Which country is eligible for DV Lottery 2024?

The United States Government grants 50,000 permanent resident cards (green cards) each year to individuals from other countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. The Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery was established in the 1996 Immigration Act by the United States Congress to diversify the American population. To qualify for the DV Lottery this year, applicants must meet two specific requirements. (Note, this year’s (2023) DV Lottery is called the DV-2025 Lottery, where 2025 is the year the winners may enter the United States on their new permanent resident card that they won in this years DV Lottery.) Most individuals 18 years and older worldwide, qualify to enter the DV Lottery. If you would like to enter the DV-2025 Lottery, you must meet two simple, but strict eligibility requirements. Natives from countries who have sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States over the past five years are not eligible to enter the Diversity Visa Lottery. See the DV Lottery Requirements for the list of countries whose nationals are not eligible to enter the DV Lottery this year. Note, this list will change each year.

The DV-2025 Lottery Application deadline is approaching.

Electronic Diversity Visa Lottery Registration

The United States Government implemented the electronic on-line application system in 2003, beginning with the Diversity Visa DV-2005 Lottery, in order to make the DV Lottery process faster, efficient and more secure. As a result, Diversity Visa Lottery applications are only accepted on-line; the United States Government no longer accepts paper applications. The United States Government actively uses specialized information technology and other screening tools to identify any applicant who commits fraud for the sole purpose of entering the United States illegally and to identify those who submit multiple applications in a specific DV Lottery year. The United States Government will only accept one application from any qualified applicant each DV Lottery year and submitting multiple entries will result in you and your co-applicants being disqualified. The DV Lottery on-line application process is a secure, fast and reliable process to enter the American DV Lottery.

The DV Lottery Entry Process:

• Pass the DV Lottery test to ensure you qualify
• Pay the administrative DV Lottery application fee
• Receive your username and password to your on-line account
• Log into to your account and complete your information
• Provide/upload photos of yourself and any co-applicant
• Submit your DV Lottery application
• Check on-line, if you won your Green Card in the DV Lottery

Application Login

DV Lottery History

The congressionally mandated Diversity Visa Green Card Lottery Program is administered on an annual basis by the Department of State and conducted based on United States law, specifically Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). This law provides for visas to be made available to persons from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. For fiscal year 2025, 50,000 Permanent Resident cards will be available. A Permanent Resident card is also known as a Green Card due to the green color of the card.

DV Lottery Requirements

Before you can enter the DV-2025 Lottery, you must pass the DV Lottery eligibility test. If you pass the DV Lottery eligibility test, you are welcome to register and enter the DV-2025 Lottery for a chance to win one of the 50,000 permanent resident cards (green cards) that will be granted to the winners in January 2025.

This years Green Card Lottery, the DV-2025 Diversity Visa Lottery is open to all individuals world-wide until November 8, 2023 at noon US East Coast time. Any applicant that wishes to enter this immigration program must first pass two basic immigration entry requirements:

1. DV2025 applicants must be native of a Qualifying Country to Enter the Green Card Lottery

Before any applicant can enter the DV-2025 Green Card Lottery they must be born in a qualifying country. Qualifying countries are defines as countries with low immigration rates to the US. If an applicant was born in a county with a high US immigration rate they would be excluded from the DV Lottery. Below is a list that details the countries whose natives are currently excluded from participating in the Green Card Lottery. Eligibility is sole determined by country of birth, not by country of citizenship or country of residence. This is the most common misconception and will get you disqualified. As the list of qualifying countries changes each year, check back every year to see if your country might qualify next year.

There are two changes to the list below compared to the list from last years lottery, people born in Venezuela are not eligible to apply in the DV2025 lottery, while people born in Guatemala are eligible to apply in the DV2025 lottery.

