The 2024 Green Card Lottery Requirements
Applicants that would like to enter the 2024 Green Card Lottery, called the DV-2026 Lottery, must comply with two very basic, but very specific requirements. The applicant must be born in a qualifying country and must also have a qualifying education. Note, there are exceptions to these two rules that will be explained in greater detail below.
DV-2026 Qualifying Countries
A green card lottery applicant born in a country that is NOT on the list below, qualifies to enter the DV-2026 lottery if the applicant also has a qualifying education. See the education requirement below.
Natives born in any of the following countries do not qualify to enter the DV-2026 Lottery
- Bangladesh
- Brazil
- Canada
- China (Including Hong Kong SAR)
- Colombia
- Dominican Republic
- El Salvador
- Haiti
- Honduras
- India
- Jamaica
- Mexico
- Nigeria
- Pakistan
- Philippines
- South Korea
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
Note, it is the country of birth and not the country of citizenship that determines if an applicant is eligible to apply for the DV-2026 lottery. The list of countries above is updated each year.
Natives from all other countries not in the list above qualify and may register for the DV2026 Diversity Visa Lottery.
Native born in Macau SAR and Taiwan are eligible to enter the DV2026 Diversity Visa Lottery.
You may still qualify, even if you were not born in a qualifying country
If an applicant is born in one of the countries listed above, the applicant does NOT qualify to apply for the DV-2026 green card lottery, unless that person is married to a person (spouse) and the spouse was born in a qualifying country. In that case, the applicant can use the spouse’s country of birth as their own country of eligibility.
DV-2026 Qualifying Education
A person must have an education equivalent to a US High School Degree or higher to qualify for the DV-2026 lottery. If an applicant does not have an qualifying education, they can still apply as long as they have at least 2 years of qualifying work experience. See jobs that qualify as a substitute for qualifying education. You do not need any work experience to qualify, if you do have a qualifying education.
- Click here to view all the qualifying jobs for the Diversity Visa Lottery.
Application Login
DV-2026 Deadline
The deadline to apply for the DV-2026 lottery is noon US East coast time November 8, 2024. At this time and date, the application window will close and applicants will no longer be able to apply for the DV-2026 lottery.
If you miss this green card lottery deadline, you can apply for next year’s green card lottery, called the DV2027 lottery. There are no exceptions to missing the deadline so we encourage applicants to get their application finalized as early as possible so that they do not miss the DV-2026 lottery deadline.
