DV Lottery Eligible Countries: DV-2026 Exclusions and Workarounds

For the DV-2026 cycle, the list of DV lottery eligible countries covers almost every nation in the world. Only 19 countries are shut out because their natives have already immigrated to the United States in large numbers through other channels. Eligibility turns on your country of birth, not your citizenship or where you currently live.¹ Around 52,000 permanent resident visas are available through the DV-2026 lottery.²

How the Eligibility List Is Built

Congress designed the diversity visa to reach people from countries that don’t send many immigrants to the U.S. through family or employment categories.³ The rule is a single threshold. If a country has sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States over the most recent five-year period for which data are available, its natives cannot participate.⁴ The count sweeps in every visa category, so countries with large family- or employment-based flows are the ones that hit the cap.

The window rolls forward each year, so the list changes. A country that drops back under 50,000 becomes eligible again; one that crosses the line is cut. Cuba is a new exclusion this cycle, and the United Kingdom and its dependent territories, excluded for years, are eligible again for DV-2026 after returning in DV-2025. The Department of State publishes a fresh list with each year’s instructions, and no single country can take more than 7 percent of the diversity visas issued in a given fiscal year.¹

Countries Not Eligible for DV-2026

Nineteen countries are ineligible for the DV-2026 lottery. If you were born in any of them, you cannot enter directly, though the cross-chargeability rules below may still open a path.¹

Bangladesh
Brazil
Canada
China (mainland and Hong Kong)
Colombia
Cuba
Dominican Republic
El Salvador
Haiti
Honduras
India
Jamaica
Mexico
Nigeria
Pakistan
Philippines
Republic of Korea (South Korea)
Venezuela
Vietnam

Every other country in the world is eligible for the DV-2026 lottery. That includes the whole of the United Kingdom this cycle, all of the European Union, most of Africa, most of Asia outside the excluded set, and nearly every nation in Oceania. Within North America, the eligible countries are limited because Canada and Mexico consistently exceed the threshold; the Bahamas is one of the few in the region whose natives can apply this year.

Territories and Special Cases

Because the rule turns on country of birth, several places with unusual political status need their own answer. The DV-2026 instructions treat them this way:¹

Hong Kong: ineligible. People born in Hong Kong are grouped with mainland China for DV purposes.
Macau SAR: eligible. For diversity visa purposes, people born in Macau are chargeable to Portugal.
Taiwan: eligible. Taiwan is listed separately in the Asia region and is not treated as part of China.
Northern Ireland: listed separately from the rest of the United Kingdom for the diversity program. The distinction matters less this cycle because the whole UK is eligible again, but it has mattered in years when the UK as a whole was excluded.

For other dependent territories and overseas areas, people born there are generally charged to that dependent area but may also be charged to the country that governs it.⁵ When the governing country is eligible, a person born in its territory generally is too.

If Your Country of Birth Is Excluded

Being born in an excluded country doesn’t always end the conversation. A rule called cross-chargeability lets you claim a different country of birth in two specific situations.

Through Your Spouse

If your spouse was born in an eligible country, you can be charged to that country instead of your own birthplace.⁵ Two conditions apply. Both spouses must be listed on the same lottery entry, and both must receive visas and enter the United States together. You cannot use your spouse’s birthplace to qualify and then immigrate alone.

Through Your Parents

You can claim a parent’s country of birth if neither parent was born in your country of birth and neither was legally residing there when you were born, as long as that parent’s country is on the eligible list.¹ “Residing” here means real residence. Temporary stays such as business trips or military postings don’t count as your parents residing in the country. This is the standard route out for people born in China or India while their parents were on a work assignment. A child born in India to parents from Nigeria who were on a temporary posting can generally claim Nigeria.

Either way, you’ll need documentation, including birth certificates and, if you’re relying on a spouse, a marriage certificate, at the consular interview.⁶

Country Eligibility Isn’t the Whole Test

Coming from an eligible country only gets you into the lottery. Every applicant also has to meet an education or work-experience requirement:⁷

A high school diploma or equivalent, meaning successful completion of a 12-year course of elementary and secondary education, or
At least two years of qualifying work experience within the past five years, in an occupation that normally requires two or more years of training or experience.

The work experience path has a technical test. The occupation must be classified as Job Zone 4 or 5 with a Specific Vocational Preparation rating of 7.0 or higher in the Department of Labor’s O*NET Online database.⁷ Skilled professional and technical jobs generally qualify; entry-level retail, food service, and general labor jobs do not. Applicants who don’t meet either the education or the work standard have no workaround, even if their country of birth is eligible.

Because the excluded list is rebuilt every year, the safest habit is to check the current DV instructions each cycle before you assume your country’s status carries over from one year to the next.

1
U.S. Department of State. Instructions for the 2026 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV-2026)
2
U.S. Department of State. Visa Bulletin for June 2026
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 7 Part G Chapter 1 – Purpose and Background
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1153 – Allocation of Immigrant Visas
5
U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual. 9 FAM 503.2 – Chargeability
6
U.S. Department of State. Prepare Supporting Documents
7
U.S. Department of State – Bureau of Consular Affairs. Confirm Your Qualifications