If you are a native of one of the following countries, then you are excluded from entering the DV2025 Green Card Lottery program this year:

• Bangladesh
• Brazil
• Canada
• China (Including Hong Kong SAR)
• Colombia
• Dominican Republic
• El Salvador
• Haiti
• Honduras
• India
• Jamaica
• Mexico
• Nigeria
• Pakistan
• Philippines
• South Korea
• United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland)
• Venezuela
• Vietnam

Note that United Kingdom includes the following dependent areas: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St. Helena, and Turks and Caicos Islands. Northern Ireland does qualify.

Natives from all other countries not in the list above, may register for the DV2025 Green Card Lottery.

People born in the Gaza Strip are chargeable to Egypt for the DV2025 Green Card Lottery this year.

People born in Macau SAR and Taiwan are also eligible to enter the DV2025 Lottery.

Note, you may still qualify even if you were born in a non-qualifying country

Applicants that were born in a none-qualifying country may still be able to enter the DV2025 Green Card Lottery based on the native country of their parents or spouse:

Example, if you were born in a none qualifying country, but the you spouse was born in a qualifying country, then you can claim your spouse’s country of birth as your country of eligibility. I.e. you may claim chargeability to the country where your spouse was born, provided that both you and your spouse are on the selected DV2025 lottery application. In such cases, you will not be issued a diversity visa green card unless

• your spouse also is eligible for and issued a DV green card,
• and both you and your spouse enter the United States together with your diversity visa green cards.

Example: Let’s assume that you were born in India, where natives born in India do not qualify to enter the DV2025 lottery. Let’s assume your spouse was born in Spain, a country whose natives do qualify to enter the green card lottery, then you can claim your spouse’s country of birth (Spain) as your country of eligibility as long as you also include your spouse on your DV2025 lottery application.

Note that a minor dependent child can be “charged” to its parent’s country of birth in a similar manner.

Another exception is, if you were born in a none qualifying country, you can still be “charged” to either of your parents country of birth, of as long as neither of your parents were a resident of the country of your birth at the time of your birth. In general, people are not considered residents of a country in which they were not born or legally naturalized, your parents might have lived only temporarily in the ineligible country because of their jobs. If you parents were only visiting the country, studying in the country temporarily, or just on behalf of a company or government stationed in the country for business or professional reasons, they would not be considered residence of the country when you were born.

If you claim chargeability to another country than your country of birth, then you must clearly indicate that information on your Green Card Lottery entry form that must be completed after you have registered successfully, under the country of Eligibility. Be aware, if you list an incorrect country of eligibility or chargeability (i.e. one to which you cannot establish a valid claim) you may disqualify your entire application and everyone one it.

2. DV-2025 Education or Work experience that will qualify you

To enter the DV2025 immigration visa program, you must meet at lease one of the two requirements listed below (Option 1 or Option 2):

OPTION 1:

To qualify for the DV2025 Lottery, an applicant must have completed a US High School degree or a foreign equivalent of US High School degree “High School Degree or its equivalent” means the successful completion of at least 12 year course of elementary and secondary education in the US or successful completion in another country of a formal course of elementary and secondary education comparable to complete a 12 year education in the U.S. Passage of a high school equivalency examination is not sufficient. It is permissible to have completed one’s education in less than 12 years or greater than 12 years if the course of study completed is equivalent to a US High School Degree; or

OPTION 2:

To qualify for the DV2025 Lottery, an applicant must have worked in at least one of the following occupations for at least 2 years within the last 5 years:

• Click here to view all the qualifying DV2025 jobs

Applicants should not to submit proof that they satisfy these requirements when registering for the DV2025 Lottery, but proof must be provided and will be required by a consular officer when the applicant formally applies for the permanent residence visa. If you do not meet these two basic requirements, you should not apply for the DV2025 Lottery as you will get disqualified if you do. You will be required to provide proof of your education, and/or your work experience and your country of birth after you have been selected. Of the same reason, you are not required to submit this information now in the registration form for the Green Card Lottery.

Will DV lottery be open for 2024?

Which countries are eligible for DV Lottery 2025?

What are the requirements for DV Lottery 2024?

When can I apply for Diversity Visa 2024?