ELIGIBILITY
1. What do the terms “native” and “chargeability” mean?
Native ordinarily means someone born in a particular country, regardless of the individual’s current country of
residence or nationality. Native can also mean someone who is entitled to be charged to a country other than
the one in which he/she was born under the provisions of Section 202(b) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act.
Because a numerical limitation is placed on immigrants entering from a country or geographic region, each
individual is charged to a country. Your chargeability refers to the country whose limitation you count
towards. Your country of eligibility will normally be the same as your country of birth. However, you may
choose your country of eligibility as the country of birth of your spouse, or the country of birth of either of
your parents if you were born in a country in which neither parent was born and in which the parents were not
resident at the time of your birth. These are the only three ways to select your country of chargeability.
Listing an incorrect country of eligibility or chargeability (i.e., one to which you cannot establish a valid claim)
may disqualify your entry.
2. Can I still apply if I was not born in a qualifying country?
There are two circumstances in which you still might be eligible to apply. First, if your derivative spouse was
born in an eligible country, you may claim chargeability to that country. As your eligibility is based on your
spouse, you will only be issued a DV-1 immigrant visa if your spouse is also eligible for and issued a DV-2
visa. Both of you must enter the United States together using your DVs. Similarly, your minor dependent
child can be “charged” to a parent’s country of birth.
Second, you can be “charged” to the country of birth of either of your parents as long as neither of your
parents was born in or a resident of your country of birth at the time of your birth. People are not generally
considered residents of a country in which they were not born or legally naturalized, if they were only visiting,
studying in the country temporarily, or stationed temporarily for business or professional reasons on behalf of
a company or government from a different country other than the one in which you were born.
If you claim alternate chargeability through either of the above, you must provide an explanation on the E-DV
Entry Form, in question #6.
Listing an incorrect country of eligibility or chargeability (i.e., one to which you cannot establish a valid claim)
may disqualify your entry.
3. Why do natives of certain countries not qualify for the DV Program?
DVs are intended to provide an immigration opportunity for persons who are not from “high admission”
countries. The law defines “high admission countries” as those from which a total of 50,000 persons in the
Family-Sponsored and Employment-Based visa categories immigrated to the United States during the previous
five years. Each year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) tallies the family and employment
immigrant admission and adjustment of status figures for the previous five years to identify the countries that
are considered “high admission” and whose natives will therefore be ineligible for the annual diversity visa
program. Since this calculation is made annually, the list of countries whose natives are eligible or not eligible
may change from one year to the next.
4. How many DV-2016 visas will go to