What next after Submitting DS-260 form? This is another guide of interest to diversity visa applicants and it has to do with what comes next after you have submitted your DS-260.
Everyone is aware that after you get to elected in the Diversity Visa Lottery, the next thing to do is to fill out and submit your DS-260. But remember that you should consider your circumstances and not rush into submitting the form.
After submitting your DS-260 form, what do you do next?
In recent years after submitting your DS-260, you were also required to submit a list of supporting documents to KCC. But that is not always the case.
Depending on what the State Department decides for a particular year, you may or may not be requested to submit supporting documents to KCC.
So if submitting supporting documents to KCC is a requirement that applies during your program year, then after submitting your DS-260, you will have to submit your supporting documents.
But in case submitting supporting documents to KCC is not a requirement during your program year, then after submitting your DS-260, your next line of action will be to turn your attention to the Visa Bulletin.
Remember, after the Diversity Visa Lottery results are released in the month of May and you see that you were selected, the Visa Bulletin that is published in that month of May does not concern interviews for your program.
The one that is published in the month of June does not concern interviews for your program. Neither does the one that is published in the month of July.
It is from the month of August that the Vista Bulletin is going to show information regarding interviews for your program and that is when you have to begin to follow the Visa Bulletin, if you are selected from the results published in the month of May.
It is the Visa Bulletin that will tell you when your diversity visa interview is supposed to be scheduled.
When you see from the Visa Bulletin that your case number has become current, then it means that there is a Visa number available for you and that is when your diversity visa interview is actually supposed to be scheduled.
How do you know when your case number is current?
Every month the Visa Bulletin shows a number for each region. That number is referred to as the cut-off number for that region, for that month.
So when you see that the cut-off number for your region for a given month is higher than your case number, then your case number is current for that month and it means that it is in that month that you are supposed to be scheduled for your diversity Visa interview.
That is for cases that submit their DS-260 before their case number becomes current in the Visa Bulletin.
There are cases when the applicants have not yet submitted their DS-260 but the Visa Bulletin shows that their case number has become current. In such a case, there will be a Visa number available for such applicants, but their Visa interview will not be scheduled because they have not yet met the necessary requirement, which is the submission of their DS-260 and in cases where they are required to submit documents, the submission of their documents.
For clear understanding, if you submit your DS-260 and possibly your documents before your case number becomes current, then you will have to wait for your case number to become current, in order for you to be scheduled for interview.
For example, your case number is 7200 in the Africa region, and you check the Visa Bulletin in the month of August. You will realize that there’s information for the month of September and the month of October.
The month of September concerns the previous program. So it is the information that relates to the month of October, which is the first information concerning your program that you are going to change your attention to.
You see that the cut-off number that applies to the region of Africa in the month of October is 2500. It means that you cannot be scheduled in the month of October because the cut of number is lower than your case number.
So you will have to wait until the Visa Bulletin is published in the month of September, when it will be showing information for both October and November.
Also, you look at the information that pertains to the month of November. If the cut-off number for the Africa region is, e.g 5000, you will still not expect to be scheduled in the month of November. You will have to follow again for the month of December.
The Visa Bulletin that will show information for the month of December will be released in the month of October.
So let us say that the cut-off number that is shown for the month of December is 8000. Because that cut-off number is higher than your case number of 7200. It means that it is in the month of December that you can expect to be scheduled for interview.
On the other hand, if you do not submit and your case number becomes current, you will have to submit before you can expect to be scheduled for interview.
For example:
You saw that your case number will be current for the month of December, but up until December you have not yet submitted your DS-260. You submit the form after December.
When you submit after December, that is when the form will be processed and your interview is expected to be scheduled along with the next batch of interviews because your case number has been current since the month of December.
So that is how things are after you submit your DS-260.
Note: For the past few years, things have not worked in that way, maybe due to the effects of COVID-19.
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.