The American Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery is set to return this fall, allowing Albanian citizens to resume applications after the program was suspended in January. Around 10 million applications are expected globally.
The U.S. Department of State has introduced changes to the program requiring applicants to upload a valid passport and a scanned copy of the biographical and signature page. This measure aims to reduce the risk of fraudulent passports and support security verification and applicant identification.
Officials will verify eligibility based on country of birth and links to countries with “low admissibility.” The terminology in forms has also been updated: “gender” is replaced with “sex,” and “age” is replaced with “date of birth.” Applicants must pay a nominal $1 fee when submitting their application.
Key requirements include:
- Applicants must possess a high school diploma or equivalent and specify their education.
- For married individuals, applications must include the names, photos, dates, and places of birth of spouses and all biological, legally adopted, or stepchildren under 21 at the time of application. Including spouses is mandatory even if they do not reside with the applicant or will not immigrate, except in cases of legal separation.
- Strong measures exist to detect fraudulent marriages, and selected applicants must provide proof of the relationship, including marriage certificates and other documents, with possible additional review.
The January suspension had frozen processing of applications from 75 countries, affecting family reunification, employment, adoption, special immigrant, and diversity visa categories. Student, tourist, and business visas, including visas for fans attending the 2026 World Cup in the U.S., were not impacted, though all applicants will be subject to security verification.
