Uzbekistan Ranks First Globally for Number of U.S. Green Card Lottery Winners

More than 5,500 Uzbek citizens have been selected in the U.S. Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery for 2025, according to results announced on May 3. With 5,564 winners, Uzbekistan is the leading nation globally, just ahead of Algeria (5,526) and Russia (5,519). The DV program, commonly known as the Green Card lottery, is administered annually by the U.S. State Department under the 1990 Immigration Act. It offers up to 55,000 permanent residency visas each year to individuals from countries with historically low levels of immigration to the United States. For the DV-2025 cycle, approximately 131,000 applicants worldwide were selected, more than double the number of available visas. This over-selection accounts for expected attrition, as not all applicants will proceed with the process. The program corresponds to the U.S. fiscal year, which runs from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025. Winners must still pass eligibility screenings and attend visa interviews before receiving a Green Card, which grants them the right to live and work permanently in the United States. In Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan had 3,095 winners, followed by Tajikistan (2,982), Turkmenistan (2,010), and Kazakhstan (2,004). The program remains one of the most accessible and sought-after legal pathways for Central Asians seeking to immigrate to the U.S.