The US Diversity Visa Lottery Program allows every year about 55,000 nationals of eligible countries to settle permanently in the US. This program through a random selection after fulfilling certain requirements provides a chance to get an immigrant visa (Green Card).
The Department of State every year opens registration which allows eligible candidates to apply for the immigrant visa lottery program. Successful candidates use an online portal to check the status of their application and once selected can apply for a Green Card.
Who can apply for the Diversity Visa Lottery?
There are certain eligibility criteria to apply for the Diversity Visa lottery program which are as follows:
- the applicant is a citizen of a country that has a low migration rate to the US or your spouse comes from such country;
- the applicant has a minimum of 12 years of successful qualification from school or work experience.
When does the DV Lottery Registration Open?
The registration opens each year as per the instructions of the State Department. However, mostly the time slot is chosen between September and October. For example for the “DV Lottery 2025“, the registration dates to apply were 3 October 2023 to 7 September 2023. The registration dates for the “DV Lottery 2026” have not been announced yet.
Diversity Visa Eligible Countries
There are no set-aside countries overall instead the government of the US announces each year the eligible countries. It depends if a certain country has not had more than 50,000 citizens immigrating to the US in the last five years. According to these rules, citizens of the following countries are not eligible for the DV lottery program:
| Bangladesh | Brazil | Canada | Philippines | Colombia |
| Dominican Republic | El Salvador | Haiti | Honduras | India |
| jamaica | Mexico | Nigeria | Pakistan | |
| Republic of Korea (South Korea) | Venezuela | Vietnam | The People’s Republic of China (including mainland and Hong Kong-born) |
Citizens of other than the above-mentioned countries can apply for the Diversity Visa (Immigrant Stream).
Diversity Visa Fee
The Diversity Visa fee to be paid for each applicant is $330.00. Please note the fee is paid separately for each applicant. The fee included the immigrant fee and the Biometric fee.
Eligibility Requirements of the Diversity Visa?
The eligibility for the diversity visa US is based on two requirements. YOu should only apply for the program if you qualify for both requirements. These are as follows:
Requirement 1 – Country eligibility
You are a citizen of a country that has a historically low rate of immigration to the US. Currently, the State Department has set aside a certain number for this. If less than 50,000 citizens from your country have migrated to the US during the last 5 years, you are eligible to apply for the DV lottery program.
What if you are not a citizen of an eligible country?
You can still apply for the DV letter visa if you are not from an eligible country decided by the States Department. This is possible:
- If your spouse belongs to a country with historically low immigration rates to the United States, you may be eligible to claim their country of birth. This applies if both you and your spouse are named on the selected entry, deemed eligible, issued diversity visas, and enter the United States simultaneously; or
- If you were not born in a country with historically low immigration rates to the United States and neither of your parents were born or legally residing there at the time of your birth, you may still be eligible to claim the country of birth of one of your parents.
Requirement 2 – Education or work experience
Certain education requirements can be met through a successful completion of studies or work experience. These could be either:
- a complete secondary or higher secondary school certification of a minimum of 12 years (only formal qualification is accepted and no equivalency certificates); or
- two years of work experience in the past 5 years. This should be in an occupation that requires a minimum of 2 years of training or experience to perform.
Please note the qualifying work experience will be assessed by the State Department through the O*Net Online database. This is also designated as Job Zone 4 or 5, classified in a Specific Vocational Preparation (SVP) rating of 7.0 or higher.
These requirements to be met are only for the main applicant. The spouse and children do not need to fulfill these requisites. At this stage, if you are unable to submit the required proofs, your application will be disqualified and you will not get the application fee refunded.
How to apply for the Diversity Visa program?
The application process of registration, selection, and visa application is done through an online process. The US Department of State has a dedicated portal to apply online for the DV Lottery. These are open once the registration dates are announced to apply. Both the registration and Status check portal are the same which can be accessed here. The application process consists of three parts:
1- Register for the DV Lottery
If you are an eligible candidate (you are from an eligible country and meet qualification requirements), you can register yourself once the registration portal is opened by the Department of State. The registration process is:
- you apply online on the DV lottery website;
- submission of a digital photo (see here the acceptable templates);
- you use the online form for the DV lottery and include your spouse and children’s information for their registration;
- upon acceptance of the application, a confirmation number is provided to you, which can be used to check the application status online;
- you must provide information from your valid international passport, unless exempted by the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of State, or unless the applicant is stateless, a citizen of a Communist-controlled country, and unable to obtain a passport from the Communist-controlled government;
- only a single entry is allowed per person;
- applications submitted on behalf of someone else are led to disqualification.
