Registration for the green card lottery program for fiscal year 2023 (DV-2023) opens 12pm EST on October 6, 2021 and runs until November 9, 2021.
Kenya is among the countries eligible for the he Diversity Visa program, commonly known as the green card lottery program, which is run by the US State Department and makes
up to 55,000 green cards available on a lottery basis to nationalities of countries with history low rates of immigration to the United States.
Countries that have more than 50,000 of their citizens immigrate to the US over the previous five years are excluded from participating in the program.
For DV-2023, that list includes Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (including Hong Kong SAR), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, Venezuela, and Vietnam.
To participate in the lottery, the entrant must be from an eligible country (not from any of the above countries in the above list). The entrant must also have either at least a high school education or two years work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience to perform.
Registration for entry into the lottery is done exclusively online by submitting Form DS-5501 on the DV program website and is free of charge.
Eligibility
Requirement #1: Natives of countries with historically low rates of immigration to
the United States may be eligible to enter.
If you are not a native of a country with historically low rates of immigration to the
United States, there are two other ways you might be able to qualify.
• Is your spouse a native of a country with historically low rates of
immigration to the United States? If yes, you can claim your spouse’s
country of birth – provided that you and your spouse are named on the
selected entry, are found eligible and issued diversity visas, and enter the
United States at the same time.
• Are you a native of a country that does not have historically low rates of
immigration to the United States, but in which neither of your parents was
born or legally resident at the time of your birth? If yes, you may claim the
country of birth of one of your parents if it is a country whose natives are
eligible for the DV-2023 program.
Requirement #2:
Each DV applicant must meet the education/work experience
requirement of the DV program by having either:
• at least a high school education or its equivalent, defined as successful
completion of a 12-year course of formal elementary and secondary
education;
OR
• two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation that
requires at least two years of training or experience to
perform. The Department of State will use the U.S. Department of
Labor’s O*Net Online database to determine qualifying work experience.
