WASHINGTON D.C., United States — The United States has announced sweeping changes to the Diversity Immigrant Visa Programme, commonly known as the Green Card lottery, set to take effect for the 2027 application cycle, in what officials describe as a major tightening of security and fraud controls.
The US Department of State says the reforms are intended to strengthen vetting, improve identity verification, and curb long-standing abuses of the lottery system, which allocates up to 55,000 immigrant visas annually to applicants from countries with low rates of migration to the United States.
Under the new rules, all applicants will be required to provide details from a valid, unexpired passport and upload a scanned copy of the passport’s biographic and signature page when submitting their electronic entry.
Applicants who are unable to meet the requirement must formally declare eligibility for an exemption at the point of application.
“The Department published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), Visas: Enhancing Vetting and Combating Fraud in the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (90 FR 37437), on August 5, 2025. The NPRM proposed requiring a DV Program petitioner to provide valid, unexpired passport information and upload a scan of the passport’s biographic and signature page to the electronic entry form or otherwise indicate that he or she is exempt from this requirement,” the Department said in a statement.
The rule, which took effect on April 10, 2026, marks one of the most significant procedural shifts in the programme in recent years, ending a long-standing system where passport details were not required at the initial entry stage.
US authorities say the changes are a direct response to widespread fraud, including mass automated submissions and third-party applications made without the knowledge of applicants.
Officials say millions of suspect entries have been detected in recent years, undermining the integrity of the lottery system.
In the 2025 cycle alone, the State Department identified 2.5 million fraudulent entries, many linked to organised networks that submitted applications on behalf of individuals and later demanded payment for access to confirmation details.
Officials argue that requiring passport data at the entry stage will make it significantly harder for intermediaries to submit applications fraudulently, while also enabling earlier identity checks.
Alongside the passport requirement, the US State Department has also revised the language used in its immigration regulations, replacing terms such as “gender” with “sex” and “age” with “date of birth” for consistency in official data collection.
Regulatory wording has also been updated, with the term “shall” introduced in certain sections to provide clearer instruction for consular officers handling applications.
While officials insist the reforms will strengthen programme integrity without significantly reducing participation, the changes are expected to increase the administrative burden on applicants.
Individuals without passports will now be required to obtain one before submitting an entry, effectively raising the entry threshold for participation in the lottery.
The State Department estimates the new process will add about one additional hour to application completion time, bringing the total to roughly 90 minutes due to the added documentation requirements.
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The changes follow another adjustment introduced in October 2025, when the US government added a $1 (Sh129) registration fee for all applicants entering the lottery.
According to the US Federal Register, the fee is intended to cover operational costs, including system maintenance, data storage, automated selection processes, and security checks.
In addition to the new registration fee, successful applicants still pay a separate $330 (Sh42,570) Diversity Visa application fee if selected for processing.
Authorities say the fee is non-refundable and non-transferable, regardless of lottery outcomes.
The Diversity Visa Programme continues to be administered annually by the US Department of State, with most successful applicants processed through US embassies and consulates outside the country.
The State Department has not yet announced official opening dates for the 2027 application cycle.
