Green Card Update: State Department Proposes Major Change to Applications

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Kate Plummer is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. politics and national affairs, and she is particularly interested in the impact of social policy decisions on people as well as the finances of political campaigns, corruption, foreign policy, democratic processes and more. Prior to joining Newsweek, she covered U.K. politics extensively. Kate joined Newsweek in 2023 from The Independent and has also been published in multiple publications including The Times and the Daily Mail. She has a B.A. in History from the University of Oxford and an M.A. in Magazine Journalism from City, University of London.

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Investigative Reporter

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The U.S. State Department has proposed a change to a green card lottery program.

According to a State Department notice, the government is proposing a $1 fee to register for the Diversity Visa lottery program, one of the ways in which green cards are awarded. Currently, only those selected through the program pay a fee.

Newsweek has contacted the State Department for comment.

Why It Matters

Since beginning his second term, President Donald Trump has overseen a crackdown on legal and illegal immigration amid his effort to enact the largest mass deportation program in U.S. history.

Green cards, officially known as Permanent Resident Cards, are awarded based on family ties, employer sponsorship and lottery systems. In recent months, the administration has made changes to the green card process and has indicated that permanent residency may be awarded on a more merit-based system in the future.

Critics of the proposed registration fee view it as another of administration’s barriers to legal immigration.

What To Know

The Diversity Visa program, established by the Immigration Act of 1990, began in 1995 and grants 55,000 visas each year.

“The lottery aims to diversify the immigrant population in the United States, by selecting applicants mostly from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States in the previous five years,” the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Italy said on its website.

In its notice of the proposed registration fee, the State Department said the funds would cover the costs associated with running the program.

“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,” the State Department said.

“By creating a new fee for the lottery registration, the Department will more fairly put the cost of managing the lottery on those who register for it. This change will also help to reduce specious registrations by actors seeking to exploit unsuspecting potential entrants,” it added.

The department also said it would amend its regulations to inform applicants that a fee would be collected at the time of registration.

Those selected through the lottery gain access to the Diversity Visa application process, during which they must pay a nonrefundable $330 fee.

In August, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox News that the U.S. should change its green card system to prioritize applicants with higher salaries or greater economic potential.

“The average American makes $75,000 a year, and the average green card recipient $66,000,” he said, adding, “We are going to start picking the best people to come into the country.”

What People Are Saying

Heath Brown, an associate professor of public policy at City University of New York, told Newsweek: “Any decision to add paperwork and bureaucracy to the immigration process risks American technological leadership in the world. Even small additions to the process of applying for a diversity lottery visa may dampen interest in immigration to the country. Increasing fees, like increasing taxes, ultimately may harm business activities in the U.S.”

What Happens Next

The State Department said it intended to implement the change 30 days after publishing the notice.

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