The Trump administration has proposed new changes to the process for those applying to the U.S. diversity visa (DV) lottery this week.
Newsweek reached out to the Department of State for comment via contact form.
Why It Matters
The DV program annually offers a pathway to permanent U.S. residency for up to 50,000 immigrants from countries with historically low immigration rates to the United States. Historically, applicants haven’t needed to possess a passport when they apply—only after they are selected. That would change under the new proposed rule from the State Department, which they say aims to curb alleged fraud in the program.
The change notably comes as President Donald Trump has emphasized border security and ramped up immigration enforcement during his second term in office. On the campaign trail, he pledged to conduct the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history, and immigration officers have conducted raids across the country since Trump has taken office.
What To Know
The State Department unveiled the rule on Monday. If finalized, it could go into effect for the 2026 program.
In the proposal, the State Department warned of fraud that has been in the program.
“The Department has historically encountered significant numbers of fraudulent entries for the DV Program each year, including entries submitted by third parties, some of them criminal enterprises, on behalf of individuals without their knowledge. Unauthorized third parties will often then contact the unwitting individual, inform them of the opportunity to apply for a DV, and hold the entry information from the petitioner in exchange for payment or to coerce the petitioner to be complicit in certain acts of fraud,” the proposal reads.
Requiring passport information on the DV petition would “make it much more difficult for unauthorized third parties to enter someone with partial information,” the proposal reads.
“This measure would also enable the Department to more effectively and efficiently confirm petitioners’ identities,” it continues. “The Department also anticipates that these measures would decrease the number of fraudulent marriages encountered in the DV program.”
Under the proposal, applicants would have to provide a valid passport number and upload a scan or photo of the passport’s photo and signature pages in JPEG format, with a file size of under 5 MB.
There will be limited exceptions, including for those applicants who are stateless, citizens of communist-controlled countries who cannot readily obtain a passport, or who have an official government waive.
The lottery remains free to enter and is open to nationals from eligible countries.
The State Department wrote that it does “not believe that this requirement would substantially deter participation by legitimate petitioners, and the Department notes that petitioners who are selected are already required to have a passport before moving forward in the process.”
A similar rule change implemented during Trump’s first term was struck down by a federal judge in 2022.
What People Are Saying
The State Department wrote: “Mandating valid passport information at the time of the DV Program entry would augment vetting and screening processes to ensure national security. It would also make it more difficult for third parties to submit an unauthorized entry because they are less likely to have the individual’s unique identifiers, protecting potential petitioners by ensuring that they alone can enter the program using their unique information.”
What Happens Next
The State Department’s proposal is currently open for a 45-day period of public comment following its publication in the Federal Register on August 5.
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