DV Lottery: Bangladesh, 18 countries not eligible for 2026

Citizens from Bangladesh and 18 other countries were ineligible to participate in the US Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery programme for 2026, according to the US State Department.

“For DV-2026, natives of the 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,” the US State Department said on its website.

Of the 19 ineligible countries, seven are from Asia, eight are from North America, three are from South America and one is from Africa. The Asian countries are Bangladesh, China (including Hong Kong SAR), India, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea and Vietnam.

The North American countries are Canada, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica and Mexico. The South American countries are Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela, while Nigeria is the only African country on the list.

The Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) Programme, or Green Card Lottery, awards up to 55,000 immigrant visas annually to natives of countries with low immigration rates to USA.

Approximately 129,516 prospective applicants, including selectees and their spouses and children, were registered for DV-2026. They were randomly selected from 20,822,624 qualified entries received between 2 October 2024 and 7 November 2024.

DV visas will be distributed among six geographic regions, with a maximum of 7 per cent allocated to any single country. Principal applicants must have a high school education or equivalent, or two years of qualifying work experience within the past five years, and selected applicants should complete their visa applications quickly.

The programme will end once the available visa numbers are used or by 30 September 2026, whichever comes first. Selectees and eligible family members who do not receive visas or status by that date will receive no further benefit from their DV-2026 registration.

A total of 171 countries and territories across six regions are represented among the prospective applicants registered for the DV Lottery 2026, according to data from the US Department of State.

The regional breakdown includes 52 from Africa, 28 from Asia, 52 from Europe, one from North America, 16 from Oceania and 22 from South America, bringing the total to 171 countries and territories.

The DV Lottery 2026 programme recorded more than 1,000 prospective applicants in 42 countries, according to the US Department of State’s statistical breakdown by foreign state of chargeability. The figures include selectees and their spouses and children registered for the programme.

In Africa, Egypt recorded the highest number at 5,527, followed by Algeria (5,457) and Sudan (5,226). Kenya had 3,949, Morocco 3,670, Ethiopia 3,287, Cameroon 3,533, Togo 2,473, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2,210), Ghana (1,642), Burundi (1,616), Liberia (1,593), Somalia (1,554), Uganda (1,513), Rwanda (1,252), Benin (1,064) and Guinea (1,051).

In Asia, Afghanistan led with 4,200, followed by Iran (4,137), Nepal (3,933), Yemen (2,449), Burma (Myanmar) (1,540), Jordan (1,092) and Sri Lanka (1,028).

In Europe, Russia topped the list with 5,510, followed by Ukraine (5,283), Uzbekistan (3,754), Tajikistan (3,708), Kyrgyzstan (3,324), Turkey (3,191), Kazakhstan (2,723), Armenia (2,639), Turkmenistan (2,542), Azerbaijan (1,817), Albania (1,590), Belarus (1,545), Georgia (1,406), the United Kingdom (1,303) and Moldova (1,208).

In Oceania, Fiji was the only country above 999, with 2,094 prospective applicants.

In South America, Peru recorded 1,596, followed by Ecuador with 1,270. In North America, no country exceeded 999; the Bahamas was listed with 23.

However, the Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) requires up to 5,000 of the 55,000 annual diversity visas to be used under the NACARA program, reducing the DV-2026 annual limit to approximately 54,850.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024 further amended NACARA’s provisions, requiring additional visas to be deducted from the annual diversity visa allocation and reducing the DV-2026 annual limit to approximately 51,850.