United State’s department has cancelled the American Visa Lottery (2012 Diversity Lottery) has been cancelled due to computer programming malfunction.

David Donahue, deputy assistant secretary of state for visa services urged those who had applied for the 50,000 visa slot to wait, as the agency will restart the selection process.

“We regret to inform you that, due to a computer programming problem, the results of the 2012 Diversity Lottery that were previously posted on this website have been voided.  They were not valid and were posted in error.

“The results were not valid because they did not represent a fair, random selection of entrants, as required by U.S. law.

“If you checked this website during the first week in May and found a notice that you had been selected for further processing or a notice that you had not been selected, that notice has been rescinded and is no longer valid.

“If you submitted a qualified entry from October 5, 2010 to November 3, 2010, your entry remains with us.  It will be included in the new selection lottery.  Your confirmation number to check results on this website is still valid.

“We expect the results of the new selection process to be available on this website on or about July 15, 2011”.