Tag Archives: U.S visa

This guide is an advice on filling DS-260 form, which has raised a lot of concerns to majority of the DV 2023 winners, and a solid advice to the DV 2024 prospect winners.

Advice on Filling DS-260 form

Majority of DV 2023 winners with the cases below the cut-of numbers are worried why they have not received their second notification letters, 2NL, even if they have very low case numbers. But what is the reason?

REASONS:

The reason revolves around the DS-260 and the DS-260 submission and the DS-260 processing. Below are the reasons as to why you have not yet gotten a second notification letter, 2NL.

The first thing that you should take keen concern is, if you are DV 2024 prospective winner, remember that it is very important and highly advisable that you fill in your DS-260 form as early as you can.

Immediately the DV lottery results are out and you get selected, fill the DS-260 form immediately, take some few days and fill it correctly, as early as that time, and submit it correctly filled.

Don’t wait till September or October or July or later dates for you to submit that form. Because KCC will always and have always been processing the DS-260 as they flow, as they come.

Therefore, those who submitted their DS-260 in the month of May, regardless of their case number, whether high or low, will be processed first before those who submitted in June.

Those who submitted fast will get their DS-260 processed before those who submitted later, regardless of your case number.

Also note this, all people with higher case numbers than you and submitted their DS-260 forms earlier, will have their DS-260 forms processed and their interviews scheduled before you with the lowest number. Simply because you submitted your DS-260 late.

Also, those people who are not yet current and they have very high case numbers but submitted their DS-260 forms before you, will have their DS-260 still processed before yours and put aside to wait for the time they will become current.

If you submitted your DS-260 late, even those with very high case numbers but submitted before you will have their DS-260 processed and put aside to wait for the time they become current.

KCC may waste a lot of time processing those numbers that are not current, rather than processing yours that is current simply because you submitted it late.

Submit your DS-260 form immediately you realize you are selected after the results are out, as early as the results are out.

Even if you as the principal applicant, you have the travel document, the passport, but your derivatives don’t have, fill in the DS-260 and for your travel information, you put in the details of your passport.

But for your derivatives, you can use your national ID as the number, in the place of their travel information and submit, so long as you submit the DS-260 on time, and as early as you can.

Let take for an example:

If you come from a region like, Asia or Africa, and your case number is 700 and you become current for the month of October, but you submitted your DS-260 form in the month of July.

When October comes, you are supposed to have received your second notification letter and you are supposed to have been scheduled for the interview and gone through your interview.

But you have submitted your DS-260 form in July and in the month of October when your interview is supposed to be scheduled. KCC has not yet reached processing the DS-260 submitted in July. So what happens?

It means that your DS-260 form has not yet been processed, but yet, your case number is current. Do you expect to get any second notification letter? Definitely not.

But in a different scenario, another person from the same region, Asia or Africa, and his case number is 1000 and submitted his/her DS-260 in the month of May immediately, after he realized that he had been selected.

So all the DS-260 forms for May have been processed and therefore the person with 1000 and is current for the month of October, will receive the second notification letter (2NL) and attend his/her interview.

But you with the 700 case number and your DS-260 has not been processed because you submitted it later, you will not get your second notification letter. You’ll be asking be asking questions, even when your case number is low, why have you not received your second notification letter? The problem is because you submitted your DS-260 form late.

Note: Same illustration case applies to all other regions.

The key point here is, you should as much as possible immediately you realize that you have been selected, try and start filling in your DS-260 and submit it early, so that when your case number becomes current, your DS-260 form will have been processed and therefore you will be scheduled for the interview.

Some Frequently Asked Questions On DS-260 Form

Question: What if in the case were u submitted Early,case no. Is low but u unlocked like 2 or 3 different times to make corrections then after resubmit the forms. Does such a scenario affect the processing of the forms at KCC?

Hint/Ans: It’s just slightly in case you were about to be scheduled for the interview, but just slight effect unless you updated travel information to terrorism prone country.

Question: What if the principal applicant submitted in May but the derivatives were submitted in September?

Hint/Ans: They will have to process for your derivatives as well. It is late.

Question: On my DS260 I wrote my host’s name and surname and i forgot the middle name. Will it be an issue or should I open my DS260 and correct it?

Hint/Ans: It should not be an issue. Don’t unlock, just go with the host document during interview.

Question: Is there any effect asking kcc about my ds-260 when my case is not current.

Hint/Ans: No.

Hope this advice on Filling DS-260 form is very clear. Thanks for reading this 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.

There is this interview question that many people are concerned about, when you are at the interview desk, that is the DV lottery interview. This guide will focus on why are you going to the U.S answer and why do you want to go to the U.S interview questions.

DV Interview Question

The officer there, that is the consular, poses this question to you about, why are you intending to go to the United States? He or she may also ask you, what are you going to do in the United States?

This questions, when you look at it clearly and through experience and also through many testimonials, what the consul officer or the embassy is trying to deduce from you is, what are your laid plans of you immigrating to the United States? What have you planned about your stay there?

Remember very well that;

• this is not a temporary visa. It’s not a temporary stay. This is a permanent stay.
• this is not based on any merit. It was just a random selection and you are lucky.

Therefore, you’re not immigrating to the United States on the merit of your experience, your work experience. You’re not going there for a job position. You are just going there because you won the DV lottery.

So the consular officer will be wanting to know, how are you going to drive life over there? How are you going to sustain yourself over there? What are you going to do over there? What is the reason as to why you’re going over there? Why did you apply for the DV lottery? Those questions should run inside your mind.

What are you supposed to answer or how are you supposed to handle this question? Remember that you had applied for the DV lottery and you had a reason as to why you really longed to have a permanent stay in the United States.

You might be having one reason or the other. In most cases, if not all, is because you’re going to better your life.

Maybe the life that you are currently living, where you are now from whichever country you are in is not satisfactory enough. You want somewhere where you can better your life and that could be the reason as to why you played the lottery.

Since you have all those reasons, you have an answer to this question. Also, because you want to better your life, when you are successfully selected and you win the green card lottery, which means that you want to go there and do things that will better your life, e.g getting job employment, or doing some businesses.

Something to improve your life, of course, is something that will bring in some cash to better your life. So either you will seek for an employment, you will self-employ, or you do something that will bring resources to your family, resources to yourself to better your life.

Therefore, these things are the same things that you should base your answer when you’re answering the Consular officer.

