I marry after applying the DV lottery or after winning DV lottery?
• Will marrying after applying for DV lottery reduce your chances of getting the visa approved?
• If you applied as married and got separated or divorced, how do you go about it?

When you applied for the DV lottery, continue with life as normal, and if you are planning to marry, continue with the marriage process and get married. Even though you applied as a single, because at that time you are not married, continue with the marriage process and get married legally.

By you doing so, you don’t risk or reduce your chances of getting your visa approved once you win the DV lottery. You don’t reduce or risk so long as you continue with your marriage process legally and you end up marrying legally, there is no reduction in your visa approval or winning the DV lottery.

Don’t allow anyone get you discouraged from getting married after applying for DV lottery. Though there are some things you need to take note of, i.e

• Once you get married and you are filling the DS-260 form, you need to add your spouse in the DS-260 form.

You add him or her in your DS-260 form. Don’t leave your spouse out. Even if you applied as single and you’re married, you add your spouse in your DS-260 form.

• The other thing is that, you will be required to prove the legality of your marriage and that is by producing the marriage certificate.

In all embassies, you have to prove that you are legally married to this spouse.

• You will have to prove the evidence of your existing relationship even before the results were out or even before you applied for the DV lottery.

You need to arm yourself with the proof documents of your existing relationship, prior the application or the DV results.

If you do those things, the certificate and the proof, you are very safe. Nothing will hinder you from getting your visa approved.

• If you applied as married and got separated or divorced, how do you go about it?

If you applied the DV lottery as married because you are married, but later on you got separated, you are now living separate ways or you got divorced, what should you do? You just indicate in the DS-260 form that you are divorced or you are separated. But you need to have the separation documents or the divorce papers with you.

If you don’t have the divorce papers or the separation documents, then you cannot claim that you are divorced, because these proof documents will be requested. If you cannot prove it, then you definitely will not succeed in the DV interview.

Only if you have the documents should you feel separated. But if you are separated or you consider yourself divorced, yet you don’t have the papers, you’ll have to continue as married.

And if you continue as married, when you go to the interview, you just simply say that your spouse is not willing to immigrate with you and that’s why they are not in the DV interview. They refuse to immigrate with you, and by so doing, you’ll be successful.

So if you don’t have proof papers of divorce or your separation, continue as married, and say that your spouse is not willing to immigrate with you, by that you’ll be safe and your visa will be approved.

• When your spouse refuses to relocate with you

If you are married but your spouse refuses to immigrate with you to the U.S, that is not a problem and it will not reduce your chances of getting selected. You just indicate that your spouse is not immigrating with you.

When you go to the interview, you will go as the spouse not immigrating with you, and you’ll get your visa approved if you are successful, it will not hinder you from getting your visa. If he or she does not want to go with you, it is well and good. You just indicate not immigrating with you.

But note this, if during your DV application, your country of birth was not qualified for the DV program, and you went ahead to use your spouse’s country of birth and the spouse’s country of birth was eligible for the DV lottery, if you used the country of eligibility of your spouse, and at this point that spouse refuses to immigrate with you, then that becomes a problem.

Because you by yourself, you are not eligible based on the country of your birth, but your spouse’s country of birth that you used is the one that made you eligible. So if he or she refuses to immigrate with you, you can’t proceed with the process because you’ll not get successful.

Because the country of eligibility that you choose was that of your spouse, what you need to do is to talk with your spouse, for him or her agree to proceed with you through the DV interview. After the interview, if you are successful, then the spouse can decide to remain behind and let you go. That would be the only way in this scenario.

• If you mistakenly selected married yet you are single, is it correctable?

When filling the DV lottery application form during the DV entry, you need to be extremely careful.

When you are selecting your status during the DV application and you are single, for example, but you mistakenly select that you are married, either to a United States citizen or not to a United States citizen, it is incorrectible. You cannot correct it. If it can be corrected, it would be during the DV interview.

During the interview, if you are able to express yourself to the consular, the interviewing consular officer, that you had made a mistake, it was erroneous that you selected married and the consular officer get convinced, then he or she can let you go through.

But the question is, how can you do that? How will the consular believe you? How will the consular know that you’re telling the truth?

It is a hard process, but if you can well explain that you mistakenly selected it and also prove that, then you can get your visa approved.

But know this, if you mistakenly did that mistake, your chances of getting the visa approved is very minimum.

When filling or entering the DV lottery, you need to be very careful on which boxes you are checking, let them be correct, take your time and don’t just rush through, make sure you select the correct status.

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.

This guide explains details about everything that you should know about the Police Clearance Certificate (PCC), which are very important for your DV interview.

If you are a selectee in the diversity visa program, and that means you are now waiting to complete the process, you are supposed to know about the Police Clearance certificate.

Very Important Things About PCC You Should Know and Do

1. The very first important thing that you should know is that, every person in your application that is above the age of 16 years, is required to have his or her police clearance certificate for the DV lottery interview.

2. Another thing is that, you should have the police clearance certificate that is not older than two years, and to be more specific, not older than 24 months. Though this brings contradiction because you can ask, in my country, the police clearance certificate only expires after one year or others may still say, in my country, it expires after six months. What do I do?

According to the regulations by KCC regarding the diversity visa is that a police clearance certificate is considered valid 24 months after you obtained it.

So the time you got issued with the police clearance certificate, count from that time and up to 24 months, the certificate still remains valid according to the embassies, the United States embassy.

Therefore, if in your country your certificate expires within a period of six months, it still remains valid for the DV interview until the 24th month.

3. The other thing that you’re supposed to know about the police clearance certificate, is that you need to have or to obtain police clearance certificates of all those countries that you have lived in for more than one year in your past life after the age of 16 years.

From all those countries and from the age of 16, you should get police clearance certificate from all those countries in which you have stayed for more than one year and you were above 16 years of age. You need to get the police clearance certificates from those countries.

On the same note, if you have a police clearance certificate from those countries and you took them long time ago, but at the time you are departing from that country, the certificate had not expired. That certificate, you can use it during your diversity visa interview.

If you are living in a certain country and you stayed there for more than one year, and while living there, you had obtained a valid police clearance certificate, and at the time you are moving out of that country permanently, the certificate had not expired.

The same certificate, you can use it at this time, even if you got it long time ago. You can use it as the police clearance certificate during your DV interview.

4. The other thing that you need to know about the police clearance certificate is that, if you are currently a selectee, you are a DV winner, you can obtain the police clearance certificate now and you will still be able to use that certificate in your DV interview.

Because from the time you check your results to the time the DV program fiscal year ends, that time does not even cover 24 months because it’s from May of this year and up to September of the following year. And if you count the months, 24 months will not have expired.

If you’re reading this guide at this time and you are a DV lottery winner, you can still apply for the Police Clearance Certificate at this time and it will still be valid at the time you’re going for the interview.

It is safer for you to get your Police Clearance certificate if you are DV selectee as quickly as possible to avoid unnecessary delays at your interview.

Because you can get your second notification letter and you’ve not yet applied for the Police Clearance certificate, and let’s say in your country it takes some time to get that Police Clearance certificate and you cannot be able to get the Police Clearance certificate before the interview date, then you’ll be risking your dates because you cannot attend the interview without the Police Clearance certificate.

So the earlier you obtain your Police Clearance certificate, the better for your interview, and that means it might not lead to any delay or postponement of your interview on the reason that you are not able to get the Police Clearance certificate on time.

It’s better to get the police clearance certificate as early as you can to prevent such circumstances from occurring.

Those are some of the basic and important things regarding the Police Clearance certificate. Take note of them and act accordingly.

Some Questions and Answers About Police Clearance Certificate (PCC)

Question: Is there a format for this dv rotary pcc or its common one?

Answer: No, every country has a different format.

Question: Supposing I win green card and get married to US citizen afterwards, had applied as single, can I still continue as single or they will know that am married? And my spouse would also be my host too.

Answer: When you win fill married and add him on DS-260.

Question: I have a passport as a main applicant, supposed I be selected on May this year, is it possible for me to use that passport to fill for my children??

Answer: Yes, but just for DS-260 submission then get the children passports because you can’t get through the interview without their passports.

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.

What is DV First Notification Letter, 1NL?

This is the first notification letter that you will receive when you check for your DV lottery results, if you applied for the DV Lottery for the fiscal year.

When May 6 comes and you check for the results to see if you are selected. If you are successfully selected, the first information that you will receive is called the First Notification Letter, 1NL. First Notification Letter is the letter that unveils your case number if you are selected in DV Lottery.

Sample of DV First Notification Letter, 1NL

Below is the first notification letter sample for DV-2024.

The letter will have the title head containing your information. It will read May 6, 2023, your name, your place and everything, and then it will say, “Dear [Your Name].”

The random selection for further processing in the Diversity Immigrant Visa program for the fiscal year 2024, will start October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024.

Selection does not guarantee that you will receive a visa because the number of applicants selected is greater than the number of visas available.

Therefore, it is very important that you carefully follow instructions to increase your chances of possible visa issuance. The instructions are loaded in the Department of State’s website.

All DV applicants must use their online DS-260 form immigrant Visa and Alien Registration Application. Your case will not be scheduled for an interview appointment until a visa number is available.

If you have submitted a complete valid DS-260 application for each of your family member and you have provided copies of all required documentation to Kentucky Consular Center, KCC, you will receive document submission instruction by email after KCC processed and accept the DS-260 form for you and for any accompanying family member.

If you are scheduled for an interview, you will receive an email notification message to the email address that you provided on the initial application.

Make sure you notify KCC at this email, KCCDV@state.gov, if your email address changes to ensure you receive all notifications regarding your diversity visa case.

If you need to contact Kentucky Consular Center KCC about your case, you may write to same email. When writing to KCC, you must always include your name, your case number as they appear in the first notification letter.

You must also include your complete date of birth as stated on your original entry.

You will find the case number assigned to you at the down side of the letter.

Basically this is a sample first notification letter that you will get and as you go through the information, it says being selected does not guarantee visa issuance and so you have to follow all the instructions carefully for you to increase the chances of you getting the visa.

Also, your interview will only be scheduled once you have submitted a duly filled DS-260 form, it’s been processed and approved by the KCC.

Although, currently, the part of providing documents to KCC or sending documents to KCC is no longer there. You are not supposed to send any documents to KCC as at this moment it was removed, and this was to speed up the DS-260 processing.

At the moment for the DV Lottery 2023 and DV Lottery 2024, unless things change, you will not be required to submit the documentation.

If your first notification letter says you have submitted your DS-260 form, it has been processed and it is correct. Then a visa will have to be available to your case, and once the visa is available to your case, then you will be scheduled for an interview.

You will receive an email notification on the same informing you that you have an update on the website dvprogram.state.gov [DV entrant status check] for you to visit and get your second notification letter, the appointment letter to the interview.

If at any point you want to communicate with KCC, If you want to unlock your DS-260 form, If you want to transfer your case to a different embassy, whichever communication you want to do with KCC, email them through KCCDV@stategov.

Also, every time that you want to communicate with KCC, make sure you include the full names of the applicant, the case number and the date of birth as indicated in the initial application.

Note: Don’t mess up with the date of birth in the initial application. Every time you communicate to KCC, follow the instructions.

That about the first notification letter that will come May 6.

Question: I have a family of 7 people, do I need to fill 7 Ds-260 forms, thus for each individual

Answer: It is essentially “one” that you fill your details, then for your spouse details, then for kids details and submit. Each part is considered as DS-260 of its own.

I wish you all success that you might get this notification letter. Thank you for reading this guide. I hope it is informative to you.

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.

Do I need a sponsor for the DV Lottery? Am an applicant, how can I find a sponsor for the DV lottery? Who can sponsor me for the DV lottery? This guide will give you answer to some of these questions DV lottery entrants ask always.

Do I need a sponsor for the DV Lottery?

Diversity Visa (DV) applicants do not need a sponsor, such as an employer or immediate family member in the United States, nor are they required to provide an Affidavit of Support.

No DV winner needs a sponsor. You don’t need a ‘sponsor’ for the DV Lottery. All she/he needs is a rational plan for supporting him/herself from the day of arrival until being independently solvent.

This can include savings, family funds, promises for food and lodging from friends or relatives either in the home country or already in the U.S, or any other plan that shows initiative and sense.

If you were lucky enough to win the draw, you must simply figure out – and be able to explain to the interviewing US consular officer – how you will support yourself and get started in your new life in the US.

If you have savings, relatives or friends who will give or lend you money, a relative or friend in the US who will let you live with him/her while you get going, or any other simple, rational and reasonable plan to not starve in the streets, that’s all you need.

If this plan can be explained to the interviewing consular officer and makes sense, off s/he goes to the U.S.

What happens if I win the DV lottery and I don’t have a sponsor nor enough money?

A sponsor, and a large bank balance, are not mandatory for the DV, but the successful applicant must convince the interviewing consular officer that s/he has a well-thought-out plan to support him/herself and any accompanying family members from the day that they land.

That convincing can take many forms and combinations of forms: a legitimate job offer, a friend or relative willing to house and feed the person until he gets on his feet, etc.

Is it compulsory to bring proof of sufficient funds to the DV lottery interview?

A successful DV applicant will, at the time of the interview, have proof of sufficient funds to support him/herself on arrival in the US, or a reliable source of income and support (family member or friend already in the US, promised employment, etc).

If the applicant has no idea how to be able to afford to live in the US without relying on public assistance, the visa will not be issued.

