Visas: Enhancing Vetting and Combatting Fraud in the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program

What it does

The Department of State ("Department") is amending regulations governing the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program ("DV Program") to improve the integrity of, and combat fraud in, the program. These amendments require a petitioner to the DV Program to provide valid, unexpired passport information and to upload a scan of the biographic and signature page in the electronic entry form or to otherwise indicate that he or she is exempt from this requirement. Additionally, the Department is standardizing and amending its regulations to add the word "shall" to simplify guidance for consular officers; ensure the use of the term "sex" in lieu of "gender"; and replace the term "age" in the DV Program regulations with the phrase "date of birth" to accurately reflect the information collected and maintained by the Department during the immigrant visa process.

The State Department's summary, as published in the Federal Register.

What changed in the regulation

1 part of Title 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations:

22 CFR 42

Wording on eCFR: the day before it took effect and from the day it took effect (first part listed).

Compared with

The State Department has published 23 final rules in 2026 so far, compared with 9 in all of 2025.

Counted by the Tribune from Federal Register records since Jan. 1, 2025.

Before this

1 earlier Federal Register document under regulation identifier 1400-AF76 since Jan. 1, 2025.

• Aug. 5, 2025 Notice of proposed rulemaking. Visas: Enhancing Vetting and Combatting Fraud in the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program

What happens next and when

This rule is effective on April 10, 2026.

The agency's dates, word for word.

Check it yourself

• The document in the Federal Register
• Title 22 on eCFR

The record as published

Source: the Federal Register (public domain). The document in the Federal Register