Which countries can participate in the 2025 visa lottery?

Each year, through the Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) program, known as the “Visa Lottery,” The US government grants up to 55,000 diversity visas to allow this Permanent residence For people from countries with a low immigration rate.

Generally, the call is opened two years in advance. For the 2025 visa lottery, citizens of eligible countries must apply in 2023. The drawing will be held in 2024, and the following year, once the winners are announced, they can begin their permanent residency process.

Visa Lottery 2025: When is the call open?

There is a limited period of time during which you can enroll in the program during each financial year. Each year the Department of State publishes detailed instructions for entry into the Diversity Visa Program. These instructions include the dates of the registration period during which you will be able to participate.

According to the online portal of the Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs, the online registration period for the DV-2025 program Begins on Wednesday, October 4, 2023 at 12:00 PM ET and ends on Tuesday, November 7, 2023 at 12:00 PM ET.

Once the registration period opens, you will be able to begin the process and register online. Registration for the Visa Lottery Program is free. Detailed instructions for completing the online registration form are included in the Diversity Visa Instructions.

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All registrations must be submitted electronically on the Electronic Diversity Visa (E-DV) website during the specified registration period. Late or paper registrations are not accepted. The law allows only one entry per person or per person during each registration period.

Which countries can participate in the 2025 visa lottery?

The State Department annually publishes a list of ineligible countries. If the country is not on this list, you can apply to win one of 55,000 diversity visas.

Because more than 50,000 citizens of these countries have immigrated to the United States in the past five years, by 2025, Citizens of the following countries and regions are not eligible to apply for the visa lottery:

Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea (South Korea), United Kingdom (excluding Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories and Venezuela And Vietnam.

For more information about registration and other details, visit The electronic portal of the Office of Consular Affairs From the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.