State Department Announces FY2026 Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery Application Dates: October 2 to November 5, 2024
The State Department just released its instructions for the DV-2026 Lottery for a chance to secure one of the 55,000 green cards available next fiscal year (FY 2025). The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program was mandated by Congress to allow immigration from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the U.S.
Individuals from the following countries are NOT eligible to apply because more than 50,000 natives of those countries immigrated to the U.S. in the previous five years:
Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (including Hong Kong), Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Venezuela, and Vietnam.
Persons born in Macau SAR and Taiwan are eligible.
With the exception of Cuba, which is not eligible for DV-2026, there were no changes in eligibility from the previous year.
If you were not born in an eligible country, you may be eligible based on your spouse’s country of birth or in limited circumstances, based on one of your parent’s country of birth or country of legal residence at time of your birth. Please see the instructions for precise eligibility criteria.
In addition to country of birth, eligibility for the DV Lottery requires the equivalent of a U.S. high school education, or work for at least two years within the last five in a qualifying occupation, There is no cost to register. Individuals who apply more than once will be disqualified.
Applicants must submit entries for the DV-2026 electronically between Wednesday, October 2, 2024 at 12:00pm EST and Tuesday, November 5, 2024 at 12:00pm EST. The DV 2026 Lottery results will be available starting May 3, 2025 via the Entrant Status Check online tool only (ie, you will NOT receive an email).
You may only submit one entry per person. More than one entry will disqualify all entries for that person.
We recommend applicants closely review and follow the FAQs and DV Instructions provided by the State Department.
