This archive report was first published on 28 April 2020.
On April 28, 2020, the US State Department announced a delay in the opening of the DV-2021 Green Card lottery Entrant Status Check, citing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Originally scheduled to be available online at the State Department website starting on May 5, 2020, the Entrant Status Check will now open on June 6, 2020.
The State Department assured that the delay will not impact their ability to pre-process and schedule DV-2021 interviews, which are scheduled to begin on October 1, 2020.
Notably, the DV-2021 lottery registration period ran between October 2, 2019, and November 5, 2019, with a significant increase in Kenyan applicants.
According to the US government, the number of Kenyans who tried their luck with the US Diversity Visa lottery (green card lottery) grew to 442,966 in the Fiscal Year 2018, a 23% rise compared to 2017.
The Diversity Visa lottery system makes 55,000 permanent visas available each year to nationals of countries with small populations of immigrants in the US.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant disruption in visa processing, with almost all visa processing by the State Department suspended for weeks.
