American Visa Lottery – Eligible Countries and Ineligible Countries

The term “country” includes countries, economies, and other jurisdictions explicitly listed below.

Ineligible Countries

Natives of the following countries are not eligible to apply in DV-2025 because these countries have sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. 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, South Korea, Venezuela, and Vietnam.

Please note that this list is subject to change from time to time. Please note that the term “50,000 immigrants” includes only those people who immigrated via the family-based (including immediate relatives of U.S. citizens) or employment-based immigration categories. It does not include other categories such as refugees, asylum seekers, NACARA beneficiaries, or previous diversity immigrants. Therefore, even though the countries Cuba, Ukraine, Russia, Iran, Ethiopia, Bangladesh and Nigeria sent more than 50,000 immigrants in the past five years, they are still in the list of eligible countries.

Look at cross chargeability to see if you are eligible to apply anyway through the country of birth of your spouse or parents.

Eligible Countries

The following list shows the countries whose natives are eligible for DV-2023, grouped by geographical region. Dependent areas overseas are included within the region of the governing country. Ineligible countries are also listed after the eligible countries list, within each region.

AFRICA

ASIA

EUROPE

NORTH AMERICA

The Bahamas

In North America, natives of Canada and Mexico are not eligible for this year’s diversity program.

OCEANIA

SOUTH AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN