Registration Period Opens For Diversity Visa Lottery 2025

The Department of State (DOS) announced that applicants may now register online for the Diversity Visa program for fiscal year 2025 (“DV2025”).  The registration period opened on Wednesday, October 4, 2023 and will conclude on Tuesday, November 7, 2023, at 12:00 noon, EST.  To enter the Diversity Visa Lottery, individuals must submit their applications online during the registration period. We recommend eligible individuals to submit their registration as soon as possible. Individuals who submit more than one entry during the registration period will be disqualified.

The Diversity Visa program, commonly referred to as the “Green Card Lottery”, allows nationals of certain countries (i.e. those with low immigration rates to the United States) to register for a chance to apply for a U.S. immigrant visa. The annual DV program makes 55,000 permanent residence visas available to persons meeting certain eligibility requirements based on a computer-generated random drawing.

There are two requirements to be eligible for the DV program. First, registrants must be born in a qualifying country. The selected winners of the lottery will be distributed among six geographic regions with a greater number of visas going to regions with lower rates of immigration, with no visas going to persons born in countries sending more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. over the period of the past five years. Within each region, no one country may receive more than 7% of the available Diversity Visas in any one year. For the first-time since the DV program was established in 1990, persons born in the United Kingdom are eligible to register for the DV lottery. 

For DV-2025, persons born in the following countries are NOT eligible for the DV program due to the high volume of immigrants coming from those countries:

Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (Including Hong Kong SAR), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Venezuela, Vietnam

Secondly, registrants must have at least a high school education or its equivalent, defined as successful completion of a 12-year course of elementary and secondary education; or, two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience to perform. Spouses and unmarried children under age 21 of successful registrants may also apply for visas to accompany or follow to join the principal applicant.

We encourage persons who seek permanent residence in the United States, and who are not born in one of the excluded countries listed above, and who meet the minimum eligibility requirements, to register for the DV program. Even if the person is being sponsored by an employer for permanent residence, the DV program may provide a means of obtaining a green card more quickly in some cases. 

Registrants can check the status of their applications starting on May 4, 2024. It is important to note that selection in the DV lottery does not guarantee greencard approval. All selected registrants must be found eligible for, and obtain, their immigrant visa or adjust status by September 30, 2025.  Under no circumstances can the DOS issue DV immigrant visas nor can the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) approve adjustments after this date, nor can family members obtain immigrant visas to follow-to-join the principal applicant in the United States after this date. Given the limited number of visas available, selected registrants should act promptly in submitting their materials and pursuing their application.

Registration for the DV program is free and easy, and must be done electronically through the DOS’ website. The process does not require the assistance of an attorney. (If the person is selected for a DV visa, filing fees will be required for the application process, and it may be helpful to engage the services of an attorney at that point).

For complete instructions on the registration process and the eligibility requirements, please visit the DOS' website.