DV lottery guide
This presentation above should answer most questions for DV2016 applicants. You will find links to some important articles and a guide on completing your DS260.
I will update the presentation with additional detail as needed – so feel free to ask questions and give me feedback.
If you cannot see the version above please use this link to access the article directly.
July 16, 2025 at 03:00
Hey Simon! My girlfriend of 6 years (living together for the last 4 years) won DV 2026 lottery with a CN of EU12xxx. We had been considering to get married anyways, so we decided to expedite and get married before filling out DS-260s.
In our home country, women must take husbands surname by law, so she became “Name Surname1 Surname2”. It was already the end of June and we didn’t want to delay our DS-260s any further. Renewing her passport to reflect her new name would mean additional delays. So our attorney advised her that she could actually fill her DS-260 as “Name Surname1”, because her current passport is still a valid international travel document and we can easily explain the situation (i.e. the name difference between her passport and home country documents) during the interview with our marriage certificate. My wife wants to be just “Name Surname1” in the U.S anyways, so it was a plus for her too. So we submitted DS-260s that way. We made sure though to put “Name Surname1 Surname2” in “Full Name in Native Alphabet” and “Other/Previous Names Used” fields.
So, my couple questions are,
– Do you foresee any risk of the way we proceeded? I wanted to get a very valuable second opinion from you.
– We still have the option to renew her passport, and have our DS-260s unlocked by the consulate to revise her surname and passport information before the interview. Would you recommend us do that for any reason?
Thanks!
July 16, 2025 at 08:31
No risk in that – just a matter of what is easier and what you want.
July 8, 2025 at 09:27
HELLO, 2025AF31K
Han interview today, but was given a 221G letter.
my wife is a British citizen and did not intend to migrate which i clearly stated in my ds260 but they are further requesting my wife passport with two blank pages, birth certificate, police report (UK and the Gambia), medical report and fee payment but my wife is in the UK. the letter also said the embassy will contact me for the next interview or appointment.
they did not state if my wife should come to the interview in person or send her documents.. any advice
July 8, 2025 at 13:44
All I can advise is to follow their instructions. If you need clarification about their instructions, ask them.
July 7, 2025 at 02:11
Hello, Sir,
I am a 2026 DV Lottery selectee with a case number around AF9***. There is a problem with some of my documents related to my parents (such as my birth certificate and criminal record). My mother’s last name appears with only one name instead of her full two names, and my father is not listed at all. Unfortunately, both of my parents have passed away.
Correcting these documents in my country takes a long time (possibly a year or two) and involves complicated legal steps and significant costs.
My questions are:
Q1. Should I complete the DS-260 form with the correct information (including my father’s full name and my mother’s full name) even if it differs from what is written on my current documents?
Q2. Or should I fill out the DS-260 exactly as it appears on my documents , that is
not listing my father and including only the one name of my mother?
Thank you so much🙏
July 7, 2025 at 08:26
1. Yes
You may need to obtain the “long form” version of your birth certificate.
July 7, 2025 at 15:14
But it can take me about a year to get it!
July 4, 2025 at 23:53
Hi Simon, my number is 26OC21XX, Do you think this is a safe number to progress to interviews in August?
July 5, 2025 at 08:22
To be able to estimate a safe number range you need to know the full case number range AND the number of selectees in that range. Whilst we have a good idea from the poll about the case number range, we have NO information on the number of selectees. So it is impossible to make estimations right now.
We will know selectee numbers within about the next 5 weeks.
July 3, 2025 at 06:56
When should I submit my DS-260? What’s the latest “safe” date?
2026EU17XXX
July 3, 2025 at 09:10
You would normally have submitted by now, unless you have reason to delay your case. If you want to delay your case, to the latest possible moment, I generally recommend not submitting later than early May (meaning a year after the results)
July 3, 2025 at 04:10
Hi Brit,
My case is 2025OC3XXX. I see very slow movement in numbers. What are the chances of me getting scheduled for interview.
July 3, 2025 at 09:08
Very low. The numbers are going to end pretty much where I said they would in October of last year…
July 1, 2025 at 07:22
Hello, what are my chances of getting an interview? My case number is 2026EU41*** , and I am currently considering whether to look for a lawyer now and prepare the documents (since I will definitely need a lawyer), or just not to get my hopes up, because according to statistics, it’s been a long time since they invited a candidate with a number like mine.
July 1, 2025 at 16:23
Why do you need a lawyer? Most people (by far) manage this process without a lawyer.
About your number, it is obviously high, but it is too soon to know your chances.