If this question is asked to you, why are you going to the United States? Or what are you going to do in the United States? Then your answer should be around this argument.

You’re supposed to tell the Consular officer that you intending to go to the United States because you want to go there, live and work and also maybe study.

For example:

“I want to go and work and study”

That’s just a good example.

You can say that you want to go there and join the military, which is a very good answer as well.

The answer that you give will determine whether the consular officer will be confident enough in you to issue a visa to you. Because if you are asked, Why are you going to the United States? Or What are you going to do? And then you don’t have any answer, you become messed up.

Maybe you just won the green card lottery and you had no reason, and then you’re just joyous that you’re going to the United States. You don’t have any plan, then you lack an answer to that question. You become confused.

Maybe you say, I’m going there because I won the green card. Then the Consular Officer definitely will see that you don’t have any solid reason as to where you’re relocating to the United States. You might risk becoming a public charge, a person that will need government support to sustain his life over there. This is what the United States government does not want.

So if you don’t have any reason, then you risk your visa approval. You may not receive your visa.

The very best reason that you should have in your mind when applying for the DV lottery should be to better your life. Better your life means doing activities that will bring resources to your family. That’s a good reason to give there.

Be plain and simple and tell the consular officer that you want to go to the United States because you want to go there and work and also study, because you want to better your life as you better the economy of the United States.

I hope this guide have answered this DV interview question, why are you Going to the U.S.A? or what are you going to do in the U.S?

Thank you so much for reading this 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.

If you have any questions about the DV lottery, please contact an immigration professional/officer or a licensed attorney.

What Papers Are Given After The DV Interview? Many people are waiting for the DV results to come out, which is in few months’ time. While others are still continuing with their interviews, some are also waiting for the second notification letters, 2NL.

Based on the recent visa bulletin that came out, there is promising in terms of the cut-off numbers. But the problem lies with the embassies and the speed at which they are processing, e.g some of the embassies in the region of Africa.

For those that are waiting for the results for the DV-2024, the results should be out by May 6.

Today, we will focus in those documents/papers that you may be given after a successfully DV interview.

5 Papers/Documents You Are Given After The DV Interview

Below are the documents that you can be issued after the interview, depending on the situation of your interview and they come in a paper form, it might be of different color.

Different Colour Paper that may be issued to you

For example, you can have a green paper issued to you after the interview, you can have a yellow paper/slip given to you after the interview. You can have a pink paper/slip given to you after the interview.

You can also have a white paper/slip given to you after the interview or even a blue paper issued to you after the interview.

Let now discuss these five papers that you may get after a DV lottery interview and their content and also their meaning, and what should you do after you have been given this paper.

Of course majority are wishing to be given the green paper after the interview. This is because it is the green paper that contains the information that congratulates you upon having a successful interview.

It tells you, congratulations, your visa has been approved, and this is the paper that many people are longing for after the interview.

Green Paper/Document

The first paper/document/slip is the green document, the document/slip that congratulates you of a successful diversity visa interview.

It says:

Dear Immigrant Visa/Diversity Visa Applicant.

Congratulations! Your visa has been approved. Please immediately register with DHL courier service for each traveling applicant. Instructions are attached to the sheet.

DHL will alert you by email when your passport or travel document is ready for collection and include a receipt number, and also the DHL Air way bill number.

Below is a sample of the Green Letter given after the DV interview

So depending on the country in which you come from, the courier services may be different. Others may also be told to come to the embassy directly to collect their visa. But this is the basic content of the green paper. It congratulates you on your winning the visa, and on your visa getting approved. It goes on to give you the details about what you’re required to have when you’re going to collect your passport through the courier services.

You’ll need your identification card and you’ll need the proof of your DHL airway bill number. If you’re taking for your child, you’ll be required to present the birth certificate for the child.

But if you cannot go by yourself as a principal applicant to collect the documents, then you can send someone. But the person you send, you must issue the person with an authorization document letter to go with to the courier services, together with your identification documents.

The authorization letter should have been signed by you and should indicate that you are authorizing the person to take the documents or to collect the documents on your behalf.

Green document/paper is the document that you get once you become successful in your visa interview and your visa has been approved. This is the document that all the winners in the DV lottery would like to get.

There are other documents that you may get which fall under the 221G, that is a temporary visa refusal and you will be required to take certain steps once you get those documents for your visas to be approved.

This is the first guide on those five different documents and papers that you can be given after the interview. To know more about the other documents/papers and everything about it, read 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.

Who Can Sponsor You for DV? In today’s guide, we will learn about who qualifies to be your sponsor, as a DV winner or who qualifies to financially sponsor a green card holder or an immigrant.

Who a sponsor?

A sponsor is someone that accepts to be held responsible for an immigrant expenses while he or she settles in the United States.

The United States government will consider the income and the assets of the sponsor as available to sponsor the immigrant or to support the immigrant in whatever thing he requires as he settles in the United States.

A sponsor can financially support anyone, a relative, an employee, a person outside his or her family, or any person that intends to immigrate to the United States.

Who Can Sponsor You for DV? | How To Get The Right Sponsor / Host

Below are the qualities or qualifications of a person to become a financial sponsor of an immigrant to the United States?

• This financial sponsor must be above 18 years of age and not under 18 years of age.
• The financial sponsor must be a United States citizen or a United States permanent resident.
• If you don’t qualify as a United States citizen or the holder of the permanent residence, then you should have a domicile in any of the United States territory or possession.
• The sponsor must prove income of not less than 125 percent of the federal poverty line. For the military personnel, the poverty line may be at 100%, but for any other citizen or any other sponsor, the poverty level should be at 125% or more than 125% of the federal poverty level.
• To qualify as a sponsor, also, you have to be a lawful citizen or a lawful permanent resident of the United States.

This means that, you should not have involved yourself in criminal activities, especially criminal activities involving the minor, children under the age of 17 years of age.

For example, if you have a criminal record of committing an offense against a minor sexually, then you can be disqualified to act as a sponsor.

• If you are found in possession of the children pornography or distribution of such items, then you are disqualified to be a sponsor.
• If you are also found in minor sexual performances, you get disqualified as a sponsor.
• If you are also involved in crime regarding children kidnapping, you are also disqualified as a sponsor.
• If you are engaged in activity involved around requesting and performing sexual acts to minors, then you are disqualified to become a sponsor.

Therefore, you should be as lawful as possible and don’t involve yourself in such activities that harms the minor, for you to become a qualified sponsor for an immigrant.

