Outlook Business Desk
The United States has resumed its Diversity Visa programme, commonly called the 'Green Card lottery', after a brief halt. Officials have rolled out tighter application norms aimed at strengthening identity verification and curbing fraudulent entries in upcoming lottery rounds.
Under the revised rules, applicants must provide passport details at the time of submitting their initial lottery entry. They also need to upload a scanned copy, making identity verification compulsory right from the start of the application process.
Applicants must submit details of a valid, unexpired passport along with a digital scan of the biography and signature page. Entries without these documents will get automatically disqualified, leaving no scope for incomplete or incorrect submissions.
The passport requirement will take effect from April 10, 2026. Officials expect it to apply to the DV 2027 lottery cycle, which is likely to open later in 2026 for applicants across different eligible countries.
Authorities brought in the rule to tackle fraud and repeated entries in the system. A State Department review identified more than 2.5 million duplicate applications in fiscal year 2025, pushing officials to tighten identity checks and limit fake submissions.
The US had earlier introduced a similar passport rule in 2019 to tackle fraud. However, a federal court struck it down in 2022, citing procedural lapses in rulemaking and lack of proper public notice.
Despite these updates, Indian applicants remain ineligible for the programme. The Diversity Visa system excludes countries with high migration levels to the United States, and India continues to exceed the eligibility threshold.
More than 127,000 Indians migrated to the United States in 2022, while over 78,000 moved in 2023. These figures keep India above the eligibility limit, meaning the exclusion will likely continue until at least 2028 or 2029.
However, the programme has faced criticism after links to criminal incidents involving some recipients. Following a 2025 shooting case, authorities paused visas temporarily and later resumed the lottery with stricter checks, as debate over its future continues.