All about the Second Notification Letter, 2NL for DV Lottery Winner

What is the Second Notification Letter in the green card application process? What is Second Notification Letter, 2NL, in DV Lottery Program? In this guide, we will learn all about the Second Notification Letter (2NL) for DV Lottery Winner.

The Second Notification Letter (2NL) in DV Lottery Program

The Second Notification Letter (2NL) is the letter that you receive sometime after you have filled and submitted your DS-260 form, and it shows your interview appointment details.

When you applied for the DV lottery successfully, you check the results using your confirmation number, at the time the results are out, through the DV entrance check page, and you get the first notification letter that you are the DV lottery winner.

What is the next step after winning the DV lottery?

Then, the next thing you will do is to fill the visa form, which is called the DS-260 form.

At one point, while you are waiting, you will receive a letter telling you that on this day, it is the day of the interview for you at the U.S Embassy of your country of residence. That letter is called the Second Notification Letter, 2NL.

For example, at the U.S Embassy in Nairobi, for Kenya, at the U.S Embassy in Accra, for Ghana, at the U.S Embassy in Freetown, for South Africa, etc. DV interview holds at the city where the U.S Embassy is located in your country.

That letter telling you the interview schedule date is at this day, at this location is what is call the Second Notification Letter, 2NL.

It is the notification letter which is very crucial because not everybody who is the winner gets that letter. There are some people that don’t get invitation to go to the visa interview. Congrats to you, if you are one among those that received or will receive the 2NL.

From the day you received the second notification letter to the interview date, in most cases, you have at least six weeks in between.

During this period of four to six weeks you need to go and do your medical exam before you go to the interview. Make sure that once you receive the second application letter you go for your medical as soon as possible.

Note: Not every doctor is going to do the medical for you. There are designated medical doctors, physicians in your country who have contracted with the U.S Embassy to do the medical for the DV winners or for any person processing to go the United States through immigrant visa or green card.

When does it come?

• The second notification letter (2NL) will only come after your DS-260 has been processed by KCC.
• It will also come when your case becomes current.
• The 2NL would come after the document submitted had been processed by KCC.

Note: For DV 2022, things changed and the requirement that you are supposed to send your document was removed.

When will you receive the second notification letter (2NL)?

The 2NL will be sent to you by KCC a few weeks before your scheduled interview. It is normally around six weeks or so. One interesting thing to note about the second notification letter, is that they are normally sent within the second half of the month that is between date 15 and the end of the month.

Another interesting thing to note about the 2NL is that, there is normally a month gap between the time you receive your 2NL and the time for your interview.

Here’s an example:

• If your interview is in the month of April, you would have received your 2NL in the month of February between the 15th and the end of February.

or

• if your interview is to be on March, you will have received your 2NL on January between date 15th and 31 January.

Normally there is a gap of a month in between.

Another thing to note about 2NL, is that all the cases that would have been processed by the end of a particular month will be current the following month in the Visa Bulletin.

For example, all the cases that KCC will have processed by the end of July or early August will appear in the Visa Bulletin of August as current.

How do you receive your 2NL notification?

2NL comes in two parts:

• First of all, KCC will send a notification to the email that you filled in the DS-260, and that email will basically tell you that you have a pending update and it will direct you to the Entrant Status Check page (dvprogram.state.gov). The same place where you used to check for your results.
• The second part will be when you click on that redirection and visit the Entrance Status Check and put in your details, you’ll see the second notification letter there.

Remember, the email does not have the second notification letter. It only notifies you that you have an update and redirects you to the dvprogram.state.gov, that page of the entrance status check.

When you visit that page and put in your details, you will find out that your first notification letter, the letter that you received when you were told you were selected, has been replaced by the second notification letter.

The second notification letter will basically contain your interview information. It will have your details, and secondly, it will have your interview details and the dates of your interview.

Finally, even if you forgot which email you had used, it’s not a must that you have an email for you to receive your second notification letter. You can just keep on checking on that entrant status page frequently, using your confirmation number, for you to see if you have received your second notification letter.

That’s all about the 2NL, and I hope that you have understood it.

DISCLAIMER: This post and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. This site is not offering any Diversity Visa and is not the official site for DV Lottery program. The information presented in this post should not be construed to be formal legal advice.

If you have any questions about the DV lottery, please contact an immigration professional/officer or a licensed attorney.