The Diversity Immigrant Visa program, also known as the green card lottery, is a United States government lottery program for receiving a United States Permanent Resident Card. The program was established by the Immigration Act of 1990 and makes up to 55,000 immigrant visas available annually, drawn from random selection among all entries to individuals from countries with low immigration rates to the United States. The program allows those from countries with low immigration rates to the United States to enter for a chance to apply for a U.S. immigrant visa. The program is also known as the DV Lottery and the Green Card Lottery.

To be eligible for the Diversity Visa, an individual must have been born in a country that sent less than 50,000 immigrants to the United States over the past 5 years. There is some yearly variation in the countries that are eligible, but Canada, China, India, Mexico, and the United Kingdom never make the list, because these countries all send a large number of immigrants to the United States. For the most recent lottery, DV-2025, natives of Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland and Hong Kong), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Venezuela, and Vietnam were ineligible.

The program is administered by the Department of State, and all entries must be submitted electronically on the Electronic Diversity Visa (E-DV) website during the specified registration period. The dates for registration change each year, and for DV-2025, the registration period was from October 4, 2023, to November 7, 2023, at 12 noon ET. The Department of State uses sophisticated technology to detect multiple entries, and if an individual submits more than one entry, they will be disqualified.

In conclusion, the Diversity Immigrant Visa program is a lottery program that makes immigrant visas available to citizens of countries with low immigration rates to the United States. The program is also known as the green card lottery or the DV lottery. To be eligible, an individual must have been born in a country that sent less than 50,000 immigrants to the United States over the past 5 years. The program is administered by the Department of State, and all entries must be submitted electronically on the Electronic Diversity Visa (E-DV) website during the specified registration period.