Kathmandu
| December 23, 2025
In
a major development affecting thousands of Nepalese families, the United States has indefinitely paused the
Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) program, commonly known in Nepal as the EDV or green card lottery. The
decision was announced by the Trump
administration on December 18, 2025, ordering U.S. immigration
authorities to immediately stop processing and issuing Diversity Visas until
further notice.
What Is the Diversity Visa
(DV) Program?
EDV was established under
the Immigration Act of 1990, the Diversity Visa program was
designed to promote immigration diversity by offering up to 55,000 immigrant visas annually to applicants from
countries with historically low rates of U.S. immigration. Applicants are
selected through a random lottery system,
provided they meet basic education or work-experience requirements and pass
background checks. Over the years, the program has benefited millions globally including
a significant number of applicants from South Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe.
Why
the U.S. Took This Decision?
The
pause follows a high-profile criminal investigation in the United States
involving Claudio Manuel Neves Valente,
a Portuguese national who entered the U.S. in 2017 through the DV program and
later obtained permanent residency. Following recent shootings linked to U.S.
universities, the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) stated that the case exposed potential
weaknesses in the existing vetting system. U.S. officials say the pause will
remain until enhanced background and
security screening is implemented.
What
This Means for Nepalese DV Applicants?
Nepal
is among the countries with very high
participation in the Diversity Visa lottery every year. For many
Nepalese, DV has been one of the few
affordable and legal pathways to permanent residency in the U.S. Ongoing DV cases may be delayed or frozen
because of this, future DV registrations have no confirmed opening date and
there will be no new interviews
or visa issuances until further notice. So, applicants who were planning
to apply for upcoming DV cycles are now facing serious uncertainty.
Is
the DV Program Permanently Cancelled?
No, but it is paused indefinitely. The DV program is established by U.S. law (Immigration Act of 1990) and only the U.S. Congress can permanently end it. The
current halt is an administrative
decision, not a legal termination. However, U.S. officials have clearly
signaled broader immigration reforms
which means the program could return with stricter rules, higher scrutiny, or reduced numbers.
The
U.S. government has not announced any timeline for resuming the DV program.
Further updates are expected once the security review is completed.
For
verified updates, applicants should rely only on:
