The U.S. State Department holds a Diversity Visa lottery each year in which millions of people from countries whose citizens are eligible for the lottery enter in order to win a chance to apply for a U.S. Visa and become legal permanent residents of the United States.  The only legitimate website where the lottery can be found is http://www.dvlottery.state.gov.  There is absolutely no fee to enter the lottery and that is where the scams come in.  Scammers are sending emails purporting to be from the State Department indicating that you need to wire funds for processing fees in order to enter the lottery.  People are also falling prey to phony websites that appear to be that of the Diversity Visa lottery that require a payment of a fee in order to enter the lottery.  Remember, the only real Diversity Visa lottery website is http://www.dvlottery.state.gov and no fee is required in order to enter.

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Here is a link for information about entering the Diversity Visa lottery http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/diversity-visa/instructions.html

It is important to remember that the deadline for entering is November 3rd at noon Eastern Standard Time. You can only enter the lottery once each year.  If you enter multiple times, you will be automatically disqualified.  A computer randomly picks the winners and there is nothing you can do to increase your chances of winning so don’t fall for any scams that promise you that for a fee they can increase your chances of winning.