Immigration Lawyer Advises Cubans Who Won the Visa Lottery

The Office of Consular Affairs of the State Department recently confirmed that a total of 2,348 Cubans were winners of the DV-2025 Visa Lottery of the United States.

Lawyer Jesús Novo, in an interview with Univisión Noticias, provided a set of advice for those benefiting from the DV-2025 Visa Lottery that you should keep in mind if you are one of the lucky winners, if you know any of these people, or if you dream of emigrating to the United States.

According to Novo, these winners of the well-known "bombo" must prepare their documents in great detail and present themselves starting October 1 at the United States Embassy in Cuba, because simply winning the lottery does not guarantee that they will obtain the visa.

"There are more than 100,000 winners in total and the United States only has 55,000 visas available. Half will be left without a visa, so it's important to hurry with the paperwork and do it correctly," he said.

Those who have graduated but do not have their pre-university or higher education degrees, or do not have two years of professional experience, are likely to be ineligible. Obtaining these degrees in Cuba can be very complex in some provinces, so they should start processing the paperwork now.

Another aspect to consider is the criminal record. Those who have won the visa lottery but have a criminal record are not admissible in this program. This document is also difficult to obtain; it must be legalized and its validity expires soon.

Currently, the interviews for these visa application processes are conducted at the United States Embassy in Havana. It is no longer necessary to travel to a third country for these procedures.

The lawyer advised the winners not to waste time trying to sell houses, cars, or personal belongings, but to focus on having their documentation properly prepared and getting ready for the interviews.

Then the rest of the things will be resolved, and you can leave a trusted person authorized to settle those matters in Cuba. The first thing is to obtain the visa, and you need to prepare well to achieve it.

In 2024, Cuba once again consolidated its position as the country with the highest number of beneficiaries in the U.S. DV-2025 Visa Lottery.

The island is at the forefront of the 22 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean that participated in the draw, far surpassing Ecuador (795) and Peru (657), which took second and third place, respectively.