Diversity Visa (DV Lottery)

What It Means

The Diversity Visa program was created by the Immigration Act of 1990 and is codified at INA section 203(c). It makes up to 55,000 immigrant visas available each fiscal year to nationals of countries with historically low rates of immigration to the U.S., defined as countries that sent fewer than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. during the previous five years. Up to 5,000 of those visas are set aside under the Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act, leaving approximately 50,000 to 55,000 available in practice. Countries recently excluded have included Mexico, China (mainland-born), India, the Philippines, the United Kingdom (excluding Northern Ireland), Canada, Brazil, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and a handful of others. The Department of State administers the lottery; applicants submit a free electronic entry (Form DS-5501) during a roughly 30-day registration window each fall. Selection is random within six geographic regions, with no region receiving more than 7% of total DVs in a fiscal year. Entrants must have at least a high school education or its foreign equivalent, or two years of qualifying work experience within the past five years in an occupation requiring at least two years of training. Registrations routinely exceed 20 million per year, giving each entrant roughly a 0.3% selection probability. Selected entrants are not guaranteed a visa; they still must pass admissibility reviews, complete Form DS-260, attend a consular interview, and be issued a visa before the September 30 fiscal-year deadline. Unused DVs do not carry over to the next year.

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