US Releases DV-2026 Green Card Lottery Breakdown, Reveals Numbers for African Countries

The United States Department of State has released the statistical breakdown of prospective applicants registered under the DV-2026 Diversity Visa programme, popularly known as the Green Card Lottery.

The figures provide an insight into the number of selected applicants and eligible family members from different countries who were registered during the 2024 application period.

According to the US Department of State, the Kentucky Consular Center registered approximately 129,516 prospective applicants, comprising selected entrants, their spouses and children, from a total of 20,822,624 qualified entries submitted for the DV-2026 programme.

The Diversity Visa programme is designed to make up to 55,000 permanent resident visas available each year to eligible individuals from countries with historically low levels of immigration to the United States.

However, the actual number of visas available for the DV-2026 programme is approximately 51,850, following deductions required under US law.

The visa numbers are distributed among six geographic regions, with the law limiting the number of visas that can be issued to applicants from any single country to no more than seven percent of the total available visas.

The State Department has also warned selected applicants that the process is time-sensitive.

Those selected under the DV-2026 programme must complete the required application and immigration procedures within the designated period. Any selected applicant who does not receive a visa or adjustment of status by September 30, 2026, will lose the benefit of the DV-2026 selection.

The US State Department’s statistical breakdown shows varying numbers of prospective applicants across African countries, with Egypt, Algeria, Sudan, Kenya, Morocco and Cameroon among the countries recording the highest figures.

The full breakdown is as follows:

Algeria — 5,457

Angola — 763

Benin — 1,064

Botswana — 7

Burkina Faso — 252

Burundi — 1,616

Cabo Verde — 35

Cameroon — 3,533

Central African Republic — 19

Chad — 482

Comoros — 12

Democratic Republic of the Congo — 2,210

Republic of the Congo — 448

Côte d’Ivoire — 926

Djibouti — 204

Egypt — 5,527

Equatorial Guinea — 12

Eritrea — 206

Eswatini — 3

Ethiopia — 3,287

Gabon — 62

The Gambia — 198

Ghana — 1,642

Guinea — 1,051

Guinea-Bissau — 10

Kenya — 3,949

Lesotho — 6

Liberia — 1,593

Libya — 276

Madagascar — 48

Malawi — 159

Mali — 268

Mauritania — 261

Mauritius — 2

Morocco — 3,670

Mozambique — 4

Namibia — 3

Niger — 109

Rwanda — 1,252

Senegal — 478

Sierra Leone — 639

Somalia — 1,554

South Africa — 187

South Sudan — 72

Sudan — 5,226

Tanzania — 404

Togo — 2,473

Tunisia — 202

Uganda — 1,513

Western Sahara — 2

Zambia — 236

Zimbabwe — 327

The release underscores the highly competitive nature of the Diversity Visa programme, with millions of qualified entries competing for a limited number of permanent resident visas each year.