U.S. Embassy in Pristina to Process Diversity Visa Applications for Residents of Kosovo, 27 September 2017
The U.S. Embassy in Pristina is pleased to announce that beginning in October 2017, it will begin processing Diversity Visa (DV) applications for residents of Kosovo for the 2018 program. In previous years, DV applications were processed by the U.S. Embassy in Skopje, Macedonia. Because the U.S. Embassy in Pristina seeks to provide high levels of customer service to Kosovar visa applicants and recognizes the difficulty of traveling to Skopje, it has decided to expand the visa services offered in Pristina.
The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV Program) makes up to 50,000 immigrant visas available annually, drawn from random selection among all entries to individuals who are from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.
Individuals who previously registered for the 2018 program received notification through the Electronic Diversity Visa (E-DV) website that they were selected for further processing in the Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) Program. All applicants will now be interviewed by a consular official and have the opportunity to demonstrate their qualifications for the visa. In most cases, approved visas may be picked up at the Embassy two working days after the interview.
Online registration for the 2019 Program begins on Tuesday, October 3, 2017 at 12:00 noon, Eastern Daylight Time and concludes on Tuesday, November 7, 2017 at 12:00 noon, Eastern Standard Time.
Interested applicants submit their entries electronically on the Electronic Diversity Visa (E-DV) website at www.dvlottery.state.gov during the specified registration period. No late entries or paper entries are accepted. The law allows only one entry by or for each person during each registration period.
There is no cost to register for the DV Program. Applicants are strongly encouraged to complete the entry form themselves, without a “Visa Consultant,” “Visa Agent,” or other facilitator who offers to help. Applicants must retain the confirmation page and unique confirmation number they will receive after submitting their entries. Beginning in May 2018, applicants may use this number to check their status on the E-DV website.
The U.S. Embassy in Pristina looks forward to offering additional visa services in the coming year. Please follow the Embassy on Facebook for news and updates. Questions may be sent to PristinaVisas@state.gov.
Important Points
- Applicants should arrive no more than 15 minutes before the time of their interview. Large bags, laptops or weapons are prohibited at the Embassy. To facilitate security screening, applicants should consider leaving electronic devices at home.
- Beware of fraud! The Embassy does not notify DV applicants via e-mail that they have “won” the “visa lottery.” The only way applicants can find out if they were selected is by checking their status on the E-DV website. Please visit this link for more information on DV fraud: https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/general/fraud.html
- More information on the Diversity Visa process may be found on the Embassy website here: https://xk.usembassy.gov/visas/diversity-visa/
