A $1 fee will be introduced for the US Green Card lottery
The US Department of State announced that starting from September 16, 2025, all individuals wishing to participate in the Diversity Visa (DV Lottery), also known as the "Green Card lottery," will be required to pay an electronic registration fee of 1 US dollar. This was reported by Zamin.uz.
This decision marks the first time an annual fee will be charged to all candidates participating in the lottery. The main purpose of the new regulation is to distribute the administrative costs of managing the lottery equally and fairly among all participants, rather than only the selected applicants.
This new policy will take effect before the 2027 lottery registration process begins. The registration fee will be paid by all participants at the time of application submission through the official US government website.
The DV application fee for selected applicants will remain at 330 dollars; however, some administrative costs previously covered by this fee will now be covered through the registration fee. The 1 dollar paid for registration is non-refundable regardless of the outcome and cannot be carried over to subsequent years.
The DV lottery annually provides up to 55,000 visas to countries with low migration rates to the US. In recent years, the number of applications has reached tens of millions, resulting in significant administrative expenses for the government.
According to the Department of State, the funds collected from approximately 25 million participants annually under the new system will cover the lottery program's expenses. These funds will be spent on system upgrades, data collection, and security checks.
Additionally, the 1 dollar registration fee will help reduce the submission of fraudulent applications. This change is part of a broader trend of increasing fees implemented by US immigration services.
The new regulation may lead to a slight decrease in the number of participants, which would improve the chances for the remaining candidates. The new rules aim to enhance program security, increase efficiency, and shorten application processing times.
However, for millions of people, this will pose a financial barrier. In some countries, limited access to electronic payment systems or currency exchange costs may create difficulties in participation.
Since the program's primary goal is to ensure diversity in migration, even a small fee may limit participation from less developed regions. Therefore, although the new fee is small, it represents a significant change.
It serves to improve program efficiency and reduce fraudulent applications but also creates a financial obstacle for participants from low-resource countries. It is important to closely monitor stable changes in US immigration policy and to use the new rules cautiously.
Source: zamin.uz
