Diversity Immigrants’ Regions and Countries of Origin: Fact Sheet

"Ongoing congressional deliberations over whether to maintain, alter, or eliminate the diversity immigrant visa program1 (also known as the “lottery” or DV program) include an interest in the geographical origins of immigrants who have been admitted through this program. This fact sheet provides data on the regional and national origins of diversity immigrants (DV immigrants) and how they have shifted over time.
Diversity Immigrant Visa Program

The purpose of the DV program is to provide an avenue for immigration from countries other than the major sending countries2 of current immigrants to the United States. It was added to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by the Immigration Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-649) to stimulate “new seed” immigration (i.e., to foster new, more varied migration from other parts of the world). DV immigrants account for about 5% of all immigrants admitted to the United States annually. The program went into full effect in 1995.

The DV program makes 50,000 visas available annually to natives of countries from which immigrant admissions were lower than a total of 50,000 over the preceding five years.3 The formula for allocating visas is based on statutory specifications; visas are divided among six global geographic regions according to the relative populations of the regions, with their allocation weighted in favor of countries in regions that were under-represented among immigrant admissions to the United States during the past five years. The INA limits each country to 7% of the total..."
Immigrant's origins