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DIVERSITY VISA · STATISTICS

DV Lottery Statistics

How many people enter the U.S. green card lottery, how many are selected, how many visas are issued, and which regions and countries the selectees come from.

01 · STATE DEPARTMENT DATA

How many diversity visas are issued

Up to 55,000 visas a year. Some are set aside for another program (NACARA) first, leaving about 54,850 for DV-2026. The most issued in a recent year was 55,882.

Diversity visas issued by program year
  1. 47k
    201646,718 visasDV-201691,563 selectees · 11,391,146 entrants
  2. 50k
    201749,976 visasDV-201783,910 selectees · 12,437,190 entrants
  3. 50k
    201849,713 visasDV-2018115,968 selectees · 14,692,258 entrants
  4. 46k
    201945,889 visasDV-201987,610 selectees · 14,352,013 entrants
  5. 19k
    2020COVID19,125 visasDV-202083,884 selectees · 14,722,798 entrants
  6. 19k
    2021COVID18,912 visasDV-2021132,404 selectees · 6,741,128 entrants
  7. 56k
    202255,882 visasDV-2022119,021 selectees · 7,336,302 entrants
  8. 55k
    202355,076 visasDV-2023119,262 selectees · 9,570,291 entrants
  9. 55k
    202454,554 visasDV-2024 · preliminary78,767 selectees · 23,823,436 entrants
Program yearEntrantsSelecteesVisas issuedSelected
DV-2024 (preliminary)23,823,43678,76754,5540.3%
DV-20239,570,291119,26255,0761.2%
DV-20227,336,302119,02155,8821.6%
DV-20216,741,128132,40418,9122.0%
DV-202014,722,79883,88419,1250.6%
DV-201914,352,01387,61045,8890.6%
DV-201814,692,258115,96849,7130.8%
DV-201712,437,19083,91049,9760.7%
DV-201611,391,14691,56346,7180.8%

DV-2026 issuance was paused from December 2025 to August 2026, so far fewer visas were issued. DV-2025 and DV-2026 totals have not been published.

View State Dept. data

Why more people are selected than there are visas: Not every selectee applies or qualifies, so the State Department selects about twice as many people as there are visas. Counts include spouses and children, and each family member uses one visa.

02 · BY REGION

DV-2026 selectees by region

Africa41.6%Europe34.5%Asia18.1%Latin America & Caribbean3.3%Oceania2.5%North America<0.1%
  • Africa53,939 selectees41.6%
  • Europe44,733 selectees34.5%
  • Asia23,381 selectees18.1%
  • Latin America & Caribbean4,262 selectees3.3%
  • Oceania3,178 selectees2.5%
  • North America23 selectees<0.1%

Gray: the United States, which does not take part.

Visas are divided among six regions, with larger shares for regions that sent fewer immigrants to the U.S. in the past five years. DV regions are not the usual continents: Latin America & Caribbean is the State Department's South America, Central America, and Caribbean region; Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Turkey count as Europe, and dependent areas count with their parent country. The State Department does not publish how many visas each region receives, so selectee shares are the closest guide.

03 · BY COUNTRY

Countries with the most DV-2026 selectees

CountrySelecteesShare
Egypt5,527
4.3%
Russia5,510
4.3%
Algeria5,457
4.2%
Ukraine5,283
4.1%
Sudan5,226
4.0%
Afghanistan4,200
3.2%
Iran4,137
3.2%
Kenya3,949
3.0%
Nepal3,933
3.0%
Uzbekistan3,754
2.9%

Colors match each country's region. No country can receive more than 7% of the visas, about 3,850 a year; the limit applies to visas issued, not to selectees.

Which countries cannot enter · DV-2026 selectees by country