US Green Card Lottery: Donald Trump's Administration Cuts Annual DV Limit by 3,150 Slots
- The Trump administration reduced the number of available Diversity Visa lottery slots for the DV-2026 programme
- Two separate pieces of legislation drove the cut, bringing the total available visas down from 55,000 to roughly 51,850
- African applicants, including thousands from Kenya, are among those affected as registration dates for DV-2027 remain unconfirmed
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The Trump administration has quietly shrunk the number of green cards available through the annual United States Diversity Visa lottery, cutting 3,150 slots from the DV-2026 programme and reducing the effective ceiling to approximately 51,850 visas.
The statutory maximum for the Diversity Visa scheme stands at 55,000, but two separate legislative provisions have chipped away at that figure.
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The result is a nearly six per cent reduction in available slots, a change that carries real consequences for migrants around the world banking on the DV lottery as their clearest route to permanent US residency.
Two laws behind the DV-2026 cut
The first deduction traces back to the Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act, known as NACARA, which Congress passed in November 1997.
The law redirects up to 5,000 visas from the standard diversity quota towards individuals qualifying under its specific relief provisions, shaving the DV pool to around 54,850.
A second cut followed through Section 5104 of the National Defence Authorisation Act for Fiscal Year 2024.
That provision changed how NACARA interacts with the Diversity Visa framework, requiring that an additional 3,000 slots be subtracted from the baseline allocation. Combined, the two laws bring the DV-2026 cap to roughly 51,850 visas.
What this means for African applicants
The Diversity Visa programme was specifically designed to benefit nationals from countries with historically low immigration rates to the United States.
Applicants across the African continent, including large numbers from Kenya, enter the lottery in significant numbers each cycle, making any downward shift in the annual cap a matter of concern.
Registration dates for the forthcoming DV-2027 cycle have not yet been confirmed.
The US Department of State indicated that specific timelines would be published in the months ahead, urging prospective applicants to keep track of the official Diversity Visa page for verified updates.
The tightening of the lottery cap sits within a broader pattern under President Trump's administration to restrict legal immigration across multiple visa categories.
African countries with most US Green Card winners
Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh reported earlier that the latest US Green Card Lottery figures had revealed a notable ranking among African countries.
Several nations had recorded thousands of selected entrants in the 2026 Diversity Visa programme, while one West African country had also secured a place in the top 10.
The full list showed how the countries ranked across the continent.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
