Immigration Guide
The DV Lottery offers 55,000 green cards annually to people from underrepresented countries. Here's everything you need to know about entering and winning in 2025.
The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV Lottery) was created by the Immigration Act of 1990 to increase the diversity of immigrants coming to the United States. Congress set aside 55,000 (reduced to 50,000 in years when the Nicaraguan Adjustment Act applies) immigrant visas annually for nationals of countries that have historically sent fewer immigrants to the US. The program is administered by the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs.
The DV Lottery operates on a fiscal year cycle. Each year, the State Department accepts electronic registrations during a defined registration period (typically October-November), randomly selects winners, and notifies selectees the following May. Selectees then complete the immigrant visa process and, if approved, can immigrate to the US as diversity visa immigrants. All 55,000 visas must be issued before the end of the fiscal year (September 30), unused visas are lost.
The program has attracted substantial political controversy over the years. Critics argue that it allocates visas randomly without regard for skills or family connections. Supporters argue that it creates genuine immigration opportunity for nationals of countries otherwise underrepresented in the US immigrant population, promotes national diversity, and uses an objective, merit-neutral selection process. As of 2025, the program continues despite periodic legislative attempts to eliminate it.
Each year, the State Department publishes a list of eligible and ineligible countries based on immigration data from the previous five years. Countries that have sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the US in the past five years are considered "high-admission" countries and their natives are ineligible for that year's lottery. This list changes annually and must be verified before each registration period. Natives of currently eligible countries should take advantage of the program as their eligibility may change.
There are two basic eligibility requirements for the DV Lottery beyond country eligibility: education and work experience. You must have either (1) a high school education or its equivalent, defined as successful completion of a 12-year course of formal elementary and secondary education, OR (2) two years of work experience in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience within the past five years. Both the education and work experience requirements must be met as of the date of the lottery application.
Country eligibility is determined by birth country, specifically, the country in which you were born. This is not always the same as your nationality or current country of residence. A person born in an ineligible country may qualify through their spouse's birth country (if the spouse was born in an eligible country and both will be issued visas together) or through their parents' birth countries (if neither parent was born or lived in the birth country). These derivative eligibility rules allow many people to benefit even if their own birth country is ineligible.
There are no income, asset, or employment offer requirements at the registration stage. The DV Lottery is open to nationals of eligible countries regardless of income level or professional status, making it uniquely accessible compared to other immigration categories. However, at the visa application stage, public charge requirements apply, you must demonstrate financial self-sufficiency or have a US sponsor.
Prior immigration violations can affect DV Lottery eligibility and the subsequent visa application. Individuals who have been previously ordered removed or deported from the US, who have overstayed visas, or who have other inadmissibility grounds may still enter the lottery but will face additional scrutiny during the visa application process. These issues should be disclosed honestly and may require waivers.
Registration for the DV Lottery is done exclusively through the State Department's official website: dvprogram.state.gov. There is no fee to enter. The registration form requires: the applicant's full name, date of birth, gender, city and country of birth, photograph(s) meeting specific technical requirements, and mailing address. Each applicant may submit only one entry, multiple entries by the same person result in disqualification for that program year.
Photographs are a frequent source of rejection. The photo must be a recent, color, front-facing photograph against a plain white or off-white background, meeting specific pixel dimension requirements. The face must be clearly visible, centered, and not obscured by hats, sunglasses, or other items. Technical photograph errors, incorrect dimensions, improper background, or image quality issues, can result in rejection of an otherwise qualifying entry. Use the State Department's photo validation tool before submitting.
After the registration period closes, the State Department randomly selects winning entries from each geographic region in proportion to each region's annual visa allocation. Selectee notifications are made available through the Entrant Status Check at dvprogram.state.gov starting in May. There is no other official notification, if you receive unsolicited emails or letters claiming you won the DV Lottery before checking the official website, these are almost certainly scams. Never pay money to claim a DV Lottery win.
Many more entries are selected than the 55,000 available visas because not all selectees will complete the visa process successfully or in time. Selectees receive a case number within one of the six geographic regions. Lower case numbers in each region are processed first. If your case number is high, you may not be interviewed before the end of the fiscal year and the visa may never be issued even if you are otherwise eligible. Monitoring the monthly Visa Bulletin for DV case number cutoffs is important for high-number selectees.
If selected in the DV Lottery, you will be directed to create a case account at ceac.state.gov (the Consular Electronic Application Center) and complete Form DS-260 (Online Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration Application). You must also submit civil documents (birth certificates, marriage certificates, police clearances) and financial documentation. The National Visa Center (NVC) coordinates document collection before your case is scheduled for a consular interview.
The consular interview is conducted at the US embassy or consulate in the country where you are applying. You must bring original civil documents, photographs, the immigrant visa fee (currently $330 for the DV immigrant visa), your medical examination results (Form I-693 equivalent for consular processing), and an Affidavit of Support or other evidence of financial self-sufficiency. The consular officer will ask about your background, plans in the US, and the information you provided in your DS-260.
If approved, you will receive your immigrant visa and can enter the US as a lawful permanent resident. The DV visa is stamped in your passport and serves as temporary proof of permanent residence until the green card arrives. You must enter the US before the visa expiration date, typically one year from medical examination, but no later than September 30 of the fiscal year for which the visa was issued. Once you enter, your green card will be mailed to your US address within a few months.
DV winners who are already in the US on a nonimmigrant visa may be able to adjust status using Form I-485 instead of going through consular processing. This is possible when your priority date is current (it almost always is for DV cases given the lottery selection mechanism) and you are otherwise eligible for adjustment. Consult an immigration attorney about whether AOS or consular processing is more advantageous for your specific situation.
🎲 Lottery Denied?
Don't panic. An immigration attorney can explore alternative pathways, H1B transfers, cap-exempt sponsorship, EB green cards. Get professional guidance before the next lottery cycle.
Find an Immigration Attorney →Submitting multiple entries is the most common, and most consequential, mistake. USCIS explicitly disqualifies any applicant who submits more than one entry for a given year. If family members are applying, each person submits their own separate entry. The temptation to submit multiple entries to improve the odds must be resisted absolutely, it guarantees disqualification.
Photograph errors cause many entries to be rejected at initial processing. Use the State Department's photo checker tool and submit a properly formatted photo rather than a casual selfie or cell phone photo. Photos must meet specific technical standards that differ from typical social media or passport photo requirements. When in doubt, have a professional passport photo taken and verify compliance before submission.
Missing documents or incomplete DS-260 forms cause delays in visa processing. For high-case-number selectees, delays mean risk of not being processed before September 30. The moment you know you are a selectee, begin gathering documents, birth certificates, marriage certificates, police clearances from each country you have lived in, and military records, immediately. Some documents from certain countries take months to obtain.
DV Lottery scams are pervasive. Many fraudulent organizations charge money to enter the lottery (it is free), claim to improve lottery chances (impossible), or demand fees to "process" a winning notification. The only official DV Lottery website is dvprogram.state.gov. Never pay anyone to enter the lottery or claim your selection. If you receive any unsolicited communication about DV Lottery winnings before checking the official website yourself, treat it as a scam.
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Immigration Research & Policy Analysis
Our team monitors USCIS policy updates and processing time data. All guides are reviewed for accuracy against current USCIS guidance.