July 2, 2025 at 01:39
I believe I will need a lawyer because I have a criminal record, which happened ~5 years ago.
June 21, 2025 at 19:46
Hi Brit,
My case number is 2026SA4XXXX.
1. How soon should I submit my DS-260 form?
2. When signing and submitting the DS-260, should I enter my case number as 2026SA00004XXX or 2026SA4XXXX?
I appreciate your guidance.
June 22, 2025 at 03:58
Your number is not in the 40000 range, I think you used too many XX.
Assuming your number is in the 4000 range, it is a high number so delaying your ds260 won’t affect your case. Generally people submit earlier and then wait for the number to become current.
2. Without leading zeros.
June 15, 2025 at 08:02
Hello sir,
I was selected for the 2026 DV Lottery (Case Number: 2026AF000038XX). At the time of entry, I was legally married and included both my spouse and child on the application. However, I am now in the process of getting a divorce, which may take a few more months to finalize.
I currently have physical custody of my child (with legal custody pending court finalization), but I do not plan to bring either my spouse or child with me to the U.S. at this time.
My questions are:
1) Can I submit only my own DS-260 and leave the forms for my spouse and child unsubmitted?
2) Since the divorce is not finalized yet, how should I answer questions about my marital status and family on the DS-260?
3) Will choosing not to bring my family members now negatively affect my DV case?
Thank you very much
June 15, 2025 at 19:05
1. Yes
2. The correct legal status (married at the moment)
3. No
June 6, 2025 at 19:58
Hey Simon, with 23k people processed in AF and over 7k still in ‘Ready’, do you think KCC is planning a push to meet the quota—possibly pushing the bulletin above 50k next?
June 9, 2025 at 20:35
Yes, because to meet the quota they need to schedule more than 30,000 people.
June 1, 2025 at 11:37
hi iam from nepal and my case no is 2025AS799x my sponser recently changed their address and iam about to recv 2nl should i reopen ds-260 or wait for 2nl and do please advise me better suggestion
June 1, 2025 at 11:58
Correct that in the interview.
May 24, 2025 at 17:53
Hello everyone 👋
I’m a DV 2025 selected with case number AF33XXX, and my number just became current in the latest Visa Bulletin. I’ve already submitted my DS-260 months ago, but unfortunately, my assigned embassy is very slow and hasn’t scheduled many interviews yet 😕.
I’m thinking of changing my interview location to another embassy where processing is faster (possibly Tunisia or another country), and I’m wondering if anyone here has experience with that.
Any advice or shared experience would be really appreciated! 🙏
Thanks and good luck to all of us!
May 24, 2025 at 23:47
Switching embassies became MUCH harder once you became current. But yes you can try.
https://britsimonsays.com/how-to-change-embassies/
May 20, 2025 at 22:30
Hi,
Thanks for all information.
My wife is selected with CN 10X in EU.
She has completed in 2007 her seconday education ( in high school ) but she has a Vocation high school diploma, it’s good ?
The program is the same in high school and she has a équivalency éducation to US program ( Trustforte )
She have a good job ( général manager ), what the documents the US ambassy PARIS would like for the interview ?
Thanks for all and have a good day
Damien
May 21, 2025 at 10:07
In general, vocational training cannot be used. But if her education was general academic training, it can be used. She may also qualify through work experience. The proof of work experience varies by case and is pretty much common sense.
https://britsimonsays.com/education-or-work-experience-qualifying-for-the-dv-lottery/
May 21, 2025 at 18:26
Thanks for all 😊
May 18, 2025 at 12:40
Hi Simon,
I hope you’re well.
I’m a selectee for the DV 2026 lottery, with a case number in the AF region around 45k. I had a couple of questions and would really appreciate your guidance:
1. I’ve already submitted my DS-260 and included details of my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. However, I didn’t mention my high school education. Should I unlock the form to include that information as well?
2. Is it possible (and advisable) to enter the DV 2027 lottery as a backup option in case I’m not selected for an interview in the 2026 round?
Thank you in advance for your help.
May 18, 2025 at 14:51
1. Yes
2. Yes
May 16, 2025 at 11:47
Hello Simon, DV2026 EU44k AOS case, what do you think about doing walk-in for biometrics so that fasten interview scheduling? And what do you think of going to Kanzas-city to send the case from there to benefit center directly? I live in Austin, TX.
Thank you so much for your help!
May 17, 2025 at 07:52
I think the second idea is a bad idea, and both ideas are about a year too early.
