US Visa Lottery: Fake Documents Lead To Mass Rejection Of Entries

The Consular General of the US Embassy in Accra, His Excellency Philip Franz-Seitz, has identified the use of fake documents and papers by applicants to make entries into the Visa Lottery Program as one of the common frauds that usually leads to mass disqualification of most applicants from Ghana.

According to him, most applicants from Ghana enter the competition with fake documentations which are automatically rejected by the system.

"This is what we discovered from time to time because a lot of people try to play smart with the system which does not favour them at all in the end because they are automatically rejected," His Excellency Philip Franz-Seitz emphasised.

He was addressing journalists at the official announcement ceremony for the 2016 Diversity Visa Lottery at the US Embassy in Accra.

Philip Franz-Seitz further revealed that the embassy has no links with any third parties or individuals who often posed as agents to register prospective people in the name of enhancing their chances of winning.

He advised applicants to register online through the official website of the program www.dvlottery.state.gov and submit their entries electronically warning that no paper applications delivered by hand are accepted.

Philip Franz-Seitz also indicated that the system does not notify applicants through e-mail messages asking for payments of monies warning that these are most often scam e-mails sent by internet fraudsters.

"The only way to verify your winning is to log into your account page with your confirmation code on the same website www.dvlottery.state.gov which is the only authentic way of checking your selections and winnings," the concerned Diplomat stated clearly.

2016 Diversity Visa Program Registration

The 2016 Diversity Visa Program (DV-2016) will open at noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Wednesday, October 1, 2014, and will close at noon, will conclude on Monday, November 3, 2014 at 12:00 noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4).Applicants must submit entries electronically during this registration period using the electronic DV entry form (E-DV) at www.dvlottery.state.gov. Paper entries will not be accepted. We strongly encourage applicants not to wait until the last week of the registration period to enter. Heavy demand may result in website delays. No entries will be accepted after noon, EDT, on November 3, 2014.

The Congressionally mandated Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is administered annually by the Department of State. Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides for a class of “diversity immigrants,” from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States.

For fiscal year 2016, 50,000 diversity visas (DVs) will be available. There is no cost to register for the DV program. Applicants who are selected in the lottery (“selectees”) must meet simple, but strict, eligibility requirements in order to qualify for a diversity visa. Selectees are chosen through a randomized computer drawing. Diversity visas are distributed among six geographic regions and no single country may receive more than seven percent of the available DVs in any one year.

For DV-2016, natives of the following countries are not eligible to apply, because more than 50,000 natives of these countries immigrated to the United States in the previous five years:

Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam. Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and Taiwan are eligible.

There are no changes in eligibility this year.

Entries for the DV-2016 DV program must be submitted electronically at www.dvlottery.state.gov between noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Wednesday, October 1, 2014, and noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-5), Monday, November 3, 2014. Do not wait until the last week of the registration period to enter, as heavy demand may result in website delays. No late entries or paper entries will be accepted. The law allows only one entry by or for each person during each registration period. The Department of State uses sophisticated technology to detect multiple entries. Individuals with more than one entry will be disqualified.

Completing your Electronic Entry for the DV-2016 Program

Submit your Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form (E-DV Entry Form or DS-5501), online at

www.dvlottery.state.gov. Incomplete entries will not be accepted. There is no cost to register for the DV Program.

For detailed information about entry requirements, along with frequently asked questions about the DV program, please see the instructions for the DV-2016 Diversity Visa program available at http://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/DV-2016-Instructions-Translations/DV_2016_Instructions_English.pdf