1,513 Ugandans selected in US Diversity Visa 2026 lottery

At least 1,513 Ugandans have been selected to participate in the 2026 US Green Card Lottery, giving them an opportunity to apply for permanent residency in America.

Uganda ranked third among East African countries in the latest lottery, behind Kenya, which recorded the highest number of selectees in the region with 3,949, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo with 2,210.

The US Department of State announced that the Kentucky Consular Centre in Williamsburg, Kentucky, had completed the selection and notification process for candidates eligible to continue with the DV-2026 immigration process.

Across the East African region, 12,570 applicants were selected from eight countries.

Besides Uganda and Kenya, Burundi had 1,616 selected entrants, Somalia recorded 1,554, Rwanda received 1,252, Tanzania had 404, while South Sudan recorded the lowest number with 72.

The DV programme, commonly known as the US Green Card Lottery, is designed to provide up to 55,000 permanent resident visas each year to citizens of countries with historically low levels of immigration to the United States.

The selections were made through a random computer-generated draw from 20,822,624 qualified applications submitted during the 37-day application period that ran from October 2 to November 7, 2024.

The programme also registered about 129,516 prospective applicants, including selected candidates, their spouses and children.

The US government distributes available visas among six global regions and limits the number issued to citizens of any single country to no more than seven per cent of the annual allocation.

Ugandan selectees can now confirm their status through the official Entrant Status Check portal and begin the next stages of their immigrant visa applications if they meet the required conditions.

Applicants were selected from countries that were eligible to participate in the programme. Nigeria was the only African country excluded from the DV-2026 lottery because of its historically high levels of immigration to the United States.

The US Diversity Visa programme has remained a popular route for Africans seeking opportunities to live and work in America, with millions applying each year despite the limited number of available slots.