DV-2027 Lottery: Eligibility, Entry Rules, and Selection Results

The DV-2027 lottery is the diversity visa program for fiscal year 2027, offering up to 55,000 permanent resident visas to people from countries with historically low immigration to the United States. As of early 2026, registration has not opened. The Department of State has announced that it is changing the entry process and will publish the start date “as soon as practicable.”¹ Separately, the government has paused all diversity visa issuances and paused USCIS adjudication of related applications, so even eligible participants face uncertainty about actually receiving a visa this cycle.

Where DV-2027 Stands Right Now

Two government actions have disrupted the normal timeline. First, the registration window, which historically opens in early October, has been delayed. For reference, DV-2026 registration ran from October 2 through November 7, 2024.² Even with the delay, the State Department has confirmed that the visa application period for selectees under DV-2027 will still run from October 1, 2026, through September 30, 2027.¹

Second, the State Department paused all diversity visa issuances with no exceptions. Applicants may still attend scheduled interviews, but no visas will be issued.³ On the domestic side, the Department of Homeland Security directed USCIS to pause final adjudication of adjustment of status, employment authorization, advance parole, and waiver applications filed by DV program applicants.⁴ Both pauses were issued under Executive Order 14161, which directed a review of immigration programs for national security concerns.

The lottery itself has not been canceled. It remains a statutory program authorized by Congress. But anyone preparing to enter should check dvprogram.state.gov regularly, because both the entry timeline and the ability to actually receive a visa are in flux.

Who Can Enter the DV-2027 Lottery

Eligibility starts with where you were born. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1153(c), visas are distributed across six geographic regions, and natives of any country that sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States over the previous five fiscal years are excluded entirely.⁵ The State Department will publish the DV-2027 ineligible-country list with the program instructions once the entry period is announced. The DV-2026 list included Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland), Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, the United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland), and Vietnam, among others, and the list typically changes only slightly from year to year.⁶

Beyond nationality, you need one of two things: a high school diploma or its equivalent (completion of a formal 12-year course of elementary and secondary education), or two years of qualifying work experience within the past five years in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience to perform. The State Department uses the Department of Labor’s O*NET OnLine database to decide whether a particular occupation qualifies.⁶ You do not prove any of this at registration, but you will need documentation at the visa interview, and failing the education or experience test there is disqualifying.⁷

Cross-Chargeability If You’re From an Excluded Country

Being born in an ineligible country is not always the end of the road. If your spouse was born in an eligible country and the marriage existed before you submitted your entry, you can charge your entry to your spouse’s country of birth, but both spouses must apply for visas and enter the United States together. You can also claim the birthplace of either parent if neither parent was born in or resided in the country where you were born.⁸ Cross-chargeability also works in reverse for shifting to a more favorable low-admission region through a spouse.

What the Entry Itself Requires

All entries must be submitted electronically at dvprogram.state.gov during the designated window. There is no paper option. The form asks for your full legal name as it appears on your passport, date of birth, gender, city and country of birth, country of eligibility, current mailing address, phone number, email address, and the highest level of education you have completed or your qualifying work experience.

You must also list your spouse and every living unmarried child under 21, even if they don’t live with you and even if they have no intention of immigrating. This includes biological children, legally adopted children, and stepchildren.⁷ Leaving out a qualifying family member, or listing someone who isn’t really your spouse or child, can make you and everyone on the entry ineligible.⁹ The exceptions: a legally divorced spouse, and a child who has already been adopted by someone else.

Photo Rules That Reject Entries

A lot of entries fail on the photo. Each person on the entry needs their own photo that meets the State Department’s digital standards: a color JPEG no larger than 240 kilobytes, square aspect ratio at 600 × 600 pixels minimum and 1,200 × 1,200 pixels maximum, plain white or off-white background, taken within the last six months. Glasses are not allowed unless you have a signed medical statement (for example, after recent eye surgery). Head coverings are not allowed unless worn daily for religious purposes, and even then the full face must be visible with no shadows.¹⁰ The State Department offers a free photo validation tool that checks dimensions and composition before submission.

One Entry Per Person, and Watch for Scams

You get one entry per registration period. Submitting more than one disqualifies all of them, and the system’s automated checks catch duplicates.¹¹ If both spouses independently qualify, each may submit a separate entry, and either can list the other as a derivative.

The State Department’s fee schedule now lists a $1 registration fee paid by the principal applicant at the time of entry.¹² Beyond that, any website charging money to “enter” or “improve your chances” is a scam. The State Department has warned about fraudulent websites using U.S. flag or Statue of Liberty imagery to look official. Legitimate government sites end in “.gov.”¹³

After you submit, you get a confirmation page with a unique confirmation number. Save it. It is the only way to check your results, and the State Department cannot recover it if you lose it.

How Selection Works and How to Check Results

Selection is random and done by computer. Far more people are selected than will ever receive visas: for DV-2026, roughly 129,516 selectees (including spouses and children) were competing for up to 55,000 visa numbers.¹⁴ The over-selection is deliberate, because many winners drop out, become ineligible, or run out of time.