Just be aware that registration for the DV Lottery will only run till about the first week in November so you still have about 2 weeks to register, the official website for the Lottery is (dvprogram.state.gov) check out the registration requirements on the website alternatively you can find information on the Department of State website.

The entry submission period for DV-2024 is from 12:00PM EDT (GMT -4) on October 5, 2022 to 12:00PM EST (GMT -5) on November 8, 2022. The entry form will only be available for submission during this period and this period only.

Entrants may be disqualified for not completing the entry form correctly or by submitting more than one entry.

I hope you find the information useful.

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.

In this guide, we will learn why you may be denied diversity visa even after you have been selected from the diversity visa lottery online application.

You can get selected from the diversity visa lottery online application but these mistakes can deny you your diversity visa. In other words, you may have been selected or you will be selected or you may be selected with these mistakes, but you getting the visa is a dream. You will definitely be denied the visa.

What are the reasons for someone who is the winner of the DV lottery to be denied the visa during the visa interview?

You have won the DV lottery, you have processed everything, you have reached the stage to be given what is called the second notification letter (2NL) to go to the visa interview, you have done the medical, everything is okay, you go to the visa interview, then you get denied of the diversity visa. Why will you gets denied?

Reasons Why You May be Denied Diversity Visa Even If You Are Selected

There are so many reasons which make a winner be denied the visa. Below are those mistakes that you can do and you may get selected, but you will not be given a visa:

1. By selecting the wrong country of eligibility

If you lie about your country of eligibility during your application, you may get through the selection process, but you will not be given your visa. You will definitely fail your interview.

Some people makes mistake of putting different country of eligibility. For instance, someone from Uganda who lives in Qatar, he is working in Qatar. By mistake, instead of putting the country of eligibility in Uganda, the country of birth is Uganda.

The question was, which country are you born? Are you born in Uganda? Are you claiming that there is the country of birth? The person who didn’t know, then they put no and put the country where they live as Qatar. The person would be denied visa despite winning the lottery.

Putting a country of eligibility, which is not yours, is automatically denial of the visa despite being the winner of the DV lottery.

2. By selecting the wrong level of education

If you select the wrong level of education, you may get through the selection process, but during the diversity visa processing, you will get denied your visa. Don’t make any mistake when selecting your level of education.

If you have a high school diploma, select the high school degree. If you don’t have select, you don’t have. Don’t lie about your education level, you will definitely get denied your diversity visa.

In the application of the DV lottery, you don’t have correct education required, so you are depending on the work experience. The work experience which is required is two years of qualifying work experience out of five years or in the period of five years.

Qualifying meaning not every work experience will qualify. The work experience must meet the Department of Labor Special Vocational Range (SVP), of six and above. If you have a work experience which is below that range, you will be denied the visa. That is another way people are not meeting that particular requirement.

3. By selecting the wrong marital status

Wrong marital status will deny you the visa even though you get through the selection process.

If you are single, why not select single? Why put married? Because you have a girlfriend, she is not your spouse. You have a boyfriend and he is not your spouse.

If you are single, you select single. If you are legally married, select you are married. If it is a spouse that is a United States citizen or a green card holder, select married to a U.S Citizen or a legal permanent resident. If it is not a spouse from the United States, select not from the United States.

Don’t lie on your spouse, on your marital status. If you are separated and you have the separation documents, select separated. If you don’t have the legal separation document, you have to select married.

If you are divorced with the divorced certificate, then you select divorce. But if you are divorced and you don’t have the legal divorce documents, don’t select divorce, you have to select married.

Don’t lie about your marital status. You may get through selection process, but you will not receive your visa.

Those are instruction number 14 and instruction number 15 of the DV lottery applications.

4. By lying on the number of children that you have

Remember, the children that are legally allowed to be added as your derivatives include your natural children, your stepchildren and your legally adopted children, and not anyone else.

Therefore, indicate the correct number of children that you have and include their details and don’t lie in it. Even if you are single and you have a child, include that child.

When you ask about children, the question is number of children. The children has to be biological or step-children, or legally adopted children who are under the age of 21 and unmarried.

For you, you put a child of your brother who is not your child. Or you put your child, you think that you have adopted a child, but you didn’t do by the legal way just because someone’s relative died and you have been living with that child since maybe the age of one doesn’t make you as a parent. You are just someone helping.

So for that particular case, putting a child who is not your child or lying that you don’t have a child while you have children, will lead you to be denied the visa.

5. Criminal record

That’s why they need a police clearance. Police clearance will be able to determine whether to be denied or not to be denied the visa. Even if it’s not a typical criminal record, in the DV lottery or in any visa you are supposed to fill at the U.S Embassy, you will be required to put the list of all social media you have in the past five years or the phone number you have used in the past five years.

