Urgent Immigration Update
The Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery Program has been temporarily suspended by the Trump Administration.
All visa issuances and adjustments of status are currently on hold pending an immediate security review.
OFFICIAL DETAILS & GOVERNMENT RESOURCES:
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Effective Date: As of December 18, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has directed USCIS and the Department of State to pause all processing for the Diversity Visa program.
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Reason for Suspension: The Administration cites “national security concerns” following the recent security incident at Brown University involving a former DV recipient. A comprehensive review of vetting procedures is underway.
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Who is Affected: This pause impacts DV-2025 and DV-2026 selectees. If you have an interview scheduled or an adjustment of status application (Form I-485) pending, you should expect delays.
Source: DHS Directive & USCIS Policy Memorandum (Dec 22, 2025). Please contact Wang Law LLC immediately if you have a pending deadline.
LOTTERY PROGRAM GREEN CARD
The State Department announced the winners of the DV Lottery on May 6, 2023. Check the State Department website as DOS does not send direct notifications to lottery winners.
Every year, millions of people apply for lawful permanent residence to the US through the DV Lottery. 50,000 lucky persons will get green cards.
| Natives from the Following Countries are Excluded From Participation in the DV Lottery Program this Year |
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| Bangladesh | Brazil | Canada | China (+ Hong Kong) | Colombia |
| Dominican Republic | El Salvador | Haiti | Honduras | India |
| Jamaica | Mexico | Nigeria | Pakistan | Philippines |
| South Korea | United Kingdom
(- Northern Ireland) | Venezuela | Vietnam | | |
Persons born in Macau SAR, and Taiwan are eligible to apply for this year’s DV Lottery.
Adjustment of Status
In order to adjust status through the DV Lottery, you must establish that you:
- Have been selected for a diversity visa by the DV lottery;
- Have an immigrant visa immediately available at the time of filing an adjustment application (Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status); and are admissible to the United States.
Submit the following evidence with your Form I-485:
Applying for an Immigrant Visa Abroad
For visa availability, check the latest month’s DOS Visa Bulletin. Section B contains a chart showing the current month’s visa availability in the Diversity Immigrant category. The chart shows when the Diversity Immigrant cut-off is met. When the cut-off is met, visas will be available in that month for the applicants with Diversity Immigrant lottery rank numbers below the specified cut-off numbers for their geographic areas.
Section C contains a chart showing the Diversity Immigrant category rank cut-offs for the following month, which represents the advance notification of Diversity Immigrant visa availability. As soon as a monthly Visa Bulletin is published, anyone with a lower rank number than the rank cut-off number shown in Section C is eligible to file for adjustment of status. This provides lottery winners the opportunity to file for adjustment of status up to six or seven weeks before a visa number can actually be allocated. This gives USCIS additional time to determine your eligibility for adjustment of status before the end of the fiscal year.
A Diversity Immigrant-based adjustment application cannot be adjudicated until a visa can be allocated, as indicated in the Visa Bulletin’s current Diversity Immigrant rank cut-offs for a particular month.
Circumventing the Three-Year Bar
Of the 50,000 Green Card Lottery winners, approximately 20,000 will be persons born in Europe and another 20,000 will be persons born in Africa. The other 10,000 winners will be from Asia, Latin America or from other countries around the world.