The Department of State made the formal public announcement of the Diversity Visa 2021 (DV-2021) program on September 25, 2019.
The electronic Diversity Visa system will be open for registrations beginning at noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on October 2, 2019, and will close for entries at noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST), on November 5, 2019. During this registration period, applicants may access the electronic Diversity Visa entry form at dvlottery.state.gov. The DV-2021 program will be conducted entirely electronically and paper entries will not be accepted.
For DV-2021, there is a policy change. Each DV entry must include the passport number, country of issuance, and expiration date for the principal entrant’s valid, unexpired passport. This requirement applies to the principal entrant only, not to dependents. Failure to provide all required entry information will result in disqualification.
All entrants must enroll with a recent photo, taken within the last six months. Entries submitted with the same photo from the last two years (DV-2019 and DV-2020) will be disqualified. Entrants who do not include compliant photos for themselves and all of their dependents will be disqualified.
The law allows only one entry for each person during each registration period. Entrants who submit more than one entry will be disqualified. However, a husband and a wife may each submit a separate entry, listing the other as a derivative dependent, if each meets the eligibility requirements.
There is no charge or fee to complete the electronic Diversity Visa entry form. Entrants will receive an official confirmation number when they register. It is very important for entrants to keep their unique confirmation number until at least September 30, 2021. The confirmation number is the only way to check whether an entry has been selected and to obtain visa application and appointment information, if selected. The unique confirmation number helps to protect DV entrants against fraud, malfeasance, and problems with the mail. All entrants, including those not selected, will be able to check the status of their entry through the online Entrant Status Check available at dvlottery.state.gov beginning May 5, 2020. Entrant Status Check will inform successful entrants how to apply for DVs for themselves and their eligible family members. The Department also will confirm visa interview appointments through Entrant Status Check.
Successful entrants are not notified by mail, email or over the telephone of the status of their E-DV online entry. All mail, emails, or telephone calls claiming to notify entrants they have been selected for the DV program are not legitimate.
Instructions for the DV program are posted in both English and Bulgarian on the Embassy’s website: bg.usembassy.gov. If you have any additional questions after reading the instructions, please send us an email at iv_sofia@state.gov.
