The Visa bulletin was just released. It shows all regions and countries are still current as they were last month – no retrogression which is a relief. This is the final VB for the DV2022 year. It does not show VB numbers for DV2023 October interviews, that will come next month.

However this Visa Bulletin also gives us the numbers of selectees per country for DV2023, and the total number of selectees (119,262). That is an important piece of information we have been waiting for. I am somewhat surprised and pleased that the selectee numbers are not higher than DV2022.  I have been hearing some very high case numbers and that made me concerned that we had a very high selectee year, but that does not seem to be the case. I will follow up with a video later today about what this means.

 

Here is the DV2023 information from the VB.

 

 

D.  DIVERSITY VISA LOTTERY 2023 (DV-2023) RESULTS

The Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky has registered and notified the selectees who are eligible to participate in the DV-2023 Diversity Visa (DV) program.  Random selection of DV participants was conducted under the terms of section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which makes up to *55,000 permanent resident visas available annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.  Approximately 119,262 prospective applicants (i.e., selectees and their spouses and children) have been registered, notified, and may be eligible to make an application for an immigrant visa. Since selection is blind to the number of family members who might immigrate with the selectee, and it is likely that some of the selectees will not complete their cases or will be found ineligible for a visa, this larger figure should ensure that all DV-2023 numbers can be used during fiscal year 2023 (October 1, 2022, until September 30, 2023).

Entrants registered for the DV-2023 program were selected at random from 9,570,291 qualified entries received during the 35-day application period that ran from noon, Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday, October 6, 2021, until noon, Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, November 9, 2021.  The visas have been apportioned among six geographic regions with a maximum of seven percent available to persons born in any single country.  During the visa interview, principal applicants must provide proof of a high school education or its equivalent, or show two years of work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience within the past five years.  Those selected will need to act on their immigrant visa applications quickly.  Applicants should follow the instructions in their notification letter and must fully complete all required steps.

Selectees who are physically present with legal status in the United States may apply to adjust their status by first contacting the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for information on the requirements and procedures.  Once the total *55,000 visa numbers have been used, the program for fiscal year 2023 will end.  Selectees who do not receive visas by September 30, 2023, will derive no further benefit from their DV-2023 registration.  Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2023 principal applicants are only entitled to derivative DV status until September 30, 2023.

Dates for the DV-2024 program registration period will be widely publicized in the coming months.  Those interested in entering the DV-2024 program should check the Department of State’s Diversity Visa web page in the coming months.

*The Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) passed by Congress in November 1997 stipulated that up to 5,000 of the 55,000 annually-allocated diversity visas be made available for use under the NACARA program.  This will result in reduction of the DV-2023 annual limit to approximately 54,850.

The following is the statistical breakdown by foreign state of chargeability of those registered for the DV-2023 program:

AFRICA
ALGERIA  5,526 ESWATINI  5 MOZAMBIQUE  2
ANGOLA  422 ETHIOPIA  2,761 NAMIBIA  6
BENIN  404 GABON  45 NIGER  78
BOTSWANA  9 GAMBIA, THE  65 RWANDA  1,024
BURKINA FASO 137 GHANA  3,398 SENEGAL  253
BURUNDI  400 GUINEA  706 SIERRA LEONE  522
CABO VERDE  24 GUINEA-BISSAU  9 SOMALIA  1,541
CAMEROON  2,392 KENYA  3,417 SOUTH AFRICA  222
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC  19 LIBERIA  1,221 SOUTH SUDAN  53
CHAD  257 LIBYA  397 SUDAN  4,863
COMOROS  3 MADAGASCAR  21 TANZANIA  165
CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE  4,385 MALAWI  23 TOGO  1,036
CONGO, REPUBLIC OF THE  389 MALI  90 TUNISIA  168
COTE D’IVOIRE  552 MAURITANIA  174 UGANDA  1,044
DJIBOUTI  249 MAURITIUS  1 ZAMBIA  59
EGYPT  5,529 MOROCCO  4,469 ZIMBABWE  202
EQUATORIAL GUINEA  4   Western Sahara  2  
ERITREA  376    
     
ASIA    
AFGHANISTAN  2,724 JORDAN  937 QATAR  92
BAHRAIN  10 KOREA, NORTH  2 SAUDI ARABIA  658
BHUTAN  115 KUWAIT  118 SINGAPORE  11
BURMA  1,107 LAOS  13 SRI LANKA  2,019
CAMBODIA  397 LEBANON  249 SYRIA  381
INDONESIA  115 MALAYSIA  45 TAIWAN  188
IRAN  5,506 MALDIVES  1 THAILAND  685
IRAQ  1,300 MONGOLIA  296 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES  175
ISRAEL  66 NEPAL  3,808 YEMEN  2,807
JAPAN  194 OMAN  25  
     
EUROPE    
ALBANIA  2,001 GREECE  28 NORTHERN IRELAND  4
ARMENIA  3,525 HUNGARY  66 NORWAY  4
AUSTRIA  34 ICELAND  4 POLAND  228
AZERBAIJAN  1,260 IRELAND  13 PORTUGAL  10
BELARUS  1,535 ITALY  154   Macau  7
BELGIUM  32 KAZAKHSTAN  1,908 ROMANIA  228
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA  47 KOSOVO  413 RUSSIA  5,505
BULGARIA  161 KYRGYZSTAN  2,846 SERBIA  134
CROATIA  12 LATVIA  48 SLOVAKIA 20
CYPRUS  8 LITHUANIA  91 SLOVENIA  2
CZECH REPUBLIC  19 MALTA  8 SPAIN  96
DENMARK  12 MOLDOVA  670 SWEDEN  26
  Faroe Islands  1 MONTENEGRO  28 SWITZERLAND  27
ESTONIA  17 NETHERLANDS  19 TAJIKISTAN  2,485
FINLAND  14   Aruba  4 TURKEY  3,383
FRANCE  209   Curacao  1 TURKMENISTAN  555
GEORGIA 2,071   Sint Maarten  3 UKRAINE  3,808
GERMANY 512 NORTH MACEDONIA  258 UZBEKISTAN 5,511
     
NORTH AMERICA    
BAHAMAS, THE  16    
     
OCEANIA    
AUSTRALIA  461 NAURU  3 SAMOA  5
  Cocos Keeling Islands  3 NEW ZEALAND 173 TONGA  78
FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA  4   Cook Islands  6 TUVALU  5
FIJI  1,718 PAPUA NEW GUINEA  21 VANUATU  21
KIRABATI  2 REPUBLIC OF PALAU  3  
     
SOUTH AMERICA    
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA  3 DOMINICA  4 PERU  1,191
ARGENTINA  133 ECUADOR  466 SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS  2
BELIZE  4 GUATEMALA  84 SAINT LUCIA  3
BOLIVIA  46 GUYANA  15 SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES  1
CHILE  27 NICARAGUA  77 SURINAME  4
COSTA RICA  39 PANAMA  11 TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO  31
CUBA  1,358 PARAGUAY  9 URUGUAY  7

 

AF 49119
AS 24044
EU 40065
OC 2503
SA 3515
NA 16
119262