The U.S. Department of State (DOS) announced that beginning October 16, 2025, all individuals registering for the Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery—commonly known as the “green card lottery”—will be required to pay a $1 electronic registration fee. This marks the first time participants will be charged simply to enter the annual lottery.
The State Department said the new fee is intended to distribute the costs of managing the program more evenly across all registrants, rather than placing the burden solely on the small number of winners who proceed to submit visa applications.
Key details:
-
$1 Registration Fee: All applicants must pay $1 when submitting their entry through the official U.S. government portal.
-
Application Fee Unchanged: The standard $330 DV application fee for selected applicants remains in place. Some administrative costs that were previously included in the application fee are now covered by the registration fee.
-
Non-Refundable: The registration fee will not be refunded, regardless of lottery results, and cannot be transferred between lottery years.
The DV lottery provides up to 55,000 immigrant visas annually to individuals from countries with historically low levels of U.S. immigration. According to DOS, tens of millions of entries are submitted each year, generating significant administrative costs.
By introducing the registration fee, the department expects that roughly 25 million annual registrants will help offset program costs, generating approximately $25 million annually for system upgrades, security reviews, and enhanced data collection. DOS also noted the fee could reduce fraud by discouraging third-party scammers from submitting multiple fake entries.
Officials anticipate that the new fee may lead to a slight decline in registrations, potentially improving applicants’ odds while easing the administrative burden.
 announced that individuals registering for the Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery pay a $1 registration fee.){kind=link}