Have you ever dreamed of living and working in the United States? If so, you might be interested in the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, also known as the DV lottery or the green card lottery. This program is a unique opportunity for people from countries with low immigration rates to the United States to obtain a permanent resident visa, or green card through a random selection process.
The Diversity Immigrant Program for this year, 2023 is called DV-2025 because, after applying in 2023, selection and processing is done in 2024 and when qualified, you finally get to enter the U.S. in 2025.
The DV lottery is administered by the U.S. Department of State every year. The program aims to diversify the U.S. immigrant population by selecting applicants from countries that have sent less than 50,000 immigrants to the United States in the previous five years. The program allocates 55,000 visas annually, of which 5,000 are reserved for applicants from countries with historically low rates of immigration under the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American relief Act (NACARA).
To be eligible for the DV lottery, you must meet two basic requirements:
- You must be a citizen of a qualifying country (Open this link to check Qualifying countries)
- You must have at least a high school education or its equivalent, or two years of work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience.
The DV Program usually runs from October to November each year. This year's diversity program begun on Tuesday, October 4, 2023, and will end on Wednesday, November 7, 2023.
The Application Process
To enter the DV lottery, you must submit an online form on the Electronic Diversity Visa website during the period of the registration, which opened on the 4th of October and is currently running (link to begin application is provided below). The electronic form is a one-time online form that cannot be downloaded or saved to be completed later. Once you start application, you are supposed to finish and submit it within the allocated time (60 minutes). When the 60 minutes is exhausted, any incomplete or partially filled form is deleted from the system to avoid duplicate of a complete form you may enter later. Therefore, before you start, you must make sure that you have all the details and documents with you.
At the entry level, you must provide the following personal information:
- Name
- Date of birth
- Gender
- City of birth
- Country of birth
- Country of eligibility
- Mailing address
- Email address
- An optional phone number
- Educational/Work qualification
- Marital status
- Spouse's information (if applicable)
- Children's information (if applicable)
- A recent digital photograph that meets the photo requirement (Digital Photo Requirements). For examples of required photo click here to open the link.
After you submit your application, you will receive a confirmation number that you must keep until the end of the DV Program. The confirmation number is displayed together with your name and date of birth immediately after submitting your application. You can use this number to check your entry status on the Entrant Status Check web page (link provide below) starting from May of the following year, i.e., May 2024. Note that you will not receive any notification by mail, email or phone: it is your responsibility to check your status online. If you are selected in the lottery, you will be directed to a confirmation page that provides further instructions on how to apply for the immigrant visa.
Being selected in the lottery does not guarantee that you will receive a visa; it only means that you are eligible to apply for one. You must meet all the eligibility and admissibility criteria under the U.S immigration law, and you must submit an online immigration visa and alien registration application (DS-260) and supporting documents to the Kentucky Consular Center (KCC). You must also pay the required fees and attend an interview at a U.S. embassy or consulate in your country of residence. The visas are issued in numerical order according to your case number and regional allocation. The issuance of the diversity visa ends on September 30 of each fiscal year; if you do not obtain a visa by then, your selection will expire, and you will have to try again the following year.
Watch a step-by-step guide on how to apply without mistakes 👇
The American Lottery also known as the DV program is a chance for many people around the world to pursue their American dream. It provides a way to enter the U.S. on a very low budget. However, it is also a complex and a competitive process that requires careful preparation and follow-up. If you are interest in participating in the DV Program 2025, you should visit the official website for more information and guidance (DV-2025). You should also beware of scams and frauds that may try to deceive you or charge you money for services related to the DV lottery.
Remember that no fee is required to apply for the lottery and that no one can guarantee your selection or visa approval. On the other hand, there are certain unofficial agents or persons who have decided to apply on behalf of individuals who for some reasons can't apply for themselves and they do this at a minimal charge. It is advised that you read all instructions carefully and apply accordingly to avoid any mistakes that may result in your application being denied or disqualified.
Eligible Countries
AFRICA: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cote D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Guinea-Bissau Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Note that natives of Nigeria are not eligible for this year's DV-Program
ASIA: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bhutan, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, United Arab Emirates, Yemen. Note that natives of the following countries in Asia are not qualified; Bangladesh, China (including Hong Kong), India, Pakistan, South Korea, Philippines, and Vietnam.
EUROPE: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark (including components and dependent areas overseas), Estonia, Finland, France (including components and dependent areas overseas), Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau Special Administrative Region, North Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands (including components and dependent areas overseas), Northern Ireland, Norway (including components and dependent areas overseas), Poland, Portugal (including components and dependent areas overseas), Romania, Russia*, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Kingdom (including dependent areas), Uzbekistan, Vatican City.
NORTH AMERICA: The Bahamas. In North America, natives of Canada and Mexico are not eligible for this year’s DV program.
OCEANIA: Australia (including components and dependent areas overseas), Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand (including components and dependent areas overseas), Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu.
SOUTH AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay.
Note that countries in this region whose natives are not eligible are Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, and Venezuela
We hope this has given you some insight into what the American Lottery/DV program is and how it works. If you have any questions and comments, please don't hesitate to share them below. Good luck!
To apply for the DV program, follow this link to the DV-2025 website DV Program
Watch the video below👇 to learn How to Crop your Photo on the DV-Program website with the Photo Tool to meet the required size.
The links below may be helpful to you:
Download instructions for DV Program 2025: DV-2025 instructions
Digital Photo Requirement: travel.state.gov
Photo Examples: travel.state.gov
List of eligible countries DV - 2025 Eligibility
Begin a new entry/Start a new application: dvprogram.state.gov
DV Entrants status Check: Electronic Diversity Visa (state.gov)
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