US Green Card Lottery 2026: Everything You Should Know About US Diversity Visa Program
The US government administers an annual Green Card lottery program that allows tens of thousands of people from qualified nations to permanently relocate to the US, and here’s everything prospective applicants should know about how it works.
The US Department of State (DOS) manages the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, which makes up to 55,000 immigrant visas available each year.
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The Diversity Visa program enables qualified people to apply for permanent residency in the United States. The selection process is random; however, participation is limited to nationals of countries with historically low immigration rates to the United States. The program is free to join.
US Green Card Lottery: How the application process works
Entries must be submitted electronically through the Electronic Diversity Visa (E-DV) website during the Department of State’s designated registration window each fiscal year.
Paper submissions are not accepted, and entries received after the deadline will not be considered. Each person is only allowed to enter once each registration period.
The Department of State employs modern technology to detect duplicate submissions, and anyone who submits several entries is promptly dismissed.
After submitting a completed entry, applicants will see a confirmation screen with their name and a unique confirmation number.
The DOS highly urges applicants to print and save this screen since the confirmation number is required to verify the status of their entry and, if accepted, schedule a visa interview.
The full instructions for the DV-2026 Program, including eligibility requirements and step-by-step advice on completing the online form, are available on the Department of State’s website.
US Green Card Lottery: What happens after selection
Most lottery winners live outside of the United States and go through consular processing, which involves receiving an immigrant visa from a U.S. embassy or consulate in their native country before traveling to America.
However, a smaller percentage of lottery winners are already in the United States with a legitimate nonimmigrant or other legal status when they are chosen.
These persons do not go through the consular process. Instead, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) handles their applications through a procedure known as adjustment of status.
US Green Card Lottery: Warning on visa agents
The United States government urges applicants against utilizing “Visa Consultants,” “Visa Agents,” or any third-party facilitators who promise to assist with the application, pointing out that the process is free and simple.
Anyone who wishes to request assistance is recommended to be physically present while their entry is being prepared, to ensure that the information provided is correct, and to keep their confirmation number.
Countries Included in the Diversity Visa Programme
The US government has released the complete list of countries whose citizens were chosen to participate in the Diversity Visa (DV-2026) program, often known as the Green Card Lottery, which recruited around 129,516 prospective applicants across six geographic regions.