The U.S. State Department has announced that it will start accepting applications for the DV-2010 "green card" lottery as of 9am Pacific Time, October 2, 2008. Applications will continue to be accepted until December 1, 2008. Interested applicants should apply directly with the U.S. State Department at the following URL: www.dvlottery.state.gov. Jackson & Hertogs recommends that applicants review the State Department instructions contained at the website listed above. We recommend against using third party services to submit applications.

Warning from the U.S. State Department regarding "green card" lottery scams:

After the individuals have been selected at random from among all qualified entries through the State Department E-DV lottery computer program, they will NOT be notified by e-mail. Those selected will be notified only by letter through the mail between May and July 2009 at the addresses listed on their E-DV entry. Only the randomly selected individuals will be notified. Persons not selected will NOT receive any notification. U.S. embassies and consulates will NOT be able to provide a list of those selected to continue the visa process.

Kentucky Consular Center (KCC) will send the letters notifying those selected. These letters will contain instructions for the visa application process. The instructions say the selected applicants will pay all diversity and immigrant visa fees in person only at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate at the time of the visa application. The Consular Cashier or Consular Officer immediately gives the visa applicant a U.S. Government receipt for payment. You should never send money for DV fees through the mail, through Western Union, or any other delivery service.

The E-DV lottery entries are made on the internet, on the official US Government E-DV website at www.dvlottery.state.gov. KCC sends only letters to the selected applicants. KCC, consular offices, or the U.S. Government have never sent e-mails to notify selected individuals, and there are no plans to use e-mail for this purpose for the DV-2009 program.

The Department of State, Visa Services advises the public that only internet sites including the ".gov" indicator are official government websites. Many other non-governmental websites (e.g., using the suffixes ".com" or ".org" or ".net") provide legitimate and useful immigration and visa related information and services. Regardless of the content of non-governmental websites, the Department of State does not endorse, recommend or sponsor any information or material shown at these other websites.

Some websites may try to mislead customers and members of the public into thinking they are official websites and may contact you by email to lure you to their offers. These websites may attempt to require you to pay for services such as forms and information about immigration procedures, which are otherwise free on the Department of State Visa Services website, or overseas through the Embassy Consular Section websites. Additionally, these other websites may require you to pay for services you will not receive, often including diversity immigration application and visa fees in an effort to outright steal your money. Once you send money in one of these scams, you will never see it again. Also, you should be wary of sending any personal information that might be used for identity fraud/theft to these websites.

Jackson & Hertogs will provide further updates regarding the DV-2010 lottery once the application period opens through updates to our website. You should also log into the DOS website directly.

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