The United States Department of State and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) have announced several significant updates relating to the 2026 Diversity Lottery Program.

Dates and Eligibility Requirements: What You Need To Know

The State Department recently announced that this year’s Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery filings will open on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, at noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST). The entry period will close on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, at noon EST. Fifty-five thousand (55,000) visa applicants will be selected starting on May 3, 2025. Applicants who submit more than one entry for a person will disqualify all entries for that person. Applicants selected in the 2026 Diversity Lottery can submit their green card applications starting on October 1, 2025.

Applications may only be submitted electronically at the State Department website at https://dvprogram.state.gov/. The State Department has encouraged individuals not to wait until the last minute to apply for the lottery. There is no charge to apply, and applicants should maintain all information concerning the completion of registration in a safe place for follow-up in May 2025, when the random lottery results become available.

• Who May Apply: Individuals from all countries, except for Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, The People’s Republic of China (including Mainland and Hong Kong-born), Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea (South Korea), Venezuela and Vietnam.

    *** Natives of Macau SAR and Taiwan are eligible. 

  The program aims to attract individuals from countries with historically low immigration to the United States.

• Level of Education and Experience: Each DV applicant must meet the education/work experience requirement by having at least a high school education or equivalent or two years of work experience in the past five years in an occupation requiring two years of training or experience.
• How to Apply: Applications may only be filed electronically at dvprogram.state.gov from noon EST on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, until noon EST on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. There is no fee for the filing and for this reason, the Department of State warns that any service or website charging a fee for the submission is fraudulent.

When Will You Be Notified If You Are a Winner?

Random selection of individual applications will be made by computer from among qualified entries commencing May 3, 2025 through September 30, 2025. Entrants can check their status on the E-DV Website (https://dvprogram.state.gov/), and the ‘entrant status webpage’ commencing May 3, 2025. Please note that if more than one application is submitted per applicant, that applicant is disqualified. However, in family situations, all family members may apply for the Lottery, assuming they meet the eligibility criteria.

Our Immigration Team will continue to monitor this and other immigration-related developments.