Finally, the sponsor must be willing to fill the Form I-134 and submit it.

Financial Qualification of the Sponsor

One of the requirements has been that the sponsor must meet 125% or more of the federal poverty level. So the sponsor’s income should be at that level.

But if the sponsor’s income alone does not reach this level, the 125% of the federal poverty level, he can join it with the property that he or she owns.

If he or she has a house, a car, a farm, he can combine the entire wealth for him or her to meet this level.

So he or she can include all the possession that he or she has to meet this level, 125% of the federal poverty level.

Alternatively, if the sponsor does not meet the 125% of the federal poverty level, then they can sign a joint or they can jointly sign with another sponsor, and they will do this by filling in the Form I-864, the both of them and submit them. So they can jointly sponsor an immigrant.

Some Frequently Asked Questions

Questions: When your sponsor fill it you are going to print it out or your sponsor will be submitting it

Answer: You print it out

Question: Can a retired US citizen qualify to sponsor someone.

Answer: Yes.

Thanks for reading this 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.

If you have any questions about the DV lottery, please contact an immigration professional/officer or a licensed attorney.

There are two ways in which you can prove to the consular officer or to the United States government that you’re not going to become a public charge once you land in the United States. This guide will point out those Documents A Sponsor Should Give You For DV Interview.

These two ways include:

1. You can choose to have enough Savings in your bank and produce a Statement of the savings, present it before the consulate officer that will be interviewing you and use it as a form of proof that you can sustain yourself when you start life in the United States.
2. By producing an affidavit of support from a sponsor who is already in the United States, either a Citizen of the United States or a permanent resident.

This sponsor is supposed to fill the form called Form I-134 and give you the copy to present it during your interview. There are documents that should accompany the Form I-134, which your sponsor should provide for you to accompany the Form I-134, for it to act as a sufficient affidavit of support.

Documents A Sponsor Should Give You For DV Interview

Below are the document that should accompany the Form I-134:

• Copy of the green card of the sponsor, or if the sponsor is a citizen, the national identity card copy or the driver’s license.
• Form 1040, the tax compliance form of the sponsor. Remember, to qualify as a sponsor, the sponsor has to have complied fully with the taxation in the United States. In place of the form 1040, the sponsor can give you a W2 form instead.
• A copy of pay-slip, just to act as the proof that indeed your sponsor is earning the salary, the income. So let your sponsor give you maybe an annual pay slip copy as approved of the salary, i.e the pay slip.

Those three documents are supposed to accompany the Form I-134 for it to act as an affidavit of support. Once you present these documents, together with the Form I-134, then you are fully secured and your visa can get approved.

Remember that majority of the embassies will request for this affidavit of support, either the financial statement or the Form I-134 from the sponsor.

So, if you’re preparing to go for your interview, ensure that you are obtaining an affidavit of support from the sponsor, or you are preparing the financial statement. If you fail to produce one as a means of proving that you will not become a public charge in the United States, then definitely you will be put to the administrative processing until you produce these documents.

Some Frequently Asked Questions

Question: Can I present additional i-134 form apart from my sponsor to make sure. We are three (applicant, spouse and son/daughter).

Answer: Just one form i-134 is enough.

Question: What time should I-134 be fill? Can the sponsor fill prior to the scheduling of interview?

Answer: It’s better after 2NL.

Question: Is i-134 filled before the interview or after the interview?

Answer: Before interview.

Question: My sponsor is in USA, how can i get the i-134 Form from my sponsor, since am not USA yet?

Answer: Let him/her fill it and scan it and send it to you.

I hope the information is very useful and 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.

In this guide, we will learn some common DV lottery interview Questions expected during DV Interview and the sample answers. Before going for the interview, you need to know about the DV lottery or green card interview questions.

Learn sample answers to some of the top questions related to the DV lottery (green card) interview process, providing valuable insights for those seeking permanent residency in the U.S.

A consular officer conducts a DV lottery interview at the U.S embassy or consulate in your home country. In the interview, the officer will ask you a series of questions to determine your eligibility for the DV program and your admissibility to the United States.

Whether you’re a first-time applicant or have previously entered the DV lottery, this guide will provide you with valuable information to help you navigate the interview process with confidence.

DV Lottery Interview Top Questions and Sample Answers

These are what you can expect during the interview and how to prepare for them. Below are some common DV lottery interview questions that are asked most of the time.

Question: What is the purpose of your trip to the United States?

Sample Answer: I have been selected for the diversity visa program and plan to immigrate to the United States.

Question: Have you ever been to the United States before?

Sample Answer: No, I have never been to the United States before.

Question: What do you know about the diversity visa program?

Sample Answer: The diversity visa program, also known as the Green Card lottery, is a program that provides a chance for people from certain countries to immigrate to the United States. It is a random selection process and winners are chosen through a computer-generated lottery.

Question: How did you find out about the diversity visa program?

Sample Answer: I found out about the diversity visa program through the U.S Department of State’s website.

Question: What is your educational background?

Sample Answer: I have a bachelor’s degree in business administration from (your college name).

Question: What is your current occupation?

Sample Answer: I currently work as a (say your job title and your company name).

Question: Do you have any family or friends in the United States?

Sample Answer: No, I do not have any family or friends in the United States.

Question: How do you plan to support yourself in the United States?

Sample Answer: I plan to find employment once I arrive in the United States?

Question: Have you ever been convicted of a crime?

Sample Answer: No, I have never been convicted of a crime.

Question: Have you ever violated U.S immigration laws?

Sample Answer: No, I have never violated U.S immigration laws.

Question: What was your longest stay in the U.S?

Sample Answer: I have never been to the U.S before, so this will be my first trip.

Question: What visa was you on for that stay?

Sample Answer: N/A, as I have never been to the U.S before.

Question: Have you ever had any immigration problems?

Sample Answer: No, I have never had any immigration problems.

Question: What is your highest level of education?

Sample Answer: In this answer, you can say your highest level of education.

Question: Where did you get your bachelor from?

Sample Answer: I received my bachelor’s degree from [your university name.]

Question: Do you have any children?

Sample Answer: No, I do not have any children. But if you have, please say Yes and also say how many they are.

Question: Have you ever been married?

Sample Answer: No, I have never been married. But if you are married, please say Yes.

Other DV lottery (Green Card) Interview Common Questions

It is important to answer these questions truthfully and accurately. Any misrepresentation or false information could result in your visa application being denied.

