United States | State Department final rule amends Diversity Visa regulations to enhance vetting

Today, the State Department issued a final rule in a Federal Register notice amending regulations for the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV Program), effective April 10, 2026.

Key takeaways:

• According to the State Department, the changes will “improve the integrity of” the program and “reduce fraud.”
• Beginning April 10, 2026, DV Program petitioners must provide valid, unexpired passport information and upload a scan of the biographic and signature pages with the electronic entry form if they do not indicate exemption from this requirement.
• The department is standardizing regulatory language by adding “shall” for clearer guidance to consular officers, replacing “gender” with “sex” and replacing “age” with “date of birth” for processing accuracy.
• The rule will take effect April 10, 2026, and will be implemented with the 2027 DV Program (“DV-2027”).

Additional information: On Aug. 5, 2025, the State Department published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register, “Visas: Enhancing Vetting and Combatting Fraud in the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program.” The State Department says these updates are intended to enhance program integrity, reduce opportunities for fraud and improve the clarity of regulatory language applicable to consular processing.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group.

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