Overview of the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV-2024)
The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is an annual program created by the U.S. government to provide a pathway to immigration for individuals from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. For Fiscal Year 2024, the program will make up to 55,000 Diversity Visas (DVs) available, with no registration cost for applicants.
To qualify for a DV, applicants must meet simple but strict eligibility requirements. The Department of State randomly selects selectees for the program using a computer drawing, and distributes the diversity visas among six geographic regions. No single country may receive more than seven percent of the available DVs in any one year.
However, for DV-2024, natives of certain countries and areas are ineligible to apply if more than 50,000 natives of those countries immigrated to the United States in the previous five years.
These countries include Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (including Hong Kong SAR), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea (South Korea), United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, Venezuela, and Vietnam. On the other hand, natives of Macau SAR and Taiwan are eligible to apply.
Download this PDF Instructions for Completing the Electronic Entry for the DV-2024 Program
Eligibility Requirements for the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV-2024)
To be eligible for the DV-2024 program, you must be a native of a country with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. However, if you are not a native of such a country, there are two other ways you may still be able to qualify:
- If your spouse is a native of a country with historically low rates of immigration to the United States, you can claim your spouse’s country of birth. To do so, you and your spouse must be named on the selected entry, found eligible, issued diversity visas, and enter the United States at the same time.
- If you are a native of a country that does not have historically low rates of immigration to the United States, but neither of your parents was born or legally resident in that country at the time of your birth, you may claim the country of birth of one of your parents if it is a country whose natives are eligible for the DV-2024 program.
Download this PDF Instructions for Completing the Electronic Entry for the DV-2024 Program
Requirement #2: Educational and Work Experience Requirements for the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV-2024)
To be eligible for the DV-2024 program, each applicant must meet the education or work experience requirement by having either:
- At least a high school education or its equivalent, which is 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. The Department of State will determine qualifying work experience using the U.S. Department of Labor’s O*Net Online database.”
