US green card application – Ultimate guide

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE 2024 DIVERSITY IMMIGRANT VISA PROGRAM

(DV-2024)

Program Overview

The Department of 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 2024, up to 55,000 Diversity Visas (DVs) will be available. There is no cost to register for the DV program.

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.

For DV-2024, natives of the following countries and areas are not eligible to

apply, because more than 50,000 natives of these countries immigrated to the United States in the previous five years:

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.

Natives of Macau SAR and Taiwan are eligible.

Eligibility

Requirement #1: Natives of countries with historically low rates of immigration to

the United States may be eligible to enter.

If you are not a native of a country with historically low rates of immigration to the United States, there are two other ways you might be able to qualify.