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DV 2023 Winners

mediterrone said:
Wow congrats on your determination, that is really impressive! Are you submitting on your own or with wife/partner?
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On my own, I started at 18. I don't know if determination is the right word, it takes 5 minutes once a year and it's free, I don't really think about it other than when I apply and when I check, I set up reminders... You can't pin your hopes on something like this, the chance is about 1% and resets every year, so you can easily play your entire life and not win. So I just do it for fun, if I actually win then I'll think about next steps. I'm surprised the program has survived this long.

My aunt's record is even more (or less) impressive, she and her husband have played every year since the program launched in 1994 and never won. :oops: One of their children is a US citizen now though and is sponsoring them, so they're finally moving to America in their 60s.
 
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OneHome said:
On my own, I started at 18. I don't know if determination is the right word, it takes 5 minutes once a year and it's free, I don't really think about it other than when I apply and when I check, I set up reminders... You can't pin your hopes on something like this, the chance is about 1% and resets every year, so you can easily play your entire life and not win. So I just do it for fun, if I actually win then I'll think about next steps. I'm surprised the program has survived this long.

My aunt's record is even more (or less) impressive, she and her husband have played every year since the program launched in 1994 and never won. :oops: One of their children is a US citizen now though and is sponsoring them, so they're finally moving to America in their 60s.
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Of course you should not pin your hopes on it or use it as a plan, as by definition it is a lottery and planning on a lottery is not a good practice. Indeed, my comment was mostly aimed to congratulate you for playing a game for so long and not have found other ways to emigrate to the USA (e.g H1b, Eb2, etc).

ps 1% btw for EU like me is some areas it is better(OC region), and in some areas it worse. I "play" with my wife which approximately (probaiblities do not sum!) doubles the chances bringing it to approx 2%. A fun website I found to see actually how rare are this events graphically is dvtry.com where you put you you country of eligibility and it does 1 or more years of draws.
 
mediterrone said:
aimed to congratulate you for playing a game for so long and not have found other ways to emigrate to the USA (e.g H1b, Eb2, etc).
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First, H1 visa are not immigrant visas. Second, people don’t always want/need to get to the US by any and every means necessary. In our instance, we actually had a prior H1B option but the prospect of moving a family abroad when one of the spouses (both professionals) would possibly/probably not be able to work, and potentially having to disrupt the kids and move all the way back again if the H1 job didn’t work out, didn’t seem worth it to us. I realize many people in these situations move but perhaps their prior circumstances are different, and the press is always citing stories of children of H1Bs aging out and having to leave the US despite having been there since they were little kids, etc.

PS that comment sounded a little snide to me.
 
SusieQQQ said:
PS that comment sounded a little snide to me.
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I did not mean the comment to be snide. If so please accept my apologies as it was not my intent for it to be so.

Nonetheless, I was congratulating myself to someone who stuck to the lottery for so long and did not seek other means to move (ofc I did not account for previous factors/decisions; H1B might not have been a good idea as in your case and for you circumstances but he/she could have been eligable for other visas, say EB1 or other simply be in a different situation)
 
mediterrone said:
I did not mean the comment to be snide. If so please accept my apologies as it was not my intent for it to be so.

Nonetheless, I was congratulating myself to someone who stuck to the lottery for so long and did not seek other means to move (ofc I did not account for previous factors/decisions; H1B might not have been a good idea as in your case and for you circumstances but he/she could have been eligable for other visas, say EB1 or other simply be in a different situation)
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You can have no idea what someone’s circumstances are, or even if in fact they have been trying other methods but been unsuccessful, so yes “congratulating” them on apparently not doing anything else did seem snide. Ok, moving on….
 
mediterrone said:
Of course you should not pin your hopes on it or use it as a plan, as by definition it is a lottery and planning on a lottery is not a good practice. Indeed, my comment was mostly aimed to congratulate you for playing a game for so long and not have found other ways to emigrate to the USA (e.g H1b, Eb2, etc).

ps 1% btw for EU like me is some areas it is better(OC region), and in some areas it worse. I "play" with my wife which approximately (probaiblities do not sum!) doubles the chances bringing it to approx 2%. A fun website I found to see actually how rare are this events graphically is dvtry.com where you put you you country of eligibility and it does 1 or more years of draws.
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No no, not a snide comment at all. He just meant congrats on sticking with it. And my point was, sticking with it is super easy so it doesn't really merit a congrats LOL. I should clarify, I lived in the US for a long time on various non-immigrant visas and now live in Canada. The US should adopt a points system, it makes a lot of sense. I'm not even sure at this point that I would move back if I win, but... I keep playing. Anyway, TMI.

But yes, for some people who play the DV lottery, they don't have any concrete or immediate plans to move to the US, it's just something they do because it's very easy and free, and on the off-chance they win, they'll think about it then. It's also kind of fun the check every year LOL.

And others may be living the US for a long time on non-immigrant visas. Some people do bachelor + masters + PhD + OPT + H1B twice... I mean you can live in the US for 20 years on non-immigrant visas, you'll be playing the lottery every year during that time.

Now if someone is hellbent on moving to America they'll probably find another way. But they might not, depends on circumstances and the country they're in.

So... it's complicated haha.
 
Hi EU14xxx here. Is there any hope for an interview ? =))

And about the Ds260 - if I submit it later like idk in july it will have a negative impact ?
 
xjumpsuit said:
Hi EU14xxx here. Is there any hope for an interview ? =))

And about the Ds260 - if I submit it later like idk in july it will have a negative impact ?
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Hope and possibility yes. How probable can be answered only as time goes on and more information is gathered. Follow Simon's excellent yt channel and blog for up to date information. Generally speaking please understand that in the last 3 lotteries due to the pandemic makeing any sort of prediction and associated probability has become increasingly difficult.

Generally speaking - i.e. in normal pre-pandemic years - submitting early or late did not impact on the scheduling of your interview. However, in recent post pandemic years (and hence MAYBE for DV2023) the date of submission of the ds-260 has determined - other than the case number - some sort of priority once everybody goes current.

The synthesis is, as Simon and other may confirm, is that you should take your time and not mess up the ds-260 but do not sit on it too long and aim to be expedite in submitting it.
 
Winnertakesitall said:
After about 15 years playing, I've finaly got it
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Congrats! Region? Alone or with partner?
Perhaps it would be cool to some how summarize how much people have stuck with it trough a post. But I noticed that many log in practically only for submission and the verification, i.e. October and May
 
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