US Immigration: FY2025 U.S. Diversity Visa Lottery AKA Green Card Lottery is Open

Effective October 4, 2023, the Diversity Visa Lottery (“DV Program”) opened for FY2025. The State Department is currently accepting online lottery registrations through November 7, 2023 at noon EST.

The DV Program, also known as the Green Card Lottery, awards up to 55,000 green cards per year to eligible applicants through a random lottery selection. The DV Program was established in 1990 and was created to diversify the US immigrant population.

Specifically, the DV Program is open to applicants who meet two criteria:

• The applicant must meet specific education or work experience requirements. This includes a high school education (or formal course equivalent) OR two years of qualifying work experience within the past five years (in occupations meeting criteria outlined annually the Department of Labor); and,
• The applicant is from a country of birth with low US immigration within the previous five years. Individuals from countries with high rates of US immigration (over 50,000 immigrants) within the past five years are not eligible. For FY2025, this includes: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, The People’s Republic of China (including mainland and Hong Kong born, excluding Macau SAR and Taiwan), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea (South Korea), Venezuela, and Vietnam. Individuals can also qualify through their spouse’s or parent’s country of birth, if their own country of birth disqualifies them.

For FY2025, citizens of every country in Europe are eligible to apply, if they meet the education/work experience criteria.

Applicants may include their spouse and children when completing the online application and digital photo upload requirement. The State Department instructions should be strictly followed to ensure applications are in line with requirements. One entry is permitted per applicant. There is no fee to enter the lottery. If the application is accepted, the applicant receives a confirmation number used to check the status of the application online. Lottery winners are selected through a random computer selection process and results are published on the website beginning around May 4, 2024 through September 30, 2025 (potentially later). After selection, applicants should clearly follow the step-by-step process outlined, including instructions for document/eligibility upload, immigrant visa application completion, interview scheduling and preparation, and eventual entry into the US.

For more information, the State Department provides a thorough overview of the process: Diversity Visa Program – Submit an Entry (state.gov). For the application and further instructions, applicants can refer directly to the DV program site: Electronic Diversity Visa Program (state.gov). Applicants should also take note of fraud warnings associated with the DV program: Fraud Warning (state.gov).

Should you have any questions on the DV Program, please contact Aryanah Eghbal ([email protected]) and Mairin Hoban ([email protected]).