Every selectee gets a rank number. The State Department publishes monthly cutoff numbers in the Visa Bulletin for each region. If your rank number falls below the cutoff for your region in a given month, you can schedule your interview or file for adjustment of status. If it’s above the cutoff, you wait for the next month. Any number never reached before September 30 expires. A low rank number is significantly more valuable than a high one, because it gives you more months to finish the process before the fiscal year ends.

The Entrant Status Check at dvprogram.state.gov is the only way to see whether you were selected. The State Department does not send letters or emails announcing wins.¹³ Any message claiming otherwise and asking for payment is fraudulent. For DV-2027 the State Department has said it will announce when the status check goes live but has not set a date.¹ Historically, results have gone live in early May. To check, you’ll need your confirmation number, last name, and year of birth.

What Happens If You’re Selected

Selection is the start, not the finish. The principal applicant and every accompanying family member must complete Form DS-260, the Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration Application, online through the Consular Electronic Application Center, using the DV case number. If your family situation changed after you entered (marriage, new child), you can add family at this stage with documentation of the relationship.⁹

You’ll then need to gather supporting documents: birth certificates, police certificates from every country where you have lived for 12 months or more since age 16, and proof of your education or qualifying work experience. You’ll also need a medical exam by a panel physician approved by the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in your country. The exam covers a physical, chest X-ray, blood tests, and verification of required vaccinations.¹⁵ The Kentucky Consular Center processes DV cases and eventually schedules interviews; email at KCCDV@state.gov is the only accepted contact method, and paper mail sent to KCC is destroyed.

Costs after selection are more serious than the entry fee. Every person applying, principal and each family member, pays a $330 application fee at the interview.¹² A family of four owes $1,320 in visa fees alone, on top of the medical exam, document translation and authentication, and travel to the embassy.

Grounds That Can Block You Even After Winning

Selection and education alone don’t guarantee a visa. Every DV applicant must be found admissible under Section 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The main categories that can bar entry include health-related grounds (communicable diseases of public health significance, missing vaccinations, drug abuse or addiction, certain physical or mental disorders associated with harmful behavior); criminal grounds (crimes involving moral turpitude, drug offenses, multiple convictions with aggregate sentences of five years or more, trafficking, money laundering); security grounds (terrorist activity, espionage, participation in persecution or genocide); public charge; and prior immigration violations such as unlawful presence, prior removal orders, and fraud or misrepresentation on a visa application.¹⁶ Some grounds can be waived, but waivers add time and cost that a DV timeline often cannot absorb.

Adjustment of Status for Selectees Already in the U.S.

If you win and you’re already lawfully present in the United States, you can apply to adjust status without leaving. You file Form I-485 with USCIS. Eligibility requires that you were inspected and admitted or paroled, that you are physically present when you file, that a visa number is immediately available under the Visa Bulletin’s DV cutoff, and that you are admissible. Supporting documents include your birth certificate, passport, Form I-94 arrival record, the selection notification, two passport-style photos, Form I-693 (the medical exam completed by a USCIS-designated civil surgeon), and any court records if you have an arrest history.¹⁷ The adjustment must be fully approved, not merely filed, by September 30 of the fiscal year. Visa numbers do not carry over.

This path is currently affected by the USCIS adjudication pause. Anyone with an I-485 filed or planned under the DV program should watch USCIS announcements and consider speaking to an immigration attorney about the hold.⁴

The September 30, 2027 Deadline

Every DV fiscal year ends on September 30, and the deadline is absolute. No extensions, no carryovers, no exceptions. If your visa isn’t issued at consular processing, or your adjustment isn’t approved by USCIS, by that date, your selection expires permanently.¹ For DV-2027, everything from submitting the DS-260 to passing the interview to receiving the visa must happen between October 1, 2026, and September 30, 2027. That fixed window is why a low rank number matters so much, and why any processing delay, whether from missing documents, medical scheduling, or the current pauses, can be fatal to an otherwise valid application.

1
U.S. Department of State. Changes to Entry Period for 2027 Diversity Visa (DV) Program
2
U.S. Department of State. Correction of Diversity Visa 2026 Federal Register Notice
3
U.S. Department of State. Diversity Visa Issuance Updated Guidance
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. PM-602-0193 Diversity Visa Holds
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1153 – Allocation of Immigrant Visas
6
U.S. Department of State. Instructions for the 2026 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 7 Part G Chapter 2
8
U.S. Department of State. 9 FAM 502.6 Diversity Immigrant Visas
9
U.S. Department of State. Submit Your Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration Application
10
U.S. Department of State. U.S. Visas Photo Requirements
11
U.S. Department of State. Diversity Visa Program Entry
12
U.S. Department of State. Fees for Visa Services
13
U.S. Department of State. Fraud Warning
14
U.S. