United States: State Department Proposes to Add Passport Requirement to the Diversity Visa Program

The State Department is issuing a proposal to amend the Diversity Visa (DV) immigration visa regulations to add a valid passport requirement. According to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), the State Department would require registrants in the DV program to provide valid, unexpired passport information, and a scan of the biographic and signature page uploaded to their electronic entry form, or otherwise indicate that they are exempt from this requirement, in order to properly submit a diversity lottery entry form.

The NPRM will be published in the Federal Register on August 5, 2025, and the State Department will accept public comments for 45 days thereafter. The NPRM will not take effect until it moves through the full regulatory process, which can take several months.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen.