Translated with AI
Effective September 16, 2025, all applicants to the Diversity Visa (Green Card) lottery must pay a $1 registration fee. The relevant rule was published in the US Federal Register, Fergana.ru reports.
Previously, participation in the lottery was free, and the only mandatory fee was $330, which was paid only by winners when applying for an immigrant visa. Now, as noted in the document, the fee will be collected from each applicant upon registration.
According to US authorities, the measure is aimed at more equitably distributing the costs of running the lottery and supporting its infrastructure, including data processing, personal information protection, and the automatic selection of winners. The basic visa application fee of $330 remains unchanged.
The organizers believe introducing a nominal fee will reduce the number of fraudulent applications and program abuse. The registration fee is non-refundable and does not carry over to future lotteries.
Experts estimate that the change could impact the number of participants from countries with high numbers of applicants, particularly from Central Asia. Among these countries, Uzbekistan is the leader, traditionally ranking first in terms of the number of applications and winners. Following DV-2025, Uzbekistan topped the global rankings for the number of selected participants, with 5,564, ahead of Algeria (5,526) and Russia (5,519).
Kyrgyzstan (3,095 winners), Tajikistan (2,982), Turkmenistan (2,010), and Kazakhstan (2,004) also stand out in the region. A total of approximately 131,000 participants were selected for DV-2025, with only 55,000 immigrant visas issued annually.
Experts note that much of the activity in Central Asian countries is linked to the work of intermediaries who assist citizens with applications. However, such services carry risks, including violating the "one application per participant" rule, which can lead to disqualification.
