# State Dept Now Requires Passport Scans for Diversity Visa Lottery — Starting April 10 > The U.S. Department of State is cracking down on fraud in the Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) lottery by requiring applicants to submit valid passport information and a scanned copy of their passport when entering. The rule takes effect April 10, 2026 — if you plan to enter a future DV lottery, you'll need a passport in hand. This change comes after 2.5 million fraudulent entries were discovered in the DV-2025 cycle alone. Canonical URL: https://thevisapulse.com/updates/state-dept-diversity-visa-passport-requirement-2026 ## At a glance - **Policy status:** Status unverified - **Last verified:** Not recorded - **Human review:** No human review recorded - **Published:** 2026-03-11 - **Effective:** 2026-04-10 - **Impact:** high - **Document type:** Final Rule - **Source agency:** Department of State - **Document number:** 2026-04737 - **Visa types:** DV, Diversity Visa Publication dates and impact ratings do not establish whether a policy is in force. Verify current status against the linked government evidence. See /about for our editorial process. ## Who is affected - Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) lottery applicants worldwide - Foreign nationals from DV-eligible countries seeking U.S. permanent residence via the lottery ## Key changes - DV lottery applicants must now provide valid, unexpired passport information when submitting their electronic entry - Applicants must upload a scan of their passport's biographic and signature page, or declare an exemption - The rule is a direct response to 2.5 million fraudulent entries discovered in the DV-2025 lottery cycle - Regulations will replace 'gender' with 'sex' and 'age' with 'date of birth' throughout DV rules ## What you should do If you plan to enter a future DV lottery, obtain a valid passport before the next registration window opens (typically fall). No action needed for already-submitted entries from previous cycles. The U.S. Department of State is closing a major loophole that has let criminal enterprises flood the Diversity Visa (DV) lottery with millions of fake entries. Starting April 10, 2026, anyone who petitions for the DV Program must provide valid, unexpired passport information and upload a scan of their passport's biographic and signature page — or prove they qualify for an exemption. ## At a Glance - **What:** DV lottery applicants must now submit valid passport details and a passport page scan with their electronic entry - **Who:** Anyone applying to the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV lottery) worldwide - **When:** Effective April 10, 2026 — applies to future DV lottery cycles - **Impact:** Applicants without a valid passport can no longer enter the lottery unless they qualify for a specific exemption ## Why This Rule Exists The scale of fraud in the DV Program has been staggering. In DV-2025, the Department of State discovered **2.5 million fraudulent entries** — many submitted by criminal third parties who entered people's information without their consent, then extorted victims by withholding confirmation numbers unless they paid fees or participated in scams. Because a unique confirmation number is the only way to check if you were selected, losing control of that number to a bad actor can completely lock you out of your own lottery result. Requiring a passport scan at entry does two things: it filters out fraudulent bulk submissions (since criminals typically don't have millions of real passports), and it allows the State Department to verify identities earlier in the process — strengthening national security vetting before someone ever gets to an interview. ## What's Changing Under the new rule, DV lottery entrants must: - Provide information from a **valid, unexpired passport** - **Upload a scan** of the passport's biographic page (the page with your photo and personal details) and the signature page - Or formally indicate they qualify for an **exemption** from the passport requirement The rule does not specify every exemption scenario in the truncated document, but the language makes clear that some applicants — likely those from countries where passport issuance is extremely limited — may still be able to enter without one. ## Other Technical Changes Alongside the passport requirement, the State Department is making several housekeeping updates to its DV Program regulations: - Adding the word "shall" throughout to make consular officer guidance clearer and more mandatory - Replacing "gender" with "sex" across DV regulations, in line with Executive Order 14168 - Replacing the word "age" with "date of birth" to more accurately reflect what data is actually collected These changes are administrative and do not affect applicant eligibility. ## What You Should Do If you're planning to enter a future DV lottery cycle, **get your passport now** — or confirm your exemption status before the next registration window opens. The DV lottery is typically open in the fall (October–November) for visas two years out, so there's time to prepare, but processing a passport in many countries can take months. If you already submitted a DV entry under an earlier cycle, this rule does not retroactively affect those entries. Watch the State Department's [travel.state.gov](https://travel.state.gov) for updated entry instructions when the next DV cycle opens. ## Sources - Government source · federalregister.gov: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/03/11/2026-04737/visas-enhancing-vetting-and-combatting-fraud-in-the-diversity-immigrant-visa-program - Source PDF: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-03-11/pdf/2026-04737.pdf --- _The Visa Pulse — Immigration Policy, Explained. 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