Thanks for reading this 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.

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 will specifically tackle the issue about the birth certificate and other alternatives for DV interview. Birth Certificate is very important in green card lottery.

The birth certificate is very important in many things in your life and more so during the diversity visa process. This is one of the documents and very important documents that are required during the DV interview.

You are supposed to produce original copies of your birth certificate and those of your derivatives, and if not, get the certified copies of the same. Also go along with the photocopy of them as well.

There are some individuals in several countries that are unable to obtain a birth certificate, maybe because of one reason or the other.

One reason as to why some may not be able to get an original or certified birth certificate is because of governmental issues and problems.

Another reason could be that the official record of your birth has been lost by the government institution or the civil institution, and those things happen.

If they cannot retrieve your birth records, then it might be hard for them to produce a birth certificate for you.

In all these cases, if you are unable to obtain a birth certificate for the DV lottery process, there are alternatives for this.

The DV Birth Certificate and Alternatives

1. The Baptismal Certificate

The first alternative for this is you might get a baptismal certificate. The baptismal certificate can stand in for the birth certificate, in this case, where you cannot obtain your birth certificate. But for the baptismal certificate to be legitimate, to be sufficient for this process, it should contain the date of your birth.

It should also contain the place where you were born, and it should also contain the names of both of your parents. These names must be in full.

So it should contain your names, the place of birth, the date of birth, the name of the parents, and they should be in full. In that case, it should stand in for the birth certificate.

2. Affidavit Certificate

If you cannot get the baptismal certificate, the other option is you get an affidavit certificate of your birth from a close relative and if possible, from the mother.

The affidavit of birth can stand in for the certificate of birth. The Affidavit certificate should state your names, it should state the date of birth, it should state the names of the parent, and the middle name of the mother should be in that affidavit of birth. The affidavit of birth also qualifies as a support document in place of the birth certificate.

3. Legal Adoption Papers

There’s also another option if these two are not possible. This is specifically for adopted children. So if you have an adopted child and you cannot retrieve the birth certificate, but you have the adoption papers, the legal adoption papers, they can stand in for the birth certificate.

The adoption papers should contain the full names of the child. It should contain the date of birth, the place of birth, if possible, the names of the parents, and the adoption details.

Legal adoption papers can stand in as a birth certificate for that adopted child.

Those are the papers that can replace the birth certificate. In case the original birth certificate or the certified birth certificate is unobtainable because of one reason or the other.

So nothing should hinder you from getting a successful DV interview because of the reason of lacking the birth certificate. Obtain one of those mentioned documents and you will be safe to proceed.

Question: What if I did a mistake during the process of typing my place of birth can I correct it before the results comes out and please how?

Answer: You will do it on DS-260, if selected.

Thanks for reading this guide. I hope the information is helpful.

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’s this issue about document submission for DV interview, this guide will clarify that issue.

As a routine initially, there used to be that document submission procedure. After you have filled the DS-260 form and you’ve outlined your details in the DS-260 form, the next step that followed was to submit the document proofs or the supporting documents to the KCC. That was a requirement and that was before the DV lottery 2022.

But after the DV lottery 2022, this document procedure was scrapped off from the process, and you are no longer required to submit any document to KCC after you have submitted your DS-260 form.

Questions About DV Documents, Translations and Submission Before Green Card Lottery Interview Date

• At what point will you be needed to present the supporting documents?
• Are you supposed to send your supporting documents to your relevant embassy before you go for the interview?

Though many may have the knowledge about this.

After this document submission procedure was removed, and for the reason of facilitating or enhancing the speed of processing of cases by KCC, after it was removed, you are only required to have the supporting documents with you during the interview.

That mean that you are not supposed to send your embassy any document. No supporting documents should be emailed to the embassy. Gather them and get them ready.

The original documents together with their copies or certified documents together with their copies. You go with them to the embassy and during the interview, you don’t send any document prior to your interview. You go with them physically during your interview.

The other thing to add on this document submission is that, remember that your documents must be in English and if they are not, you should get a certified translation of the documents to English.

Document submission for DV interview: Filling Education Level in DS-260 Form

Regarding filling in the DS-260 form on the area of your education background, some have this question on what they should fill if they are continuing with their courses and they have not gotten the certificate.

First of all, remember that you are supposed to fill the education details with the education that you are currently having the certificate. That is for you to be comfortable and on a safer side.

If at the time of filling in the DS-260 form, it happens that you don’t have the certificate, but you will get the certificate before your DV interview, then you fill in that course. But if at all you know you won’t be able to get the certificate at the time of your DV interview, then there’s no problem with you leaving it out.

Because after all, with only the high school diploma, you’re already qualified. And remember the DV lottery program, the success at the interview does not depend on your level of education.

It does not mean that if you have higher certificates more than another one with only the high school diploma, it does not mean that you have higher chances of getting your visa than this other person.

So only fill the education part with the education, whose documents you have and whose documents you can have before the DV interview. If you cannot obtain the document before the interview, then leave that indication out. Just proceed with the current qualifications that you have.

I hope you have learned from this guide. Thanks for reading this 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.

If you have any questions about the DV lottery, please contact an immigration professional/officer or a licensed attorney.

In this guide, you will those things you must not do before you get 2NL. You should not bother yourself with the following things before you receive your second notification letter, 2NL, for your DV interview.

Things You Must Not Do before you Get 2NL

• Don’t try to register for your interview appointment.
• Don’t try to book any medical examination.
• Don’t try to register any delivery service or the courier services.
• Don’t get vaccinations before you get your second notification letter.

These steps, they are only supposed to be done once you get your second notification letter. If you don’t have your second notification letter yet, you cannot do this because it won’t go through.

• Registering for your interview appointment

If you try to register for the interview, it won’t be possible simply because before you get a second notification letter, it means that the embassy has not yet received your details.

In other words, KCC hasn’t transferred your case to the embassy, so the embassy don’t have your details yet, and it is the embassy that conducts the interview once they get your information. Don’t try to register an online interview appointment.

• Booking for medical examination

Don’t book for any medical examination yet. If you have not gotten your second notification letter, don’t try to do that, because you will be required to have the details with you when booking the medical examination.

You’ll be required to send some details, and yet you’ve not yet received the second notification letter.

• Booking the courier services for your passport delivery

Don’t try to book any courier services for your passport delivery before you get your second notification letter.

