The 2024 Diversity Visa Program opened for applications on October 5, 2022. The Program (aka the “Green Card Lottery”) every year allows 50,000 randomly selected people from countries that don’t send many immigrants to the United States to obtain permanent residency (commonly known as a “green card”). It’s a way for individuals and families who otherwise wouldn’t have any way to legally immigrate to the United States to get a green card.

 

To enter the lottery, applicants must complete a simple online form at dvprogram.state.gov. Registration closes on Tuesday, November 8, 2022 at 12:00pm ET. The Department of State recommends applying as soon as possible, since high demand could cause website delays. Application status can be checked starting on May 6, 2023 using the Entrant Status Check link on the Diversity Visa webpage.

 

Instructions for the Diversity Visa Lottery Program can be found on the Department of State website here. Below is the list of countries excluded from and included in the 2024 DV Lottery Program, as provided in the Department of State instructions (PDF of List).

 

Countries that do NOT qualify for the 2024 Diversity Visa Lottery

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
• Vietnam 
Natives of Macau SAR and Taiwan are eligible.

Countries that DO qualify for the 2024 DV Lottery

Africa
• Algeria 
• Angola 
• Benin 
• Botswana 
• Burkina Faso 
• Burundi 
• Cameroon 
• Cabo Verde 
• Central African Republic 
• Chad 
• Comoros 
• Congo 
• Congo, Democratic Republic of the 
• Cote D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) 
• Djibouti 
• Egypt* 
• Equatorial Guinea 
• Eritrea 
• Eswatini
• Ethiopia 
• Gabon 
• Gambia, The 
• 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
• Tanzania 
• Togo 
• Tunisia 
• Uganda 
• Zambia 
• Zimbabwe 

Asia
• Afghanistan 
• Bahrain 
• Bhutan 
• Brunei 
• Burma 
• Cambodia 
• Indonesia 
• Iran 
• Iraq 
• Israel* 
• Japan*** 
• Jordan* 
• Kuwait 
• Laos 
• Lebanon 
• Malaysia 
• Maldives 
• Mongolia
• Nepal 
• North Korea 
• Oman 
• Qatar 
• Saudi Arabia 
• Singapore 
• Sri Lanka 
• Syria* 
• Taiwan** 
• Thailand 
• Timor-Leste 
• United Arab Emirates 
• Yemen 

*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.  Persons born in the Gaza Strip are chargeable to Egypt; persons born in the West Bank are chargeable to Jordan; persons born in the Golan Heights are chargeable to Syria. 
** Macau S.A.R. (Europe region, chargeable to Portugal) and Taiwan (Asia region) do qualify and are listed.  For the purposes of the diversity program only, persons born in Macau S.A.R. derive eligibility from Portugal.
***Persons born in the Habomai Islands, Shikotan, Kunashiri, and Etorofu are chargeable to Japan.  Persons born in Southern Sakhalin are chargeable to Russia.   
Natives of the following Asia Region countries are not eligible for this year’s Diversity Visa program:  Bangladesh, China (including Hong Kong), India, Pakistan, South Korea, Philippines, and Vietnam.  

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

** Macau S.A.R. does qualify and is listed above and for the purposes of the diversity program only; persons born in Macau S.A.R. derive eligibility from Portugal.
***For purposes of the diversity program only, Northern Ireland is treated separately. Northern Ireland does qualify and is listed among the qualifying areas.
**** Persons born in the Habomai Islands, Shikotan, Kunashiri, and Etorofu are chargeable to Japan.  Persons born in Southern Sakhalin are chargeable to Russia.   
Natives of the following European countries are not eligible for this year’s DV program:  Great Britain (United Kingdom).  Great Britain (United Kingdom) includes the following dependent areas:  Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, British Indian Ocean Territory, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, St. Helena, and Turks and Caicos Islands.

North America
• Bahamas, The
In North America, natives of Canada and Mexico are not eligible for this year’s DV program.

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

South America, Central America, and the Caribbean
• Antigua and Barbuda 
• Argentina 
• Barbados 
• Belize 
• Bolivia 
• Chile 
• Costa Rica 
• Cuba 
• Dominica 
• Ecuador 
• Grenada 
• Guatemala 
• Guyana 
• Nicaragua 
• Panama 
• Paraguay 
• Peru 
• Saint Kitts and Nevis 
• Saint Lucia 
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 
• Suriname 
• Trinidad and Tobago 
• Uruguay 

Countries in this region whose natives are not eligible for this year’s DV program: Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, and Venezuela.