Applications are now open for the United States Diversity Visa Lottery (DV-2026) Program, an annual program for up to 55,000 immigrants from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Interested applicants are encouraged to submit their application while ensuring that they follow the guidelines for submission.
The Department of State administers the Diversity Visa (DV) immigrant visa program, which is an annual program for immigration to the United States. The Department will then conduct a random selection of Diversity Immigrant Visa applicants, based on allocations of available visas in each region and country, from all entries.
See Also: USA Skilled Worker Visa 2024-25 (EB3 Visa) | Requirements, Costs and Benefits
United States Diversity Visa Lottery (DV-2026) | Eligibility Criteria
To be considered eligible for the US Diversity Visa Lottery (DV-2026) Program, applicants must meet the following criteria:
Requirement #1:
Natives of countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States may be eligible to enter. If you were not born in an eligible country, there are two other ways you might be able to qualify.
- Is your spouse born in a country whose natives are eligible? If yes, you can claim your spouse’s country of birth – provided that both you and your spouse are named on the selected entry, are found eligible and issued diversity visas, and enter the United States simultaneously.
- Were you born in a country whose natives are ineligible, but in which neither of your parents was born or legally resident at the time of your birth? If yes, you may claim the country of birth of one of your parents if it is a country whose natives are eligible for the DV 2026 program.
Requirement #2:
Each DV applicant must meet the education/work experience requirement of the DV program by having either:
- at least a high school education or its equivalent, defined as successful completion of a 12-year course of formal elementary and secondary education.
OR
- two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience to perform. The Department of State will use the U.S. Department of Labor’s O*Net Online database to determine qualifying work experience.
Application Procedures
How-to-Apply: Interested applicants for the United States Diversity Visa Lottery (DV-2026) Program are to submit their entries online using the application portal as submission using any other means will not be accepted. There is no cost to submitthe online entry form. Please use an updated browser when submitting your application; older browsers (Internet Explorer 8, for example) will likely encounter problems with the online DV system.
After you submit a complete entry, you will see a confirmation screen containing your name and a unique confirmation number. Print this confirmation screen for your records. Starting May3, 2025, you will be able to check the status of your entry by returning to the online portal, clicking on Entrant Status Check, and entering your unique confirmation number and personal information. You must use Entrant Status Check to check if you have been selected for DV-2026 and, if selected, to view instructions on how to proceed with your application.
Applicants are to provide all of the following information while submitting their entries:
- Name – last/family name, first name, middle name – exactly as it appears on your passport, if you have a passport.
- Gender
- Birth date
- City where you were born
- Country where you were born
- Country of eligibility for the DV program
- Entrant photograph(s) –Recent photographs (taken within the last six months) of yourself, your spouse, and all your derivative children included on your entry.
- Mailing address
- Country where you live today.
- Phone number (optional)
- Email address
- Highest level of education
- Current marital status
- Number of children
Application Deadline: November 5th, 2024