The U.S. Department of State issued a correction notice on the Federal Register regarding the Diversity Visa (DV) Program for fiscal year 2026. Initially, the published Federal Register notice, Public Notice 12558, mistakenly listed incorrect entry period dates for the DV-2026 program, leading to this update.
The correct entry period for DV-2026 applications is from 12:00 p.m. (noon) EDT on October 2, 2024, to 12:00 p.m. (noon) EST on November 7, 2024. These corrected dates replace the originally published, erroneous timeframe of October 4, 2023, to November 7, 2023.
A State Department source acknowledged these errors, stating, “We are aware of the mistakes in the Federal Register notice and are working to correct them.” However, the State Department took almost a month to rectify this issue.
The U.S. Department of State published a detailed notice in the Federal Register with guidelines for the DV-2026 Green Card Lottery on October 1. However, a serious error in the notice regarding the registration period caused confusion. While the correct registration period for DV-2026 is from Wednesday, October 2, 2024, to Tuesday, November 5, 2024, the notice mistakenly listed the dates as October 4, 2023, to November 7, 2023, likely due to a copy-and-paste error from last year’s details.
The notice also provides crucial guidance on the program overview, eligibility criteria, electronic entry submission, the selection process, and digital photo submission. All entries must be made electronically during the specified window. The Department urges applicants not to wait until the final week to avoid delays and emphasizes that only one entry per person is allowed to prevent disqualification.
The Department of State annually administers the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program as outlined in Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which allocates up to 55,000 visas to diversity immigrants from countries with low immigration rates to the United States. There is no cost to register; however, selectees will need to pay a visa application fee if they proceed to an interview with a consular officer, who will determine their qualification for the visa.
Applicants selected through a randomized computer drawing must meet specific eligibility criteria and qualify through a stringent process. Diversity visas are distributed across six geographic regions, with no country receiving more than seven percent of the available visas in any given year.
For DV-2026, applicants from several countries, including Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (including mainland and Hong Kong-born), and others, are ineligible due to high immigration rates over the last five years. However, natives of Macau SAR and Taiwan remain eligible. There were no changes to eligibility requirements from the previous fiscal year, except for Cuba, which is ineligible for DV-2026.
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Kishor Panthi
View More PostsKishor Panthi is the founder and editor-in-chief of Khasokhas and NepYork. He is the author of three books, “Kampan,” "UNTRANSLATABLE" and “Zero Mile.” He writes about social issues, immigration, and politics.
