Trump Suspends Green Card Lottery Programme: The “Diversity visa program,” also referred to as the green card lottery system, which permitted the suspect in the killings at MIT and Brown University to enter the nation, has been suspended by US President Donald Trump.
On X, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated that she was directing the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to halt the program at Trump’s request in order to prevent further harm to Americans from the “disastrous” operation. “This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” she stated.
Will Indians Be Affected If Trump Suspends The Green Card Lottery Program?
Through the diversity visa program, up to 50,000 green cards are made available annually by lottery to citizens of underrepresented nations in the US, many of which are in Africa.
To increase entries from low-admission countries, it disqualifies nations that have sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the US in the previous five fiscal years. People from the Philippines, China, India, and Mexico are usually excluded from the green card lottery because they often exceed this threshold.
The number of Indian immigrants to the United States increased from 93,450 in 2021 to 127,010 in 2022, above the total number of immigrants from South America (99,030), Africa (89,570), or Europe (75,610). According to US Department of Homeland Security data, 78,070 Indians immigrated to the US in 2023, confirming the nation’s ineligibility for the lottery through 2028.
When spouses of the winners are taken into account, about 131,000 of the nearly 20 million applicants for the 2025 visa lottery were chosen. They have to go through screening after winning in order to be admitted to the US.
Trump Pauses Green Card Lottery Programme
According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), US President Donald Trump issued an order suspending the program that had permitted the suspect in the killings at MIT and Brown University to enter the country.
On Thursday, December 19, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has been directed by President Donald Trump to halt the DV program, which offers up to 50,000 immigrant visas annually through a lottery system.
The US Department of State’s diversity visa program is intended to encourage immigration from nations with historically low rates of immigration to the US. Its regulations prohibit participation by nations that have sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States during the preceding five fiscal years.
India, China, Mexico, and the Philippines have thus continuously been left out of the green card lottery. The US Department of Homeland Security reports that 93,450 Indians moved to the US in 2021, increasing to 127,010 in 2022 and 78,070 in 2023. As a result, India will remain beyond the program’s qualifying criteria until at least 2028.
Nearly 20 million people applied for the 2025 diversity visa lottery, and over 131,000 applicants, including spouses, were chosen, according to official US statistics. Before being allowed access into the United States, chosen individuals must still go through screening.
Reduced Indian Immigration Routes
Indians now have few options for permanent immigration to the US due to the closure of the diversity visa pathway. Options include family sponsorship, asylum, investment-based migration, and converting an H-1B visa into permanent residency.
However, due to President Donald Trump’s tougher immigration policies, these options are gradually closing, creating uncertainty for both employers and potential immigrants.
Effects on India
Indian nationals are not anticipated to be directly impacted by the ban because the diversity visa path is already blocked to them due to high immigration levels. Despite increased scrutiny under the Trump administration, Indians still rely on alternate paths including investment-based visas, family sponsorship, and H-1B-to-green card conversions.
Up to 55,000 diversity visas were allotted for the fiscal year by the US State Department in its previously published guidelines for the DV-2026 program. However, the program’s future is now unknown due to the new order.
The State Department stated in an official document posted on its website in October that “natives of the following countries are not eligible to apply for DV-2026 because more than 50,000 natives of these countries immigrated to the United States in the previous five years.”
India, China, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Pakistan, Nigeria, the Philippines, South Korea, and Vietnam are among the nations listed as ineligible, while residents of Macau SAR and Taiwan are still eligible, according to the paper.