The United States’ diversity green card programme, known as the DV lottery, is set to resume. Following an important recent US court order, the US administration is preparing to open the DV lottery for 2027. The wait to learn whether Bangladeshis will be able to apply in this round of the diversity visa lottery is set to end today.
This will be confirmed in an official notice from the US State Department on Thursday (October 29).
Under the US Immigration Act of 1990, the diversity visa lottery is intended mainly for countries from which historically few immigrants have settled in the United States.
Between 2007 and 2012, more than 50,000 Bangladeshis won the chance to move to the United States through the lottery. Because of high immigration numbers, however, Bangladeshis have been excluded from the DV lottery since 2012. Hopeful applicants across the country are now watching the State Department’s latest list to see whether Bangladesh will be named among the eligible countries.
According to the US Embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh has been excluded from the diversity visa programme since 2012 because of its high immigration rate. Before that, between 2007 and 2012, more than 50,000 Bangladeshis immigrated permanently to the United States through the programme.
The main aim of the DV programme is to offer permanent residence only to citizens of countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. The programme provides for up to 55,000 immigrant visas worldwide each year, popularly known as the “green card lottery”.
To apply for the DV lottery, candidates usually need at least a higher secondary or equivalent education. Alternatively, those with a set number of years of work experience in certain occupations may also apply.
US District Judge Jinsook Ohta has ordered the State Department to restart the lottery process immediately. Under the deadline set by the court, the full eligibility conditions and instructions for the DV lottery are due to be published on October 29.
Applications are then due to open on November 1 and stay open for 30 days, until December 3. Once the application process ends, the names of the winners and the results are to be published by December 3. Visa processing, however, can be completed until September 30, 2027.
After DV lottery applications were temporarily suspended in late 2025, a law firm named Red Eagle Law went to court, and on that basis the court ordered registration to begin as soon as possible. The Trump administration has appealed against the ruling and asked for a stay. As a result, there is also debate over how uninterrupted the registration process will be, depending on the court’s final decision.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report