• Getting vaccinations before you get your second notification letter

Another very important thing that you are not supposed to do yet is trying to get the vaccinations that are required by the United States government.

Don’t beat around trying to understand “what are the vaccinations that I want or that I’m supposed to go through,” and then you try to get them in the name of reducing their charges or costs during the medical examination. If you do that, you’re doing mistakes.

Don’t try to go around to get the vaccinations. The best thing you’re supposed to do is to wait for the second notification letter and then the specified medical facility. You visit it, you book an appointment with them, and they will administer all the required vaccinations, those that you don’t have.

Don’t bother yourself at all about getting these vaccinations before you get your second notification letter.

You need just to relax and wait. Then immediately you get a second notification letter, then you can go ahead with those mentioned processes.

Don’t do those four things listed and explained above before you get your second notification letter.

Read Also: Thing You Must do While Waiting For The Second Notification Letter, 2NL

I hope this guide is relevant to you, please like and share it out. Thanks.

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.

My previous guide explained the things that you are not supposed to do before you get the second notification letter, 2NL. Today, we will learn those important things that you’re supposed to do before the second notification letter or in other words, things that will help you as you’re waiting for the second notification letter, 2NL.

If you’re waiting for the second notification letter, you have already filled the DS-260 form and submitted it. Also for those who are waiting for the results, this guide is important for you because once you fill the DS-260 form, you will apply the same things discussed in this guide.

Things You Must do While Waiting For The 2NL

1. Track on the visa bulletins

The first thing that is very important and will be beneficial to you will be having a good track on the visa bulletins.

Every month there is a visa bulletin released by the Department of State, and this visa bulletin will outline all information about the visas, not only the DV, but also other visas.

The point that you should be keeping track of is that area of the DV lottery visas, have a good track of them. It is the visa bulletin that informs the current numbers. It is the visa bulletin that tells if your number is current or your case number is not current.

Therefore, if you’re waiting for the second notification letter, have a good track of the visa bulletins.

2. Always be updated with the visa news either from the USCIS or from your embassy, in your local embassy.

Always be updated. Get the news of the proceedings of your embassy, what is going on, what are the news about the visas? It’s not a must, but that is also a good thing to keep, to be updated on.

3. Try as much as possible to get the information about the current performance of your embassy, with regards to the diversity visa process.

Know how they are continuing with the diversity visa. Are they slow? Are there some concerns? Why so?

Because if you realize early that they are very slow, that can affect you. You can take the necessary steps. Majority of people have already transferred their cases to better embassies and some of them have already gotten their interviews.

Having a good track record of the performance of your embassy is very beneficial to you. So, have the latest information about the current progress at your embassy.

4. Always check for the notifications

The other thing that you should do, and this is an obvious thing, is always check your notifications, always check your emails for any information sent to you. Don’t forget to do that.

Another important thing that you’re supposed to do is, while you are waiting for the second notification letter, because some people have not yet fulfilled the documentation requirement, i.e you might be waiting for the 2NL, yet you don’t have all the passports of your beneficiaries, or you’ve not yet gotten your police clearance certificate, or maybe you lost the academic certificate and you’ve not yet gotten it or replaced it.

It would be the highest time that you now obtain these documents as you’re waiting for the second application letter. Have the documents ready.

5. If you need to get the passports for your beneficiaries that you don’t have, do it. If you need to get the consent letter or the sole custody papers for those single parents that have children, then do it.

6. The consent letter is required for all single parents and more so if you got the baby and at the time of getting the baby, the other partner was not there and he has never shown up, you also need the sole custody papers. Prepare them.

Remember, even if the other partner lost contact with you long and many years back, you still need this consent letter or the sole custody papers. You will need them. So prepare these documents as you’re waiting for the second notification letter.

It will be wise of you to get ready financially.

Arm yourself with all the required fees and expenses as you’re waiting for the second notification letter because it might be too late or the time might be short if you wait until you receive your second notification letter for you to gather this amount.

So prepare yourself with the visa fee, the medical examination fee, the miscellaneous expenses, have them or get them ready as you’re waiting for second notification letter.

These are some of the things that you might need to do as you’re waiting for the second notification letter.

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.

All DV winners/selectee preparing for the DV lottery interview, below are things you need to get/know before you attend the DV interview:

1. You are supposed to be punctual when attending the DV lottery interview.
2. You are supposed to come with all the civil documents that you have, plus all the proof documents that are required.
3. Remember to have the original documents or certified documents and their copies.

Produce a copy of the original documents and go with both the original documents or the certified documents and their photocopies.

4. Remember that all people in your application must attend the interview in person, including children under the age of 14. Basically, everyone must attend the interview in person.
5. Remember, if you don’t have sufficient proof documents or because of other reasons, you might get an administrative procedure.

You might be given a yellow paper, and on that yellow paper, it will clearly tell you which documents or which requirement is insufficient. And once you’re given this letter, you should act immediately without wasting no time.

If it’s documents that are needed in addition to what you presented, go ahead and produce them as fast as possible and present them.

If it is information that has been omitted, provide that information as fast as possible. Don’t waste any time.

6. Remember to go with your visa fee.

Don’t forget to go with a visa fee for all the members in your application. And more so, come with it in cash. Carry it in cash in your local currency. You don’t have to convert it to the United States dollars. Go with the money in cash and in the local currency. If this need to be converted to the United States currency, you will be informed there.

7. Prepare for the interview all of you as the members in the application.

If you are the principal applicant, prepare as the principal applicant and let your derivatives as well prepare for questioning. During the interview, the consular officer may spill the question over to your derivatives. Let them also be aware of that.

8. Let the information that you provided right from the onset during the application or the entry to the DV program all the way to the interview, be consistent.

There should not be discrepancies in the information provided in whichever level of the DV process. The details in the application should conform with the details in the DS-260 form and in the medical examination and also in the responses that you provide during the interview. They should be consistent.

In connection with that, no cooked up stories should be in your DV process. Everything should be straight and correct and truthful. Because if there is any doubt in your process, then that can lead to fraud and visa denial consequently.

9. Remember to comply with all the requirements that your embassy stated on the website, all the requirements that the embassy outlined, comply with them, leave none out.

Before you go for the interview, make sure you go through the checklist. Make sure you go through the requirements by your embassy and stick them to the letter. And again, never panic because it is the simplest of the interviews.

Questions are just directed to you based on your information. Only what pertains to you will be asked. There is no point of panicking. If at all the information you provided are truthful and legitimate, there is no point of you getting worried and panicking.

