The U.S. Department of State has chosen the winners of the Fiscal Year 2016 Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery and notified winners of their selection. Foreign nationals who entered the lottery can also check whether they were selected by visiting the Entrant Status Check website: https://www.dvlottery.state.gov/ESC/(S(thxjqozvqdiihb1wiacm2x2g))/default.aspx
If your lottery entry was chosen, the Entrant Status Check website will supply information on how to proceed with an application for permanent residence. Individuals selected in the lottery may be eligible to submit an application for adjustment of status or an immigrant visa application during FY 2016, which begins on October 1, 2015. Please note that being selected does not guarantee that you will receive a visa; selection merely means that you are eligible to apply for a Diversity Visa, under the condition that your rank number becomes eligible for final processing. You may check the DV immigrant category rank cut-offs on U.S. Department of State’s monthly visa bulletin. If your entry was not selected, the Entrant Status Check website will state the fact.
The U.S. Department of State makes 50,000 immigrant visas available through the DV lottery each fiscal year, and foreign nationals can only submit their lottery entries online during a designated period of time. That period ran from October 1, 2014 to November 3, 2014 for the FY 2016 lottery.
Please beware that DV lottery fraud is not uncommon. Deceptive websites have been set up to either pose as official government site or purport to be authorized by the U.S. Department of State to accept or administer lottery entries, sometimes demanding an extremely high fee. They also try to lure foreign nationals into supplying personal information and money, with promises of winning lottery entries.
Avoid becoming a victim of lottery fraud. If you seek legal counsel or other assistance in preparing a lottery application, be cautious of commercial enterprises that claim you have won the lottery, purport to register applicants outside the official registration period, or claim to be authorized by the government. Do not give any fees or personal information to any questionable individual or entity. For more information on DV lottery fraud, please visit
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0080-diversity-visa-lottery-scams and
http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/general/fraud.html.