The U.S government will be going to look into your social media. Let’s say by mistake you have been a very big supporter of a terrorist. Obviously, it might bring a problem. You have liked and commented in support of illegal group. They know you are affiliated with or you have bad intention to the U.S government or to the US as a country.

What you comment on social media, what you like on social media might come to bite you in big way in this type of situation.

6. Another thing is a medical

In most cases, they’re not going to check HIV, they’re not going to check hepatitis, they’re not going to look into that. But if you are addicted with a drug to the higher level, you’ll not be given the visa.

If you have a certain type of mental health, mental health is not a problem. But the mental health, which has been proven that it has caused or you have proven like you have done a mass shooting, you have taken a knife going to stab some people, maybe at the school. Those type of behavior will lead to you being denied because they see you are a threat. If you go to America, you might cause a very big problem to life of people in America.

READ: Get Tested And Treated Of These Diseases As Early As Possible Before DV Medical Examination

During the passport requirement, if you lied or you put your wrong passport number was a reason for that. But now there is that big controversy and there’s a lawsuit that the passport is no longer required. People were in the case and the U.S government hasn’t filed the appeal yet, so that will not be a reason for you to be denied the visa.

They’re not going to look about the photo used on that particular case. They are looking now you are the winner. They are looking into those are some of the things which will be able to cause you for you being the winner and be denied the visa.

For that reason, that’s why they are going to select so many people as winners, as a backup because they know the majority of people will not be able to meet those requirements and might not be able to be given the visas.

Those are the mistakes that you may get selected with but you will definitely be denied your diversity visa. Don’t commit these mistakes.

I hope you find the information useful.

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 brief guide will give you the answer to the question, which marital status is BEST to use to Apply and Win Green Card (DV) Lottery 2024? Also, DV lottery family application process will be explained too.

This years (2022) DV Lottery Program is called the DV2024 (the year successful applicants may enter the United States) and is scheduled to be closed for applications on November 8, 2022.

Note: Marital status is one of the information you have to declare when doing the DV (Green Card) lottery application.

Marital Status and Children in filling DV-2024 Lottery Application

If you are officially married and with a marriage certificate, the best marital status for you to use is married, and then let both of you apply each one independently and add the other partner as a dependent, it will increase your chances of winning.

If you are customary married and without the legal document marriage certificates, then the best marital status for you to use is single, each one of you should apply as a single person.

If you are not married, then ensure you apply as a single person.

Be truthful in filling information about you, because there is no one marital status that is preferred from the other. They do not prefer married over singles or singles over married.

You just have to indicate the truthful information which you can prove if selected and invited for the interview.

Can husband and wife apply separately for DV lottery?

Yes, if otherwise qualified, a husband and a wife may submit one Green Card (DV) Lottery application each. If you receive a Green Card through the lottery, your spouse and unmarried children under 21 will simultaneously get Green Cards.

Number of children

List the name, date of birth, gender, city/town of birth, and country of birth for all living, unmarried children under 21 years of age, regardless of whether they are living with you or intend to accompany or follow to join you, should you immigrate to the United States. Submit individual photographs of each of your children using the same technical specifications as your own photograph.

Be sure to include:

• all living natural children;
• all living children legally adopted by you; and,
• all living stepchildren who are unmarried and under the age of 21 on the date of your electronic entry, even if you are no longer legally married to the child’s parent, and even if the child does not currently reside with you and/or will not immigrate with you.

Married children and children who are already aged 21 or older when you submit your entry are not eligible for the DV program. However, the Child Status Protection Act protects children from “aging out” in certain circumstances: if you submit your DV entry before your unmarried child turns 21, and the child turns 21 before visa issuance, it is possible that he or she may be treated as though he or she were under 21 for visa processing purposes.

A child who is already a U.S. citizen or LPR when you submit your DV entry will not require or be issued a Diversity Visa; you will not be penalized for either including or omitting such family members from your entry.

Failure to list all children who are eligible or listing someone who is not your child will make you ineligible for a DV, and your spouse and children will also be ineligible as Diversity Visa derivative applicants.

What family members must I include on my DV entry?

If you are married, you must list your spouse and if you have children, you must include all unmarried children under the age of 21. If you are separated, you must still list your spouse. You do not need to list your former spouse if you are legally divorced.

Must I upload a photo for each family member?

Yes, please reference the photo requirements on the DV Lottery Photo Requirements for specific details.

See the Frequently Asked Questions and answers for more information about completing your Electronic Entry for 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.