As many as 15 million people from around the world participate in the Green Card lottery each year. Only 55,000 of them reach the finals and get the coveted right to immigrate to the United States. What are the principles for determining the winners, and how do you increase your chances of winning? Find out in this article!
1. Submitting the DV Lottery entry form
The process of submitting and verifying lottery entries is fully automated.
At the time of sending the application, the built-in validator checks if all the required fields are filled out. Also, the attached photos are subject to initial verification. The first step is to check that they correspond to the right size. DV lottery photo dimensions must be 600x600 pixels, and the file size must be less than 245 kilobytes. The photo must be in color. If these parameters are met, the application will automatically be accepted.
2. The main draw
Candidates will be distributed among the six geographic regions. The quota for each country is no more than 7% of the winners. The computer will randomly select a certain number of winners from the general base of the region. A total of 100,000 to 150,000 winners worldwide will be chosen at this stage. However, no more than half of them will have access to the prize. Each of the selected entries will undergo a thorough screening process to filter out trash and rule violations.
3. Checking questionnaires for compliance with the requirements
Next, all submitted questionnaires go through a more in-depth check for compliance with technical requirements. And special attention at this stage is paid to DV lottery photographs.
Photos with incorrect composition will be disqualified: the validator should easily identify the face in the photo. The program puts a virtual mask on the face area, showing its main features: eyes, lips, nose. If facial parameters match the mask, the photo will be verified. But if the head on the image is smaller or larger than needed, and the eyes are lower or higher than it should be, the program won't be able to verify such a photo. The tilt of the head, irregular background, strong shadows on the face, especially the eyes, will also become a problem. In all these cases the photo will be disqualified.
In addition, face recognition software is used. It is needed to exclude multiple entries by the same person (which is strictly forbidden by the Green Card lottery rules). The program also calculates whether a person's face has been retouched. The same program is used by the U.S. Department of State to check photos of people applying for U.S. visas and passports.
That's why a Green Card lottery photo is one of the most important rules for success. You can check your photo for the DV lottery application with our free tool: https://dvlottery.me/dv-lottery-photo-checker
Typically, the final winning numbers are announced six months after entries are collected (in May of the following year). Please note that you will not receive any notification of your winnings! You can only find out about your win or loss by following these instructions: https://dvlottery.me/blog/1500-dv_lottery_2021_results
5. What happens if I submit several entries for the Green Card lottery?
As already mentioned, this is strictly forbidden by the Green Card lottery rules. All duplicates are detected automatically by the photos provided. Suspicious applications are included in a separate case. During the visa interview at the embassy, the consul will compare the duplicate photos and application forms and ask you questions about it.
Also, the consul will check all of your answers in the questionnaire with the documents provided.
If you are found in violation of the rules, your visa will be denied. If you lie to a consul, you risk a lifetime ban from entering the United States.
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