Please note any unclear information or improper photo submission will result in disqualification. Candidates are given more than a month to apply online through the dedicated portal.
Be sure about the misleading websites. Always choose the original DV Lottery Website.
2- Check Application Status
After the process of about 5 to 6 months, for random selection through a lottery procedure, the online status of applications is made available by the Department of State on their official website. There, you can check through the “Entrant Confirmation Number” your status of the application. Please note that you will not be contacted about your approval/disapproval status through email, SMS, or written confirmation. You instead have to check it through the online status page only.
3- Submit the application
Once you see the successful status on the online portal, you can also check the complete process of the immigrant visa application. You will see the application option in your online account to fill in the online DS-260 application to attend an interview. You should fill it out for all your family members.
If your family circumstances have changed such as you have a child born, you must mention it in the visa application. Once you have filled in the visa application, you need to sign it online and validate it. On the last page, enter the case number without zeros and this will validate the form. You should print the submission confirmation to take it to the embassy for the visa interview.
The visa application is submitted online directly to the Kentucky Consular Center. But they will not tell you if your family members also qualify for the visa. Only the visa consular at the embassy will let you know about the qualification. If you need to contact the KCC, you can write them email here KCCDV@state.gov. Do not forget to mention the case number or entrant number.
4- Submitting the Supporting Documents
You cannot directly submit the supporting documents at the time of visa application form submission. You will be told by the KCC in the online portal how to submit your documents. The supporting documents are:
- Qualification proofs;
- passport copies;
- work experience copies (if you use it as the alternative to the qualification);
- documents of your family relations.
The documents other than in English language must be submitted with the attested translation.
5- Schedule the Medical Examination
You must schedule an appointment with an authorized physician in the country where you will be interviewed for the medical examination. You must carry these with you to the interview. The envelope containing the medical examination documents must be sealed and not opened.
6- Paying the Visa Fee
The fee-paying procedure is different in countries. You will be guided after your application submission on how to pay the fee. In some countries, this is paid before the interview, in other countries the US embassy asks to pay it at the time of the interview.
7- Interview
After submitting the documents and visa application to KCC, you will be informed about attending the visa interview at the embassy of the US you mentioned in the visa form. You will receive a notification of the interview and details about it. You must print the notification and take it with you. You must attend the interview with all your family members (who are applying for the visa with you).
At the time of attending an interview, you must take the following documents with you:
- Appointment Information;
- DS-260 confirmation page;
- Passport(s): valid for six months beyond the intended date of entry into the U.S. for you and each family member applying for a visa;
- Original documents or certified copies of birth certificates, Police certificates, marriage certificates, etc.
A visa officer will conduct your interview to determine if you qualify for the immigrant visa. At this time, you will have to submit the Biometrics as well.
8- Visa Outcome
After the interview, you will be informed if the visa application has been successful or not. If the visa officer thinks your application is approved, you will be told when will be your passport with the visa returned to you. The Diversity Visa is labeled on your passport. You should travel to the US as soon as you get your visa.
If your visa application is denied, you will be informed about it. For some applicants, the visa officer needs further processing. For refused visa applications, regarding the administrative processing, the duration carries from country to country.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people are accepted for the DV lottery?
Through a random selection process, the State Department selects between 50,000 to 55,000 each year. The quota is chosen year when the registration process is announced.
How are DV lottery winners selected?
They are selected under a random selection process. The State Department announces after the registration process. There is no list issued for this process. The candidates have to check the online status in their account portal which can be accessed here.
Who is eligible for the DV lottery?
An applicant is eligible for the DV lottery if:
- the applicant is a citizen of a country that has a low migration rate to the US or your spouse comes from such country;
- the applicant has a minimum of 12 years of successful qualification from school or work experience.
What is the success rate of the DV lottery?
Provided that how many people apply for the DV lottery visa each year, the odds average is approximately 1.4%.
Can I apply for the DV lottery?
You can apply for the diversity visa program if:
- you are a citizen of a country that has a low migration rate to the US or your spouse comes from such country;
- you have a minimum of 12 years of successful qualification from school or work experience.
What are DV lottery-eligible countries?
The countries are decided each year by the State Department. It depends if a certain country has not had more than 50,000 citizens immigrating to the US in the last five years.