You should understand that you cannot file AOS until your case is under the VB number, and that won’t happen until June or July 2026. With a case number that high, you might never get current.
May 15, 2025 at 01:34
Hi Mr Simon. If husband and wife both win, is it ok to fill in DS-260 for the whole familit for both case numbers, relocate the case numbers to different embasies and then decide which one to attend if shceduled for both? Isn’t it a violation of a rule or smth?
May 15, 2025 at 19:14
That’s OK.
May 10, 2025 at 13:13
Simon if I stayed in Spain for a period of 5 months(did a semester there) Do I need to include the address in which I stayed there(I included the Universitys name in education section) and get a Spanish police certificate for the interview?
May 10, 2025 at 16:29
You should list the address, but probably won’t need a police cert for that short period of time – read the instructions about when you need a police cert.
May 10, 2025 at 16:43
I didn’t list it when I first submitted the form,do I change it now? Also the VISA started on January 10th 2024 and ended on same year in the 22nd of July,but I only stayed there from 29th of January until 6th of June.
May 10, 2025 at 19:08
Personally, I would correct the DS260 to include that address.
May 10, 2025 at 00:34
Hi Simon, my son turns 21 in January, is that going to be an issue if our interview in Oceania is likely to be in April according to past years? How can we get around it? Thanks so much
May 10, 2025 at 10:30
There is a formula for CSPA that will “freeze” his age for a while – details here:
https://britsimonsays.com/child-turn-21-can-heshe-get-visa/
May 9, 2025 at 19:04
Hi Simon
My wife was selected from Albania and her case number is 10XXX what are her chances from the EU region
May 10, 2025 at 10:23
You must include the year with your region and case number.
But if I assume 2026 – chances are excellent.
May 9, 2025 at 12:45
Hello Simon I’m helped my in law fill out his DS-260 his case number is Europe ~33XXXX. My concern is his chargeability and what I now understand has wrong, Is father is Yemeni born cititzen and his mother ukraine born both parants are in the usa on green cards through family visa.
May 9, 2025 at 14:28
As I understand it, the parents are Yemeni and Ukraine, but they are not the applicant. The applicant (the winner) has his own case with an EU number. Where was he born, and what country of chargeability did he choose?
May 10, 2025 at 01:35
He was born in Yemen and country of chargeability was Ukraine.
May 10, 2025 at 10:41
OK, you were correct to be concerned. He cannot charge to Ukraine since one parent is Yemeni. He should have used his place of birth, Yemen, and that would have meant he got an AS region number. He should be disqualified. The only chance he has is a mistake being made by the CO – very unlikely.
May 10, 2025 at 01:53
seems like my earlier question was not uploaded in whole here is what i meant to post.
Hello Simon,
I helped my in-law complete his DS-260. His case number is Europe ~33XXXX.
I’m concerned there may be an issue with his chargeability. It may have been entered incorrectly. He was born in Yemen and lived there for nine years before moving to Jordan and then Egypt, where he is currently completing dental school. His father is Yemeni-born, and his mother was born in Ukraine. Both are now in the U.S. as green card holders through family sponsorship. His older siblings were born in Ukraine, and he holds both Yemeni and Ukrainian passports.
Given the possible chargeability error, should we continue with the DV process and wait to see if he receives a visa appointment? Or would it be better to withdraw the application now to avoid any complications in the future—especially if his mother plans to sponsor him later through a family-based petition?
Thank you for your guidance.
May 10, 2025 at 10:42
He should not continue the process in my opinion.
May 9, 2025 at 09:04
Hi Simon my cn is 2025AF3659x in addis ababa may I have chance for 2nl for july is thire chance to intervwe ? I feare !?
May 9, 2025 at 10:06
We have to wait and see….
May 9, 2025 at 07:19
Hello Simon! I hope you’re having a good day! I wanted to ask if you think my number 25xxx is safe for Europe? Thank you in advance
May 9, 2025 at 10:04
Probably, but we will know more later.
https://britsimonsays.com/dv-2026-case-numbers-what-do-we-know-so-far/
May 4, 2025 at 08:46
Good morning Simon, I am writing to you because I am a bit concerned as I just read a new notice on the official website saying that for all Visa applicants now there is a requirement to fill out this DS-160 form.
I have already filled out the DS-260 after being selected in the green card lottery (Diversity Visa). I will have the appointment at the Consulate soon and I don’t know what to do because the notice is not clear.
Should I look for and fill out the DS-160 form as well, or does it only refer to other visas?
Thank you so much for your time!
