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Surprising deadline change for DV-2026
The U.S. Department of State announced a shift in the DV-2026 deadline, causing confusion among Green Card Lottery applicants. The reason appears to be a simple mistake. But don't panic: you can submit your application to The American Dream until November 5th.
Take the chance of living in the USA and apply for the official US Green Card Lottery!
Attention
The official deadline for submission to the US authorities has been postponed to November 7, 2024! However, experience has shown that the US servers are heavily overloaded in the last two days. A submission on the last day can no longer be guaranteed! Since The American Dream also has to check your Green Card application in advance, correct it if necessary, and possibly even contact you, the deadline for submission to The American Dream is two days earlier, on November 5, 2024 at 12 noon!
More time for Green Card Lottery applications in 2024
Before we dive deeper into how the U.S. Department of State (DOS) is dealing with its own mistakes, here is some important news for all customers of The American Dream: our Green Card Lottery entry deadline is being extended by two days.
USA fans have until November 5th (12:00 pm CET) to submit their complete Green Card Lottery applications to The American Dream.
This gives the government-licensed immigration consultants enough time to check the last applications for this year in detail, correct any errors together with the clients, and submit everything to the US authorities in the correct form and on time.
Why has the official deadline been extended?
In a publication by the US government (Public Notice 12558 in the Federal Register), which served as the legal basis for this year's Green Card Lottery, data from the previous year was inadvertently used, according to previous information. This resulted in old year dates and an incorrect end date appearing in the documents.
As the Federal Register is crucial for the communication of official data, the document could serve as a legal basis for lawsuits and claims for damages, which explains why the authorities did not want to maintain the originally announced deadline of November 5th.
Pragmatic problem-solving leads to confusion
Now that the date “November 7th” had been published, the DOS tacitly adjusted the application deadline in all other places. Everywhere, you now read November 7th instead of November 5th — but without further explanation.
With little official information available, there was initial confusion. The incident illustrates the importance of accurate information in international immigration programs, and how poor the US State Department's external communications are all too often.
If such a mistake had happened to a Green Card Lottery entrant (e.g., a transposed date of birth), it would have resulted in immediate disqualification. Unfortunately, there is no communication from the DOS even in these — fairly common — cases.
Not only are applicants left to fend for themselves in the jungle of rules and deadlines, but they are simply unaware when they get disqualified. Fortunately, however, there are agencies like The American Dream that guide Green Card applicants safely through the process and prevent disqualification due to mistakes.
“Deadlinegate” was not the first mistake in the Green Card Lottery
The surprising adjustment of the DV-2026 deadline caused great uncertainty among many applicants for the Green Card. Some speculated about possible political backgrounds, such as the connection with the upcoming elections in the USA, while others simply put it down to a technical error.
The truth is that applicants depend on the reliability of the rules and on transparent communication, because for them, nothing less than the American dream and a new life in the USA is at stake.
However, this is not the first time that the Green Card Lottery has experienced a glitch. In 2011, for example, a technical issue meant that the lottery system, which is supposed to be based on chance, mainly picked applicants from the first two days as winners. The Green Card Lottery had to be rerun, causing disappointment for many of those who had been 'pre-announced'.
In 2021, the announcement of the winner, which normally takes place in May, was postponed by one month. This time, however, the reason was not an error, but the global challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Importance of the Green Card Lottery for applicants
The Green Card Lottery is the only way for most people to get a permanent residence and work permit for the USA. A simple error in the system can cause uncertainty and even panic for millions of applicants worldwide, as they only have one chance per year to win.
For entrants with limited time for administrative tasks or in countries with limited internet access or less flexible photo and document services, any spontaneous change to the rules presents a logistical challenge.
Fortunately, this year there is “only” an extension of the deadline instead of additional bureaucratic hurdles. For all those who have not yet done so, it is now time to take advantage of the deadline and submit your application in good time.
