The results of the 2009 Diversity Visa (green card) lottery are now available. According to the U.S. State Department there were a total of 16.1 million entries including all family (derivative) members. This compares favorably with, but was slightly below, my August 2009 estimate of 17 million total entrants for last year’s lottery.

According to the U.S. State Department there were a total of 12.1 million applications filed, meaning that each registration counted for an average of 1.4 applicants each, including the principle applicant, his or her spouse, and children.

The highest number of winners in DV-2011 were born in the following countries:

GHANA (6,002), NIGERIA (6,000), UKRAINE (6,000), BANGLADESH (5,999), ETHIOPIA (5,200), UZBEKISTAN (5,091), KENYA (4,689), EGYPT (4,251), SIERRA LEONE (3,911), CAMEROON (3,674), IRAN (2,819), DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO (2,575), TURKEY (2,266), NEPAL (2,189), MOROCCO (2003), GERMANY (1,895), LIBERIA (1,826), ALGERIA (1,753), ALBANIA (1,469).

As you can see, virtually the same countries with large numbers of lottery winners in the calendar year 2009 visa lottery (DV-2011) also had significant totals for the calendar year 2008 visa lottery (DV-2010):

GHANA (8,752), NIGERIA (6,006), BANGLADESH (6,001), UKRAINE (5,499), ETHIOPIA (5,200), KENYA (4,619), EGYPT (4,201), UZBEKISTAN (4,059), SIERRA LEONE (3,898), CAMEROON (3,719), MOROCCO (3,124), TURKEY (2,826), IRAN (2,773), ALBANIA (2,311), GERMANY (2,188), LIBERIA (2,172), NEPAL (2,132), ALGERIA (1,947), DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO (1,817).

You can access the latest green card lottery dates and deadlines for DV-2010 and DV-2011 at myGreencard.com.

The August 2010 U.S. State Department Visa Bulletin, with country by country totals for DV-2010 is also available at myGreencard.com. Instructions and other details for checking the status of your application on-line are available here.