Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV-2026) Program
The Department of United 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 2026, up to 55,000 Diversity Visas (DVs) will be available. There is no cost to register for the DV program, but selectees who are scheduled for an interview will be required to pay a visa application fee prior to making their formal visa application where a consular officer will determine whether they qualify for the visa.
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.
DV 2026 Program Entry period
Applicants must submit entries for the DV-2026program electronically at dvprogram.state.gov between 12:00 pm (noon), Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Wednesday, October 2, 2026, and12:00 pm(noon) Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-5),Tuesday, November 5, 2026. 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.
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