The Diversity Visa (DV) program, also called the US DV lottery or Green card, was founded in 1990 by the USA Immigration Act starting in 1995.  Fifty-five thousand immigrant visas are available annually for applicants from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States.

Successful applicants can live, work, and study in the USA permanently.

As of the State Department, for the 2026 DV program, there have been more than 50,000 issuances/adjustments of status worldwide out of the 54,833 DVs available for FY 2026.  Additionally, under U.S. immigration law no single country can receive more than seven percent of the available DVs in any one fiscal year.

These immigrant visas are distributed among six regions of the world:

Which countries are eligible for the United States Diversity Visa program?

Almost all countries around the world are eligible to apply to the US DV program except the countries listed below.

The following countries are not eligible to apply for the DV program 2024 because more than 50,000 people from these countries have immigrated to the USA:

• Bangladesh
• Brazil
• Canada
• China (including Hong Kong SAR)
• Colombia
• Dominican Republic
• El Salvador
• Haiti, Honduras, India
• Jamaica
• Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan
• Philippines
• Republic of Korea (South Korea)
• United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, 
• Venezuela, and
• Vietnam. 

Note: People born in Macau SAR and Taiwan are eligible to apply.

Note: all countries other than those listed above are eligible to apply.

When should I apply to the USA Diversity Visa (DV) program?

Each year, the DV lottery registration is open for a specific period. The State Department has announced that the application for the USA Diversity Visa Program (DV LOTTERY ) 2026 will start early (2nd) October 2024 and end early (5th) November.

Last year, The DV Lottery 2025 began on October 5, 2023 (Wednesday 12:00 pm EDT or 8:00 PM Afghanistan time) and finished on November 8, 2023 (Wednesday 12:00 pm EDT or 8:00 PM Afghanistan time).

Who is eligible to apply for the USA green card?

• Be natives of countries with historically low rates of migration to the United States.
• Born in eligible countries (or his/her spouse born in eligible countries)
• Having at least a high school education (12 years) or equivalent, or having at least two years of experience in an occupation that requires a minimum of two years of training or experience to perform.
• Married applicants may include their spouses and unmarried children under 21 years of age.

Necessary Information to complete your entry

• Recent photographs of all the members who want to apply (taken within the six months)
• Your photo must meet the same standards as a U.S. Visa photo
• Mailing Address (City/Town, District/Province/States, Postal Code/Zip Code)
• The place/country you live today
• Contact Number (Optional)
• Email Address
• Your education degree (primary school, secondary school, high school, vocational school, university degrees)
• Marital Status
• Number of Children (List name, date of birth, gender, place of birth)
• Married children and those children who are over 21 years of age must submit their entries separately

Note: A passport is not required for the 2026 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program.

The requirement of the photo:

• Dimension: 1200x 1200 pixels or 600×600 pixels
• The existing photo scan should be 51×51 mm in size and 300 pixels per inch resolution
• Taken in full-face view directly facing the camera
• Taken in front of plain white or off-white background
• Your both eyes must be open
• Your clothes must be normal
• No hat, headphones, wireless hands-free devices, or eyeglasses.
• Your image must be in JPEG file format, less than 240 kb, and height must equal width (600*600 pixels)
• While taking a photo of your baby or toddler no other person should be in the photo and look directly at the camera with his/her eyes open.

Passport requirement: 

For DV 2022, and 2023,  the Main applicants needed a valid traveling passport. Fortunately, this year, the DV program has removed this requirement and does not need the details of the passport at the time of application.

Note: Do not submit an entry to the DV program unless you meet the above requirements.

How to apply?

The person meeting the above requirement can fill out the online application form available only on the DV Lottery Official Website.

Steps:

1. Applicants do not need to create an account,
2. Click the apply now button below and select the entry when the page opens.
3. Fill out your details carefully and
4. upload your photo that meets the USA visa requirement in your respective field.
5. Add the details of your spouse and children ( if you have)
6. Review and check if your information is correct or not (if there is something entered wrong, you can edit it)
7. When everything is ok, you can submit the form.
8. After submission, a new page appears that shows your application submitted successfully and contain a confirmation number.
9. Print or Save a PDF file of this number.

Please pay attention to print and/or save a pdf file of this confirmation because the DV program does not send you any confirmation of your application, and the confirmation number is the only way that you can check your result when it is announced.

Remember to include your family name, and first name according to your passport (middle name if it is included in your passport). List your name in the following order: last/family name, first name, middle name, and if you have only one name, enter it in the last/family name field.

We encourage you to apply by yourself. If other facilitators offer help, you should be present at the time of entry to provide correct answers to the questions, retain your unique confirmation number, and print out your confirmation screen. It is essential to keep the printout of your confirmation page and confirmation number.

You also should keep access to the email account listed in your E-DV entry.

Complete your Electronic Entry for the DV-2026 Program via the dvprogram.state.gov before November 5, 2024.

Result Announcement:

The result for US DV 2026 will be announced on May 3rd, 2025. The US Diversity Visa (DV) 2025 result was announced on May 6th, 2024, at noon US time, and you can check your result at the link below. Due to the enormous traffic from all over the world, the website may not be working in the first hours of the result announcement. Do not worry; you can check it later as well.

(Check Your Result Here)

How to check your DV Lottery results

If you applied for DV 2024, 2025 you can check your results until the following dates, in order: 30 September 2024- 30 September 2025.

Have you forgotten your confirmation number?

If you have forgotten/lost your confirmation number, do not worry; you can retrieve it easily.

Information required:

• Last name,
• Name,
• Date of Birth and
• email address

Check this link, select the year of DV you applied for (2024/2025), fill in the required info (such as your Last name, Name, Date of Birth, and email address), and type the authentication character shown on the page and click submit to retrieve your confirmation number.

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