OK – in less than 48 hours another new batch of hopeful entrants will want to check the lottery results to see if they are selected. This post is for the hopeful candidates!!!

Based on previous years I can make a few predictions and give some friendly advice.

The lottery checking site is going to be available here –
https://dvlottery.state.gov/

It opens for check at noon (USA Eastern time zone) on May 7. That is late evening in Africa and EU. The site will immediately be overwhelmed with millions of people trying to check their cases. It is frustrating to check in those first couple of hours, so just plan on checking after a few hours have gone by.

To check your entry you need your LASTNAME, confirmation number and year of birth. PLEASE read my earlier article here that will help understand what you should be entering. You are NOT supposed to enter your full name – just the lastname.

If you have lost or forgotten your confirmation number from last year, you can use the link on the ESC page to retrieve that number. In that case you need to enter your lastname, first and middle names, as well as the full date of birth and the email address submitted in the original entry. You don’t need access to that email account, but you need to provide the email address accurately. If you don’t have those things, there is no other way to retrieve your confirmation number.

I am certain I will get the following on Tuesday.

  1. People checking at noon in their time zone and complaining the site is not open.
  2. People frustrated the servers are running slow.
  3. People will speculate Trump cancelled the lottery as soon as they are unable to check the results immediately.
  4. People that lost their confirmation code and don’t bother to click the link to recover the code.
  5. People will complain they cannot check their entry and swear they have followed instructions, then they will send it to me and I will get their results the first time I try. Happens every year.
  6. The usual whining of how unfair it is because <insert reason here>. It’s a lottery folks. Just a lottery.
  7. Selectees will immediately submit their DS260 and start packing a bag. They will then have to unlock their DS260 after they realize they made mistakes and then also slowly realize it is a LONG and SLOW process.

Best of luck to everyone.

If you see “Not selected” that means exactly what it says. Keep your confirmation code and check one more time around October, but other than that, not selected means not selected.

If you are selected you will see a letter that gives information about how to proceed, but PLEASE come back here and learn about the process before you rush into anything. There is no advantage at all to rush. You have MONTHS to wait as a minimum.