Be composed, be calm, and the questions are simple and easy. Answer them directly.

I hope this information will be useful to all DV winners preparing for their interview.

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 United States extends tourist (visitor) visa validity from 24 months to 60 months for individuals (Nigerians) who want to enter the U.S temporarily for business and/or tourism. The new policy starts Wednesday, March 1, 2023, according to the statement by the U.S Consulate General.

According to Punchng, early this year, 2023, the Federal Government directed the implementation of a new visa reciprocity policy for citizens of the U.S with effect from March 1, 2023, following an approval for the kickstart of the new Bilateral Consular Policy Agreements between the U.S and Nigeria

Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, said the Bilateral Consular Policy Agreements between the two countries also include the reciprocity of five-year tourist visa validity for American citizens pursuant to Section 30 of the Immigration Act, 2015; extension of visa validity to three years for diplomats and government officials between the citizens of both countries.

According to the statement by the U.S Consulate, the visa application fee, currently at $160, would not increase as a result of the increased visa validity, the cost of the visa fee still remains the same.

United States extends Tourist Visa validity to 5 years

The statement reads, “Effective March 1, 2023, the U.S. Mission will increase visitor visa validity from 24 months to 60 months for Nigerians who want to enter the United States temporarily for business and/or tourism.

“The visa validity extension allows Nigerians to use the visa for 60 months to make short trips to the United States for tourism or business purposes before having to renew their visa. The visa application fee, currently USD160, will not increase as a result of the increased visa validity.

The consulate also noted that increasing visa validity was one of several initiatives taken by the U.S to reduce visa appointment wait times in Nigeria.

They also said they will continue to offer No-Interview Visa Renewals to those who meet the eligibility criteria adding that appointments for No-Interview Visa Renewals are readily available.

However, the embassy reiterated that Nigerians “may be eligible for a visa renewal without an interview if your application is for a B1/B2, F, M, J (academic only), H, L, or C1/D (combined only) visa.

“Additionally, the person must be physically present in Nigeria, previous visa was issued in Nigeria, the previous visa is in the same classification as the current application, the previous visa was a full-validity, multiple-entry visa.”

The embassy in listing criteria for applying for visa renewal stated that the previous visa expired within the last 48 months or will expire in the next 3 months from the date of application. The applicant must have all the passports covering the entire period since receiving the previous visa and the passport with the most recent visa.

Also, the person must “never been arrested or convicted of any crime or offense in the United States, even if you later received a waiver or pardon. You have never worked without authorization or remained beyond your permitted time in the United States.”

The embassy informed applicants that the processing times for the programme are expected to be up to two months and applicants will not be able to retrieve their passports during that time.

Minors can apply without an interview only if they meet the eligibility criteria on their own, the statement added.

Source: Punchng and ng.usembassy.gov

Important Things To Do When Invited For DV Interview: If you are a DV selectee and you are waiting for your interview, of course, first of all, you’ll have to receive the second notification letter, after you have become current and your DS-260 form has been processed.

This guide specifically targets after you have received your second notification letter, 2NL.

For those that don’t know or who are new, the second notification letter 2NL is the appointment letter to your DV Lottery interview.

After you have gotten this second notification letter, there are basically four (4) important things that you should do in this DV program for your success.

• Immediately you get your second notification letter, 2NL, you have to read through it. And once you read through it, you will realize that there is a link provided within the body of the letter. That link is very important and it’s meant for you.

You should click on that link and it will direct you to the page that provides you with what you are required to do or the steps that you should follow after that letter.

After you have clicked the link and you visited that page, the next thing that you are supposed to do, that is very important, is you are supposed to visit your specific interview location, the embassy that you are to take your interview from. That’s what you’re supposed to do.

Once you get to that embassy page, you’ll find the specifications for you as the DV lottery winner getting ready to the interview. And three things normally follow here:

• The first thing is that you have to register for your interview appointment. You have to register for your interview appointment. It’s important to note this, “not all embassies require you to register.”

Note: Majority of the embassies will require you to register for the interview appointment. And therefore, it’s very important that you visit your exact or your specific embassy to know this. If you are required to register for the interview appointment, you will find it there and you have to do it.

• The second thing, very important that you are supposed to do, is you are supposed to register for a delivery service, and this is depending on the embassy.

Again, not all embassies will require you to register for the courier services for the delivery of your passport.

Remember, if your interview goes successfully, the passport document will have to remain behind with the embassy for them to process your visa and stamp the visa on your passport.

After they do so, they need to send the passport back to you, which is the reason as to why you’re supposed to register for the courier services for the delivery of your passports.

Some embassy will require you to come back to the embassy to receive your passports. That’s why it’s important that you visit your specific embassy page to know the details.

If you’re required to book a courier service for the delivery, then you ought to do so.

• The third thing that you’re supposed to do is, you’re supposed to book for your examination appointment, immediately you get your second notification letter.

And why so? Because you only have a short period of time, a short window in between the second notification letter and the interview appointment date.

Within this short time, you are supposed to have undergone the medical examination at the specified medical center.

You are supposed to act immediately, contact the medical center or the medical facility that has been specified by your embassy and schedule a date for the medical examination.

You should do as quickly as possible because you might find the medical facility jammed with a queue of people attending the medical examination for various visas.

So do it and act quickly for you to get an opportunity for the medical examination before the interview date.

The other thing, for some countries, you will be required to certify your secondary education.

What does this mean? You’re supposed to register with the examining body in your region for them to transfer a certified document proof of your high school diploma. Some countries need so.

Therefore, if you visit your embassy page, you will find these specifications, whether you are needed to register with the examination body to get the certified document, and if they need that, you have to follow that.

Those are the basic and the very important steps, immediately you get your second notification letter, you should be knowing this.

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 article, you will learn a new policy by USCIS on green card renewals and removing conditions on green cards.

USCIS has yet again implemented a new policy regarding green card renewals, and in certain cases, USCIS is going to be extending green cards for up to 48 months. There’s some good news to this and some potentially not so good news that will be covered in this article.

New policy from USCIS on Removing Conditions on Green Card

This policy has to do with basically a way that USCIS is going to be extending green cards for certain applicants that need to apply to remove the condition from their green card.

What does this means? In certain cases, people that get their green card get a conditional green card for a period of two years, and at the end of that conditional period of their green card, they are required to apply to remove the condition from their green card.

In particular, there are two classifications of conditional green card holders.

