Embassy of the United States Asuncion, Paraguay

Every year the United States makes available 50,000 immigrant visas through the Diversity Visa program and chooses winners randomly from all over the world from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.

Eligibility to apply for this program is determined by a person’s place of birth not citizenship or residence. Applications must be submitted electronically during the registration period. Paper entries are not accepted.

Persons born in any of the following excluded countries cannot participate in the program: the United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, South Korea, and Vietnam. Persons born in Northern Ireland, Hong Kong S.A.R., Macau S.A.R. and Taiwan are eligible to enter.

For more information about the diversity visas, please visit the Diversity Visa Program page.

Look out for scams!

If you have received an email notifying you that your application for the Diversity Visa (DV) Program has been successful and that in order to proceed with your application you are required to send money via Western Union to a named individual at the U.S. Embassy, you are a victim of a scam.

Starting on May 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012, all entrants may check the status of their entry through the Entry Status Check on the E-DV website http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/. Entry Status Check will be the ONLY means by which lottery winners/selectees will be notified of their selection for DV-2012. Additionally, Entry Status Check will provide you, the successful selectee, instructions on how to proceed with your application and notify you of the date and time of your appointment for immigrant visa interview. The Kentucky Consular Center will no longer mail out notification letters to Diversity Visa selectees. Those selected in the random drawing are NOT notified of their selection by e-mail. The above procedures are explained in the DV Lottery 2012 Instructions (PDF - 174kb). The "Selection of Applicants" section of the DV Instructions provides information about the DV time frame and process.

Remember, successful DV applicants are notified by the Department of State, Kentucky Consular Center (KCC) through Entry Status Check. The KCC will not ask you to send money to them or to this Embassy or any other U.S. Embassy by mail or by services such as Western Union. No other organization or private company is authorized by the Department of State to notify DV applicants of their winning entry, or the next steps in the processing of applying for their visa.

Note - There is no fee required to enter the Diversity Visa Lottery. The U.S. Government employs no outside consultants or private services to operate the DV program. Any intermediaries or others who offer assistance to prepare an application do so without the authority or consent of the U.S. Government. For DV 2012, entrant notification will be through the Entry Status Check at http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/. See the DV 2012 instruction for more information about Entry Status Check. Lottery entrants selected are provided further instructions, including information on fees connected with immigration to the U.S. Those selected in the random drawing are NOT notified by email. The Diversity Visa Lottery Instructions "Selection of Applicants" section provides information about the DV timeframe and process.

Where do I register for the Diversity Visa program?

For any visa-related question not answered on the consular section’s website, applicants may refer to the A-Z Subject Index or send a message to the following email address: ParaguayVisas@state.gov. In most cases, the message will be answered within two business days.