US Green Card Lottery 2023 & Eligible Countries

The US green card lottery 2023, also known as the Diversity Immigrant Visa, is a U.S. government lottery program for receiving a United States Permanent Resident Card.

The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program was established in 1990 to encourage immigration to the U.S. from a wider variety of countries. The number of diversity visas was originally limited to 55,000 per fiscal year but decreased to 50,000 per year starting in 2000.

The program is known as the “diversity lottery” because visa recipients are randomly selected from the pool of qualified entries. “Winning” this lottery does not guarantee entry into the U.S., but rather provides the individual an opportunity to apply for the Diversity Visa.

Eligibility

Nationals of low-admission countries, those with fewer than 50,000 natives admitted to the U.S. in the last five years, are eligible to enter the diversity lottery. Generally, natives of China, India, and Mexico are not eligible for the lottery.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) groups countries into six regions: Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, North America, and South America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. USCIS then calculates each region’s annual diversity visa allotment using recent immigration statistics and an allocation formula.

To be eligible for a diversity visa, the applicant or the applicant’s spouse must be a native of one of the qualifying countries. The individual must also be admissible to the U.S. under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Additionally, the individual must have a high school education (or equivalent) or at least two years of recent qualifying work experience.

Eligible individuals have a short time frame to apply electronically each year.

Green Card Lottery 2023 Eligible Countries for the 2024 DV Lottery

The following countries can participate in the 2020 DV Lottery. The list is updated every year in September, so the countries listed below are subject to change.

Asia

• Afghanistan
• Bahrain
• Bhutan
• Brunei
• Cambodia
• Hong Kong
• Indonesia
• Iran
• Iraq
• Israel*
• Japan
• Jordan*
• Kuwait
• Laos
• Lebanon
• Malaysia
• Maldives
• Mongolia
• Myanmar (Burma)
• Nepal
• North Korea
• Oman
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia
• Sri Lanka
• Syria*
• Taiwan
• Thailand
• Timor-Leste
• United Arab Emirates
• Yemen
• Macau S.A.R.

*Persons born in the areas administered prior to June 1967 by Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Egypt are chargeable, respectively, to Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Egypt. These persons are eligible for the lottery.

Hong Kong S.A.R., Macau S.A.R., and Taiwan qualify for the lottery despite China not qualifying.

Natives of Bangladesh, China (mainland-born), India, Pakistan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Vietnam are not eligible.

Africa

• Algeria
• Angola
• Benin
• Botswana
• Burkina Faso
• Burundi
• Cameroon
• Cape Verde
• The central African Republic
• Chad
• Comoros
• Congo
• The Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Côte d’Ivoire
• Djibouti
• Egypt
• Equatorial Guinea
• Eritrea
• Ethiopia
• Gabon
  The Gambia
• Ghana
• Guinea
• Guinea-Bissau
• Kenya
• Lesotho
• Liberia
• Libya
• Madagascar
• Malawi
• Mali
• Mauritania
• Mauritius
• Morocco
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Niger
• Rwanda
• Sao Tome and Principe
• Senegal
• Seychelles
• Sierra Leone
• Somalia
• South Africa
• South Sudan
• Sudan
• Swaziland
• Tanzania
• Togo
• Tunisia
• Uganda
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe

The only country in Africa that does not qualify for the lottery is Nigeria.

Europe

• Albania
• Andorra
• Armenia
• Austria
• Azerbaijan
• Belarus
• Belgium
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark (including overseas dependents and components)
• Estonia
• Finland
• France (including overseas dependents and components)
• Germany
• Georgia
• Greece
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Italy
• Kazakhstan
• Kyrgyzstan
• Latvia
• Lichtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Macedonia
• Malta
• Moldova
• Monaco
• Montenegro
• The Netherlands (including overseas dependents and components)
• Northern Ireland
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Russia
• Romania
• San Marino
• Serbia
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Tajikistan
• Turkey
• Turkmenistan
• Ukraine
• Uzbekistan
• Vatican City
• Yugoslavia

The United Kingdom does not qualify for the green card lottery. This includes Great Britain’s dependents and components: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St. Helena, and Turks and Caicos. This excludes Northern Ireland, which qualifies and is listed among the qualifying countries.
North America

Bahamas

Canada does not qualify for this year’s diversity lottery.
Oceania

• Australia (including overseas dependents and components)
• Fiji
• Kiribati
• Marshall Islands
• Federated States of Micronesia
• Nauru
• New Zealand (including overseas dependents and components)
• Palau
• Papua New Guinea
• Solomon Islands
• Tonga
• Tuvalu
• Vanuatu
• Western Samoa

South America, Central America, and the Caribbean

• Antigua and Barbuda
• Honduras
• Argentina
• Barbados
• Belize
• Bolivia
• Chile
• Costa Rica
• Cuba
• Dominica
• Ecuador
• Guatemala
• Grenada
• Guyana
• Nicaragua
• Panama
• Paraguay
• Saint Kitts and Nevis
• Saint Lucia
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• Suriname
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Uruguay
• Venezuela

Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, and Peru do not qualify for the lottery.

Submit an Entry

There is a limited period of time during which you can register for the Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) Program during each fiscal year. Each year, the Department of State publishes detailed instructions for entering the DV Program. These instructions include the dates of the registration period during which you will be able to enter.

All entries must be submitted electronically on the Electronic Diversity Visa (E-DV) website during the specified registration period. No late entries or paper entries are accepted. The law allows only one entry by or for each person during each registration period. The Department of State uses sophisticated technology to detect multiple entries. If you submit more than one entry you will be disqualified. This website does not become active for submitting an entry until the date and time specified on the DV Instructions webpage.

Detailed guidance for completing the online entry form is included in the DV Instructions.

After you submit a complete entry, you will see a confirmation screen containing your name and a unique confirmation number. Print this confirmation screen for your records. It is extremely important that you retain your confirmation number. It is the only way you can check the status of your entry, and you will need it to obtain further instructions or schedule an interview for a visa if you are selected.

There is no cost to register for the DV Program. You are strongly encouraged to complete the entry form yourself, without a “Visa Consultant,” “Visa Agent,” or other facilitators who offer to help. If somebody else helps you, you should be present when your entry is prepared so that you can provide the correct answers to the questions and retain the confirmation page and your unique confirmation number.