• For certain people that get their green card through marriage, and
• for investors that get their green card based on making an investment in a U.S business.

For that certain classification of people that have to apply to remove their condition after they got a conditional green card through marriage, application process requires them to file a form I-751. That’s the application type for people that need to apply to remove the condition from their green card based on getting a conditional green card through marriage.

The second classification of people, the investors, when they need to apply to remove the condition from their green card, they have to file a form I-829.

That’s just for you to know the different processes that are involved and the different categories of people that have to apply to remove the condition from their green card.

As mentioned early, in certain cases, people have to apply to remove the condition from their green card by filing either a form I-751, or a form I-829.

Basically, in both of those cases, the green card is valid for two years. And at the end of that two year period, the person has to apply to remove the condition from the green card.

When the applicant is applying to remove the condition from their green card, what happens when that green card expires and their application to remove the condition to get the permanent green card is still processing? How does that applicant demonstrate proof of valid status in the United States? How do they demonstrate proof of that?

In the past, USCIS has issued a receipt notice. So basically, when you file the Form I-751, or you file the Form I-829, when you submit that application, USCIS will give you a receipt that confirms that they have received your application.

In the past, USCIS has included language on that receipt notice that acts to extend the applicant’s green card. So basically, the applicant can provide their expired green card along with the receipt notice, and that receipt notice has special language that extends the green card beyond the expiration date listed on the green card.

The news is that USCIS has now modified this policy. So now the receipt notice for those applicants will act to extend the green card for 48 months, that’s four years.

The good news is that ultimately, this is a benefit to conditional green card holders, because essentially, USCIS is now extending the period of time that the receipt notice will act to extend the conditional green card. It’s now 48 months.

So that receipt notice that USCIS will issue will now act to extend the green card for 48 months from the date of the expiration on the green card. And ultimately, that’s a benefit.

Although this is potentially not such great news, USCIS is doing this because processing times for the form I-751, and the form I-829, they’ve increased over the last year.

Ideally, these processing times would go down, so that there would be no need for this policy to be implemented. But unfortunately, as USCIS clearly mentions in the update, over the last year, these processing times have increased.

And the reason for the need for this protocol and this updated policy is to account for the fact that these processing times have gone up. So from that standpoint, it’s potentially not the best news.

That’s the update. This new policy has been implemented where applicants for Form I-751, and applicants for Form I-829 that are properly filing these forms, when they get the receipt notice from USCIS, it will act to extend the green card for 48 months from the date of the expiration on the green card.

I hope you found this information very valuable and you learned a lot from this article.

Source: Ashoori Law

DISCLAIMER: This article and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. The information presented in this article should not be construed to be formal legal advice nor the formation of a lawyer/client relationship.

The information presented in this article does not create an attorney-client relationship nor is it a solicitation to offer legal advice. If you need legal advice, you should seek the advice of an attorney in your jurisdiction before taking any legal action.

Did you know that You Can Win DV Lottery With These Mistakes? In this guide, you will learn those mistakes that will not really affect you in the DV selection. Even if you commit these mistakes, you are likely to get selected but during the visa processing, you will be affected.

The winners of the Diversity Visa lottery are chosen at random by a computer program, with a certain number of visas allocated to each region of the world.

There are mistakes that you might have done in the application, and those mistakes will not affect your chances of getting selected. You may get selected even with those mistakes.

Those mistakes, some of them can be corrected in the DS-260 form. If you get selected and you did some of those mistakes, you can rectify them when filling the DS-260 form.

You Can Win DV Lottery With These Mistakes

1. If you make a mistake when typing your name.

The first mistakes that people did and will never affect the selection chances is having mistakes on your name. Maybe when filling the application in the DV lottery, you omitted some letters in your name, or maybe you changed some letters in your name, that will not affect your selection.

Maybe you omitted a letter or you changed a letter, that one will not affect you at all during the selection process, you can be selected with that mistake.

In any case, they don’t have your name. They don’t know you. They just believe in the name that you’ve given, you provided because that is what they take you as. So even if you are called Jon, that is J-O-N, but on the application you filled J-O-H-N, that is not a factor that will deny your selection. You will get selected with that error, but when filling the DS-260, you need to rectify it, you need to correct it.

Also, you might have exchanged your names. Maybe the surname is not the name that you’re supposed to use, the last name you used it on the surname and the surname on the last name, that is the family name. If you did that, that will not also affect you.

Find out more about Names filling on DV lottery Application and DS-260 Form

2. If you made errors selecting your date of birth, that will not also affect you.

The other one is errors when entering your birth dates. If you were born maybe on 5th of January and by mistake, you selected 10th of January, that will not affect your selection. They don’t know when you’re born. They don’t have a document like a birth certificate to counter-check because you don’t submit any document in the application.

So whatever date you will provide, that will be taken as the correct date of your birth. If you mistakenly selected wrong date of birth, that will not deny you selection chances.

The system does not filter to know in which date you are born, if it is correct or not, wrong birth date will not affect you during the selection. But remember, during checking of your entry status, you will need your birth date, and if you inserted wrong, chances are that you not be able to get through to check whether you were selected.

What you’ll have to do is you need to correct it and put the correct birth date when filling the DS-260 form if you get selected. That is not a mistake that should worry you in this selection process.

3. Wrong City of Birth.

The other mistake that will not affect you is by selecting the wrong city of birth. City of birth has brought a lot of confusion to many people, but this issue have been clarified on this guide below.

Importance of Country of Birth and Country of Eligibility In Diversity Visa Program

If by any chance you selected the wrong city of birth and you are worried that you might not get selected, that should not be a worry anymore. Even with the wrong city of birth, you will get selected or you may get selected if you are lucky.

If you typed wrong City of birth, that mistake cannot affect you. You can get selected with that mistake. You need to correct the city of birth when filling the DS-260 form, if you become successful.

4. Country of Eligibility.

If you selected the wrong country of eligibility, that also will not affect you during the selection. But it will affect you later, during the processing and it will end up denying you the visa. It will not affect you during the selection, you can be selected even if you chose the wrong country of eligibility.

For DV-2025, natives of the following countries and areas are eligible to apply…..view list

For DV-2025, natives of the following countries and areas are not eligible to apply…..view list

Which country of eligibility did you choose? If you lied about the country of eligibility, the chargeability country, you will get selected, yes, but you will not succeed in the whole process. You will be denied your visa because you will have committed fraud. Remember, fraud leads to permanent disqualification.

