Kenyans planning to apply for the American Diversity Visa lottery this October will have to dig slightly deeper into their pockets.
The United States government has announced that applicants will now be required to pay a small registration fee when submitting their entries.
This change marks a shift from previous years, where Kenyans and other applicants could enter the lottery for free.
The adjustment comes as part of a new rule introduced by the U.S. Department of State to support the operational costs of managing the program.
The Diversity Visa (DV) lottery is an American immigration program that gives 55,000 people around the world a chance to receive permanent residency in the U.S. each year.
It provides an opportunity for individuals and families who may not have relatives or job offers in the United States to still apply for a Green Card.
The program targets countries that have had low immigration numbers to the U.S. in recent years, and Kenya is among the countries eligible to participate.
Every year, thousands of Kenyans apply, hoping to secure a better future in the United States through this process.
According to the new directive, a $1 registration fee equivalent to about Ksh129 will now be charged to each applicant. The fee will be paid electronically during the application process and will be non-refundable.
The U.S. Department of State said the small fee will help maintain the systemโs reliability and efficiency while discouraging duplicate or fraudulent entries that often flood the system.
This new rule will begin with the DV-2027 program, meaning Kenyans applying in October 2025 will be the first group affected by the change.
The rule was first published in the Federal Register in September 2025 and later confirmed by the Department of State.
It clarifies that earlier entries, such as those for the DV-2026 program and before, will not be affected. The payment requirement officially starts with the registration period scheduled for October 2025.
This period marks the opening of the next DV lottery round, and eligible Kenyans will be able to submit their entries once the online system is active.
Although the $1 charge may seem minimal, it represents a major policy shift. For years, the U.S. government has debated the need to introduce a small fee to cover administrative expenses tied to processing millions of entries worldwide.
With this new policy, Washington aims to make the process more sustainable without placing a heavy financial burden on applicants. The move also reflects a trend by the U.S. government to streamline immigration-related services and reduce misuse of online systems.
For many Kenyans, the fee is unlikely to discourage participation given the life-changing opportunity the Green Card offers. Still, it marks a new era in how the lottery is managed, with transparency and accountability becoming central to its operations.
Hopeful participants will need to ensure they have the required fee ready to complete their submissions successfully.
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