$1 Newly Implemented DV Application Processing Fee

[Sm1smom]

The USDOS has proposed an adjustment to the Schedule of Fees to establish a $1 fee to register for the Diversity Visa lottery program. To effect this change to the DV program, DOS is also amending its regulations to note that an electronic registration fee will be collected at the time of registration.

The new $1 electronic registration fee for the annual DV lottery, is effective September 16, 2025. This fee is paid at the time of registration and is separate from the existing $330 Diversity Visa application fee, which is paid only by lottery winners who are selected and proceed with the formal visa application process. The newly introduced registration fee is being put forward as a relatively new charge to cover operational costs.

Federal Register :: Request Access

www.federalregister.gov

 

[Britsimon]

I see a couple of problems with their plan.

1. They haven't given themselves enough time to implement the rule for DV2027, unless they delay the entry period.
2. It could be hard to implement a payment system that works everywhere in the world.


It will be interesting to see what they do....

 

[Sm1smom]

Yup! Agreed with all of the above observations.

 

[Xarthisius]

2. It could be hard to implement a payment system that works everywhere in the world.

But that's the goal, right? Mandate ACH by saying it's due to Executive Order 14247 and the list of countries becomes very short...

 

[SusieQQQ]

It could be hard to implement a payment system that works everywhere in the world.

And suddenly we have a whole new opportunity for the “agents”…

 

[Alien2010]

A $250 registration fee was part of the Big Beautiful Bill but was omitted in the Senate's version.
Has "scan the photo page of the passport" rule been implemented?

 

[SusieQQQ]

A $250 registration fee was part of the Big Beautiful Bill but was omitted in the Senate's version.
Has "scan the photo page of the passport" rule been implemented?

If they’re doing this for revenue purposes the $1 makes sense. Millions of people enter and most won’t be put off by a $1 fee, a lot more (probably most) would not spend $250 for a 0.5% chance of being selected.

 

[Claus Larsen]

I believe the $1 fee is for fraud detection.
Submitting 100's of applications for a single person has been easy up until now.
Just use different names, birth places, year of birth - then falsify papers to match when selected.
Now you will need 100 different credit cards, as they will count the number of times a card has been used for an application.

 

[Bob22]

I don't think is a bad idea. As stated it will cut down on fraud and $1 is affordable for everyone.