5. Wrong Address.

If you used a wrong address, that will not affect you at all. You can get through the selection process with a wrong address.

If the current address that you filled in the application was not the correct address, that mistake will not deny you chances of getting selected. What you’ll have to do, you might get selected with that error, but on the DS-260 form, you can correct that one.

The current address you can always correct it on the form DS-260. You should not get worried if you used the wrong current address location.

6. Wrong country of Residence.

If you lied when selecting the country of residence, that will not affect you in the selection process. You will get selected even after putting the wrong country of residence.

7. Wrong Email.

You will not be affected by inserting the wrong email. But consequently, later on after selection, remember KCC uses this email to communicate to you and also the embassy will use this to communicate to you in any case.

Also, incase you forgot your Confirmation Number, you’ll need to enter your email address to retrieve your Confirmation Number.

So if you put the wrong email or you mistyped it, it will not affect you in the selection. That is, you can get selected with that mistake, but how will they communicate to you?

8. Level of Education.

If when you are selecting the level of education, you erroneously selected a different one which you didn’t intend, that will not affect you at all. You will get through the selection process well. But after selection, it might affect you grievously. You might or even get denied your visa.

By selecting the wrong level of education during the selection process, you will not be affected only later on the visa interview process.

9. Marital status.

You are married, then you apply a single that will deny you your visa. Yes, you’ll get selected, but it will not go successful, you will be deny visa because you left your family. Omitting your derivative will not affect you getting selected but getting the visa you won’t get it.

If you by mistake choose or selected the wrong marital status, it will also not affect you at all during the selection process.

If you are single and you selected married, you will not be affected. You can be selected with that error. If you are married and you lied about your status and said you are single, you will also not be affected.

10. Lieing about the number of children you have.

You will get through the selection process even if you lied about the number of children that you have. Even if you lied about the number of children, you will not be affected in the selection process only later on it might deny you the visa but during the selection you will not be affected.

If you lied about the number of kids, maybe you have one kid but you decided to put three maybe because you have your nephews and nieces, you want to include them, that will deny you visa out rightly. Yes, you will get selected but your visa will be denied because nieces and nephews are not part of your derivatives.

11. Wrong information about your Spouse and Children.

Providing wrong information about your spouse will not affect you during the selection. Inserting wrong information about your kids will not affect you during selection only will it affect you later during the visa processing but during selection it will not affect you.

• False Information

Another major mistake that will not affect you in the selection process, but later on they will affect you is providing false information. Let’s say for example, you selected the country of birth as country A, and in real sense, you were not born in that country. Let’s say you did that because your country was not eligible.

So you wanted to use some other countries, you wanted to lie about your country of birth so that you can become eligible. With that, you’ll get selected but you will not get through. Lieing about your country of birth that is fraud. You will not get through the process. You will be selected, yes, but through the process, no, you won’t make it.

• Derivative Issue

The other thing is providing wrong information regarding the derivative issue. Let’s say, for example, you are married, but due to some reasons, you decide that you want to go alone to the U.S, and therefore you want to fill as single and leave your spouse out. That is a very grievous mistake.

Those are the mistakes that will not affect you getting selected but getting the visa you will be deny.

Note: Please try as much as possible not to do these mistakes. Never do these mistakes because you’ll get selected but during the visa processing, you will be affected.

Thank you for reading this guide. I hope you find this guide informative.

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.

It’s good you go through this guide, so that you will know those mistakes that you can get selected with but will definitely deny you your Diversity Visa (DV). With these errors you will get selected BUT you will be denied the Green Card 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 diversity visa is a dream that may not come to reality. You will definitely be denied the visa.

Mistakes that will deny you the Diversity Visa even if you get selected

Below are the mistakes that you can do and you may get selected, but you will not be given your 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.

2. By selecting the wrong level of education.

Yes, 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.

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. And if it is to 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 and 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 divorce 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, but you will not receive your visa.

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

Remember that the children that are legally allowed to be added as your derivatives include your natural children, your step-children and your legally adopted children, and nor anyone else.

Therefore, indicate the correct number of children that you have and include their details. Don’t lie in it.

Even if you are single and you have a child, include that child.

Therefore, 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 the information 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.

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.

This second notification letter, 2NL is the appointment to the Diversity Visa interview. As a DV winner, there are three conditions that must be fulfilled before you get this second notification letter (2NL).

When will you receive your Diversity Visa Interview Notification?

If you are there and you’re waiting for your second notification letter and you haven’t received, you should know that one or all of these conditions might have not been met. Even if two are met and one is not, you will not get your second notification letter. The three of the conditions must be met.

3 Conditions Before DV Winner Can Receive Second Notification Letter, 2NL

Below are three conditions that must be met or fulfilled for a person who is a Diversity Visa Lottery winner to receive the second notification letter, 2NL.

1. Your DS-260 form must have been processed by KCC

You should have already submitted your DS-260 form, duly filled and KCC has reached it, opened it and processed it and finished up with processing it, without any issue. That is the very first condition, DS-260 form completely processed by KCC.

2. Your case number must become current

Your case number should have fallen below the cut off numbers indicated in the Visa bulletin for that current period. If your case number is not yet current, meaning not within the cut off numbers, then definitely don’t expect any second notification letter to come to you. The case must be current.

3. There must be a slot for the interview in the embassy that you selected to take your interview from.

The embassies most of the time would be having a backlog, i.e a queue of many cases that they are still to handle and they are with them.

Until they finish up with these cases to avail a slot that KCC can now transfer your case to the embassy for the interview, then you don’t expect any second notification letter. In other words, you can say it also depends with the performance of the embassy. How fast in handling the current cases is your embassy.

If your embassy is slow and therefore handles these cases in a slow manner, then it may take longer for your case to be transferred to the embassy because there would not have been a slot for the interview availed to KCC for them to send your case number to the embassy.

So, condition number three is that there must be the capacity of the embassy to receive your case for them to schedule for your interview.

That is, that about the three conditions that must be met before you will you receive your interview notification.

In Summary

You should have submitted your DS-260 form and the DS-260 form processed completely by KCC and then your case number must be current and there must be a slot for the interview in your embassy that you selected.

If all those three are fulfilled, then you definitely will receive your second notification letter, 2NL, for your Diversity Visa interview. But if they are not fulfilled, even if a single condition of the three then don’t expect the second notification letter.

Thanks for reading this 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.