The Department of State annually administers the statutorily created Diversity Immigrant Visa Program. Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides for a class of immigrants known as “diversity immigrants” from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. For Fiscal Year 2025, up to 55,000 Diversity Visas (DVs) will be available.
There is no cost to register for the DV program.
Requirements
Applicants who are selected in the program (selectees) must meet simple but strict eligibility requirements to qualify for a DV. The Department of State determines selectees through a randomized computer drawing.
The Department of State distributes diversity visas among six geographic regions, and no single country may receive more than seven percent of the available DVs in any one year.
Eligibility
Qualification
1: Natives of countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States may be eligible to enter.
African Countries that are Eligible
Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, KENYA, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda
If you are not a native of a country with historically low rates of immigration to the United States, there are two other ways you might be able to qualify.
2: Each DV applicant must meet the education/work experience requirement of the DV program by having either:
- at least a high school education or its equivalent, defined as successful
completion of a 12-year course of formal elementary and secondary
education;
OR - two years of work experience within the past five years in an
occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience to
perform.
Entry period
Applicants must submit entries for the DV-2025 program electronically between Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Wednesday, October 4, 2023, and 12:00 pm (noon), Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-5), Tuesday, November 7, 2023.
Do not wait until the last week of the registration period to enter as heavy demand may result
in website delays. No late entries or paper entries will be accepted.
The law allows only one entry per person during each entry period.
The Department of State uses sophisticated technology to detect multiple entries. Submission of more than one entry for a person will disqualify all entries for that person.
How to Apply
How to Apply
To enter for a chance to apply for a U.S. immigrant visa. http://dvprogram.state.gov is the ONLY way to enter.
Read the program instructions at http://travel.state.gov/dv.