May 4, 2025 at 09:28
The DS160 is not used for DV cases.
March 18, 2025 at 02:08
Hey Mr Britsimon Im Shawn from Nairobi Kenya 2025AF52412 CN and i filled out my ds260 using my work experience since i work in a media company can I apply for another lets say a non immigrant visa such as the I media visa for 90 days then switch my case while in the USA, i fear the backlog in Nairobi and the highness of my case number
March 18, 2025 at 13:42
That is possible, yes. Just understand that your immigrant case (DV) can make a non immigrant application a little harder.
February 19, 2025 at 05:52
Hello Simon i am Victor from Kenya DV25 winner..i visited qatar for an event for 7 months but i am unable to obtain the police clearance because they require someone to have a qatar i.d they cant even write any letters to present to the embassy..which one is the easy way out of this situation
February 19, 2025 at 08:07
Read the instructions and the reciprocity page for Qatar to see if you are even expected to present a police cert in your circumstances.
February 19, 2025 at 09:51
Yes according to to the page it is obtainable
February 19, 2025 at 11:37
But the instructions call for police certs for previously visited countries only from 12 months. So – make sure you READ THE INSTRUCTIONS.
February 28, 2025 at 10:06
Hi Mr Simon,
We always appreciate your guide in this matter.. what do u think overall about visa processing this year? I am from Asia and still the number is at 6k, isn’t it unusual? I am a bit stressed out. I am at 18000. I hope it will be a smooth year and we will get the chance of interviewing. Ty in advance
February 28, 2025 at 11:52
You might still get a chance. I have published a prediction video for AS region, and still expect that outcome.
February 19, 2025 at 02:25
Hello Simon. Thank you for creating the youtube channel.It has been giving us a lot of relevant information. When filling my DS 260 I was still employed but now am out of my place of work and working independently. Should I Request my DS 260 to be opened by KCC or should I give that information during my interview.
February 19, 2025 at 08:05
No need to unlock for that.
February 6, 2025 at 03:18
Hello Simson I hope you are doing very well,
I found on historical visa bulletin numbers of your page, for example for Africa
1/ region selected: 55943
2/ global selected: 131060,
Could you tell us what does that mean?
February 7, 2025 at 14:26
Selectees are the winners and their derivatives.
So the numbers show selectees for the region, and then for all regions combined.
What is unclear?
January 16, 2025 at 23:32
Hello Sir. Could you give me an advice please. I’m Russian, my embassy is Warsaw and case number is 292XX. I going to move my interview to Serbia or Kazakhstan. Because I haven’t have to get visa to arrive to these countries. Is it reasonable to move my case to Serbia right now? Do you see some risks now? Thank you in advance.
January 17, 2025 at 09:50
Serbia is a little backlogged at the moment whereas Almaty is not backlogged.
January 9, 2025 at 20:55
Hi boss , please I have a question I’m a DV winner from Asia my case number is 21000 and I always send inquiries to KCC to know whether my DS260 is processed or not yet they say it’s still processing that means it’s has been processed yet , is that normal, I heard that there cases number has been already processed and they reach to 27000 , is dear anything i can do ?
January 9, 2025 at 23:46
No, just wait. It will be months before your case number is ready anyway, so why stress about th processing?
December 10, 2024 at 11:41
Good evening Simon. If I can’t show up for the appointment set by the Consulate and I request a postponement, do you know how rescheduling works?
Does a low file number count in this case too, or could the appointment be postponed in the long run and is it risky despite the low case number? Thank you for your time and work.
December 11, 2024 at 13:54
Rescheduling an appointment introduces risk, so ONLY do that if there is no choice.
November 13, 2024 at 17:01
How do one apply for the DV lottery Visa
November 13, 2024 at 17:26
There is an entry period that opens in October each year. That entry period just closed on November 7th, so the next chance to enter will be in October next year.
June 18, 2025 at 05:52
Hello Sir!
I won dv lottery 2026 with Case number of AF98** and i am currently a student , i will graduate soon and get my high school diploma in December.
Q1. When Should I submit ds260? Can I submit ds260 and wait for diploma or wait for diploma and fill ds260 after? According to my case number.
Q2.When Interview Officer finds out that
At the time of first entry and ds260 submission I didn’t have diploma yet, what will i do or say to the officer ?
Q3. Does this case lead to disqualification
Because I wasn’t eligible at the time of first entry?
June 18, 2025 at 11:42
1. File in a couple of months.
2. Its a requirement at the interview, not before.
3. No
June 19, 2025 at 09:23
Thank you sir 🙏