The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) suspended the diversity visa (DV1) lottery. The move comes after the shooting at Brown University on December 13, 2025. According to the DHS, the perpetrator first entered the U.S. as a green card holder back in 2017.

The diversity visa lottery is a program that randomly allocates visas to individuals from countries with low rates of immigration to the U.S. According to the USCIS website, the DV program allocates up to fifty thousand visas each year. Previously, the government tried cancelling the DV1 program after a terrorist attack in 2017. Both perpetrators entered with a green card under the DV1 program. While not the only available path for earning a green card, the DV1 lottery is a major pathway for individuals from countries with low immigration.

Suspending the DV1 program is part of a larger government effort to enforce greater oversight on the Green Card vetting process. The DHS is also expanding government oversight towards other immigration vetting processes. It’s uncertain if individuals that entered the U.S. under the DV are risk of future scrutiny. Individuals planning on entering the U.S. via the DV program should seek an alternate entry path as soon as possible. Finally, it’s uncertain when the DHS will announce the resumption of the DV1 lottery.

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