The U.S. Diversity Visa Program 2026 (DV-2026)

Program Overview

The U.S. Department of State annually administers the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, established by law. Section 203(c) of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides a visa category for a group of immigrants called “diversity immigrants”—those who are citizens of countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States.

In Fiscal Year 2026, a maximum of 55,000 Diversity Visas (DVs) will be issued. Application for the DV program is completely free. However, those selected and scheduled for an interview will have to pay a visa application fee before formally submitting their visa application. At the interview, the consular officer will determine whether the applicant is eligible for the visa.

Applicants selected through the program (called selectees) must meet simple but rigorous requirements to be eligible for the Diversity Visa (DV). Selection is made using a random computer system operated by the Department of Foreign Affairs. Diversity Visas are allocated across six geographic regions, and no single country receives more than 7% of the total DV visas in a given year.

Countries/territories that are not eligible for DV-2026

For DV-2026, those born in the following countries and territories are ineligible to apply, because in the past five years more than 50,000 people from these countries have immigrated to the United States:

• Bangladesh
• Brazil
• Canada
• Mainland China and Hong Kong
• Colombia
• Cuba
• Dominican Republic
• El Salvador
• Haiti
• Honduras
• India
• Jamaica
• Mexico
• Nigeria
• Pakistan
• Philippines
• South Korea
• Venezuela
• Vietnam

Note: Individuals born in Macau (SAR) and Taiwan are still eligible.

With the exception of Cuba (which is ineligible for DV-2026), the list of remaining countries remains unchanged from the previous fiscal year.

Eligibility requirements for the Diversity Visa (DV) program.

Requirement #1: Country of Eligibility

People born in countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States may be eligible to participate.

If you weren't born in a qualifying country, there are still two other ways to qualify:

• Through your spouse: If your spouse was born in a country with a low immigration rate, you can "borrow" their country of birth, provided that:
  • Both husband and wife stated in their DV exam application,
  • Both were eligible and were granted DV visas.
  • The two individuals entered the United States at the same time.
• Through parents: If you were born in an ineligible country, and neither of your parents were born into or legally resided in that country at the time of your birth, you may “borrow” your father’s or mother’s country of birth, if that country is on the DV-2026 eligibility list.

(See FAQ for details).

Requirement #2: Education or Work Experience

Each participant in the DV must meet one of the following two conditions:

• Education: Must have a high school diploma or equivalent, meaning completion of 12 years of general education (primary and secondary school).
  OR
• Work experience : At least 2 years of work experience within the last 5 years, in a profession requiring at least 2 years of training or experience to perform.

The State Department will use the U.S. Department of Labor's O*Net Online database to determine which jobs qualify. (See the FAQ for more details.)

⚠️ Note: You should not apply for DV if you do not meet both of the above requirements.

Application deadline DV-2026

• The system opens at 12:00 noon (EDT, GMT-4), Wednesday, October 2, 2024.
• System shutdown: 12:00 noon (EST, GMT-5), Thursday, November 7, 2024
• Submit online only at: dvprogram.state.gov

⚠️ Don't wait until the last week as network congestion may occur.
⚠️ Late applications or paper applications will not be accepted.
⚠️ Each person is only allowed to submit one application per term.
If you submit more than the allowed number of applications, the system will detect it and reject all of them.

Selection of Entries

Based on the visa quotas available for each region and country, the Department of Foreign Affairs will randomly select eligible applications using a computer.

All participants in DV-2026 must check their Entrant Status (dvprogram.state.gov) and enter the confirmation number they received during registration to see if they have been selected.

Entrant Status Check will be open from May 3, 2025, until at least September 30, 2026.

If your application is selected, you will see a confirmation page with further instructions, including information about fees associated with the U.S. immigration application process.

⚠️ Important note:

• The Entrant Status Check is the only way to know if you've been selected.
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not send a notification letter, nor did it notify us via email.
• U.S. embassies or consulates do not provide lists of successful applicants.
• Those who weren't selected can only find out the results through the Entrant Status Check.

👉 You should check the results yourself instead of asking someone else to check them for you.