The U.S. Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia is pleased to announce that registration for the 2012 Diversity Immigrant Visa lottery program begins on October 5, 2010 at 18:00 local time. This program is commonly referred to as the “Green Card” lottery.

The deadline for registration is November 3, 2010, at 18:00 local time, but interested applicants are urged to complete their registration early. Registration for the 2012 Diversity Visa program must be completed online; paper entries are not accepted. The U.S. Department of State has established a special website for the submission of Diversity Visa lottery entries: www.dvlottery.state.gov.

Every year, 50,000 permanent resident visas are made available to applicants randomly selected from all entrants. These visas are available to people who meet strict eligibility requirements from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Registration for the lottery does not guarantee acceptance and/or visa issuance.

Fraud Alert: There are many fraudulent websites posing as official U.S. Government sites related to the Diversity Visa lottery. There is no charge to download, complete, and submit the Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form. However, some companies posing as the U.S. Government have sought money from applicants to complete lottery entry forms.

The Entry Status Check available on the E-DV website www.dvlottery.state.gov will be the sole means by which DV-2012 entrants are notified of their selection, or that the entrant was not selected. The Kentucky Consular Center will not mail selectees official notification letters, but will instead include on the selectee confirmation page, notification instructions on how to follow up on their selection and pursue a DV visa application.

No other organization or company is authorized by the Department of State to notify Diversity Visa lottery applicants of their winning entry.

The only official Diversity Visa Lottery page is: www.dvlottery.state.gov.