How can you check your status for the green card lottery?

I just want to add to Mircea Goia's excellent answer. There are people out there offering the service to enter this Diversity Visa lottery for you. Unless this person is somebody you know closely who is doing you a personal favor due to your inability to speak English, don't accept the offer. When he enters the lottery by submitting the form online, he will receive a confirmation code. This is where it gets tricky. If this guy is an honest agent, he would share this confirmation code with you, so you can check several months later at the same government website after they run the lottery and have the 'winners'. If he's dishonest then he would withhold this number, most likely to demand more money from you when he finds out you're selected. The thing is that once he has submitted your application there's absolutely nothing you can do to get that confirmation code unless he shares it with you, you are completely at his mercy. You can't just submit another application yourself because duplicate applications are disqualified automatically.

Hello. The participation in the official green card lottery (AKA - Diversity Visa program) is FREE of charge. You can apply at http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/ For some strange reason, the official government website is not accepting applications all year round, but only during one month every year. The dates for when the green card lottery applications can be sent keep changing, but for the upcoming lottery - diversity visa DV-2013, it is supposed to open on the 1st of October, during which you have to submit your applications digitally, including a properly adjusted passport photograph of you and any of your family members that you wish to include in the application. There are apparently many people who get disqualified every year for failing to meet the requirements of the US department of state (which also keep changing). I personally decided to use the services of one of the green card submission services, which was recommended to me by a friend, and has proven to be reliable. It is not free, but it allows you to submit your application once, have it reviewed by their immigration specialists to ensure you are not disqualified and finally submitted every year automatically if you select a multi year submission plan. I also asked them different questions regarding the photos and they responded in a timely manner, so if you don't mind the extra payment they charge, I would recommend checking them out. They also send you the proof of submission every year for your records, so you know you are not being scammed. Their link is - http://www.green-card.com.au/ Good luck !!!