On October 2, 2024, the U.S. Department of State opened the annual Diversity Visa (DV) lottery registration period for fiscal year (FY) 2026. The online registration program is free to all registrants, and the State Department will continue to accept registrations until noon EST on November 5, 2024.

Quick Hits

• The FY 2026 Diversity Visa lottery will close November 5, 2024, at noon EST.
• The lottery is open to individuals born in countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States.
• An applicant must possess a high school education or equivalent or qualifying experience.

Birth nationals of most countries have historically low rates of immigration to the United States and are thus eligible for the DV lottery. For FY 2026, individuals born in the following countries are ineligible: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (including mainland and Hong Kong SAR), Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Venezuela, and Vietnam.

An eligible applicant must also possess a high school education or equivalent or two years of qualifying work experience within the past five years that requires at least two years of training or experience. An individual who is ineligible based on country of birth may be able to register based on the birth country of his or her spouse or, in limited circumstances, parent.

The State Department will make available 55,000 immigrant visa numbers through this process, and applicants may add spouses and children to their applications.

Starting May 3, 2025, each registrant will need to use his or her unique confirmation number to check the lottery status by going to the State Department’s lottery entrant status page for results. For this reason, it is important to save the unique identifier when registering. Selected applicants may begin submitting immigrant visa petition applications starting October 1, 2025.

Next Steps

Given the challenges associated with many types of employment-based green card categories, employers may want to encourage eligible employees to participate in the Diversity Visa lottery.