Author DVLottery.me 2019-07-29

There are 3 major requirements for the DV Lottery: country of birth, education or job experience, photo. Learn more.

So many people, so many questions about the requirements for the DV Lottery, especially for those who take part in it for the first time. In fact, there are just three major requirements for participants: (1) The country of your birth must be on the list of eligible countries; (2) Your education level and occupation must meet the requirements; (3) You must provide a correct photo to your DV Lottery application

Note, your age, marital status, country of residence, or income are not in the list of requirements.

Let's take a closer look at each of them.

In general, countries which have a high rate of immigration to the USA are not allowed to enter the DV Lottery. The list of qualified Green Card DV Lottery сountries can change every year and includes countries which have not more than 50,000 immigrants to the USA in the previous five years. Some countries are given priority to receive the lottery green card, because they are underrepresented in the U.S.

At the bottom of this article you can find a list of eligibile countries for the Diversity Visa Lottery.

Remember only the country where you were born plays a role, not a country of your citizenship or country of residence. If your country of birth does not qualify for the American Visa Lottery program, you can get your eligibility from your spouse or parents if they were born in an eligible country.

Example: Your were born in Vietnam, which is not in the list of eligible countries. But your spouse was born in Argentina and thus they can participate in the Green Card Lottery. So you can claim your spouse’s birth country (Argentina) as yours on your DV Lottery application.

One of the requirements for participation in the Green Card Lottery Program is a US High School degree or its foreign equivalent. It means the successful completion of at least 12 year course of elementary and secondary education in the US or identical course in another country. Another possible option: you have two years of experience within the last five years, in an occupation which, by U.S. Department of Labor definitions, requires at least two years of training or experience that is designated as Job Zone 4 or 5, classified in a Specific Vocational Preparation (SVP) rating not less than 7.0 points. All qualified categories can be found on the web site of the Department of Labor (DOL) O*Net Online database. Looks difficult, right? Actually it is not, because we have collected a full list of qualifying DV-2022 jobs at https://dvlottery.me/jobs-qualify-dv-lottery and you can easily find your occupation and learn if you are you allowed to participate.

Remember, if you are selected you will have to provide certificates of your education or job experience.

The photo is critical to the application. A lot of participants are disqualified because of an incorrect photo. You should make a photo that clearly demonstrates your current self and meets all requirements.

There are many rules about how to make a correct photo from the size to the head position, so the easiest way to get it is to use special services like https://visafoto.com/diversity-visa-lottery-photo.

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
Ethiopia
Gabon
Gambia
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
Swaziland
Tanzania
Togo
Tunisia
Uganda
Zambia
Zimbabwe
* 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.
ASIA:
Afghanistan
Bahrain
Bhutan
Brunei
Burma
Cambodia
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region**
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.
**Hong Kong S.A.R. (Asia region), Macau S.A.R. (Europe region, chargeable to Portugal), and Taiwan (Asia region) do qualify and are listed here. For the purposes of the diversity program only, persons born in Macau S.A.R. derive eligibility from Portugal.
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**
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.
NORTH AMERICA
The Bahamas
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
Honduras
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Suriname Trinidad and Tobago
Uruguay
Venezuela

Here is a list of countries whose natives are not eligible for DV-2019:
AFRICA
Nigeria
ASIA
Bangladesh
China (mainland-born)
India
Pakistan
South Korea
Philippines
Vietnam
EUROPE
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
Canada
Mexico
SOUTH AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN:
Brazil
Colombia
Dominican Republic
El Salvador
Haiti
Jamaica
Mexico
Peru