Yes, there are two major improvements in the American Lottery this year that has caught my attention very much. For the past three years, I guess Uncle Che has  submitted over 1,000 application forms for DV Lottery participants. He is very confident about his knowledge in taking digital photos and submitting an entry.

He told me that two major changes have been made to the DV Lottery and he hopes that each year, new innovations are made.

What are the changes?

Photos: The sizes of photos submitted by DV Lottery participants has been reduced to one instead of two, as in the previous years. So, instead of 240 x 320 pixels OR 300 X 300 Pixels as in the previous years, the DV 2010 has just 600 x 600 pixels as specification for required photos. This means that worldwide, everyone would not only be submitting uniform photos (in terms of dimensions), but people will also have the chance of submitting better images since it is possible to have a higher quality photo at 600 x 600 pixles than in any other dimension below it.

Confirmation Number: Each participant for the DV 2010 program is being issued a confirmation number that can be used to track results online when they are released. This would go a long way in solving problems that people had in the past. Previously, it was impossible for a participant to know if he/she succeeded or not since participants were notified only via postal mail. Postal services in some countries, like Cameroon, are horrible and I guess many “successful” candidates ended up not making it because their notification package either never got to them, or got to them very late. Now, that fear is gone. With the 16-digit confirmation code printed on the submission confirmation sheet, a user will just need to key it on a form on the DV lottery website when results are released and would immediate know if he succeeded or not.

Uncle Che however told me he was not happy with one bug he found on the DV 2010 form. A comma (,) is being placed in front of names of individuals who check on the form that they have no family name. For example, Uncle Che’s name is Ferdinand Che (no family name). So, on the confirmation page, his name will be printed as , Ferdinand Che.

Well, he told me there is nothing to worry about since that is not the lottery participant’s fault in anyway.

I guess I would have to try my luck by entering for the DV program his year again (for the third time).

Wish me luck.

Popularity: 85% [?]