Kenyans Affected as New Green Card Application Fee Takes Effect This Month

Kenyans will be required to spend more in October and November 2025 when applying for the Diversity Visa (DV) lottery program. The DV lottery is a United States government program that makes 55,000 immigrant visas available each year, enabling individuals and families to get a Permanent Resident card (Green Card) in the country, even if they don’t have family or employment ties.

These visas are awarded randomly to people from countries with historically low immigration rates to the United States which include Kenya.

However, the U.S. Department of State published a new rule that changes how the program is funded.

Starting with the DV-2027 program, a small registration fee will be applicable. Applicants will be required to pay a $1 (Ksh129) electronic registration fee when submitting their entry.

Why fee introduced for Diversity Visa program registration was introduced

This rule is set to take effect with the new registration period this month, when applications are scheduled to open.

The rule was published in the Federal Register in September 2025, but the Department of State announced that the payment requirement would only be enforced beginning with the next open registration period.

This means that DV-2026 and earlier lotteries remain unaffected. Only those entering from October 2025 onward will be subject to the new payment step.

“The Department of State (“Department”) proposes an adjustment to the Schedule of Fees for Consular Services of the Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs (“Schedule of Fees” or “Schedule”) to establish a $1 fee to register for the Diversity Visa lottery program,” reads part of a summary by the Federal Register.

“This change will more fairly place the burden of the lottery registration on individuals seeking the benefit of gaining access to the DV application process instead of charging only the small percentage of successful registrants for the costs associated with administering the lottery program for all registrants.”

To effect this change to the DV lottery program, the Department is also amending 22 CFR 42.33 (b) (3) by deleting the following sentence: “No fee will be collected at the time of submission of a petition, but a processing fee may be collected at a later date, as provided in paragraph (i) of this section.”

Additionally, the State Department is amending 22 CFR 42.33 (i) to note that a registration fee will be collected through an authorized U.S. government payment portal at the time of registration, prior to submitting and completing the registration.

2027 Green Card application requirements

To be eligible for the DV-2027 program, applicants must meet certain criteria. Applicants must be a native of a country with historically low rates of immigration to the United States.

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Alternatively, if they’re not from a qualifying country, they may still be eligible if their spouse or one of their parents is a native of an eligible country.

Each applicant must also have a high school education or at least two years of experience within the past five years in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience to perform.

There is no minimum age requirement for application, but the education or work experience requirement effectively disqualifies most individuals under the age of 18.

For married applicants, they must include their spouse’s name, and those with children must list all living unmarried children under the age of 21.

Application process

Applications for the program must be submitted electronically on the official Department of State DV Program website between mid-October and mid-November 2025.

Only one entry per person is accepted, as submitting more than one entry will disqualify all entries for that individual.

For a complete entry on the Department of State website, all the listed requirements must be provided.

After submitting your entry, you will receive a confirmation screen with your name and a unique confirmation number.

Be sure to save this information for reference. Starting May 2026, applicants can check the status of their entries on the DV-2027 program website to see if they’ve been selected.

Also Read: U.S. Embassy in Kenya Announces Disruption After Govt Shutdown

For more details on the application requirements and specifications for the green cards, interested candidates can visit the U.S. Department of State DV Program instructions website.

Selection and immigration process

The Department of State will randomly select individuals by computer from among the qualified entries. The entrant status check will be available on the E-DV website from May 2026 to September 2026 and is the only way the Department of State notifies selectees.

For the DV-2027 program, all selectees and their family members must be issued visas by September 30, 2027.

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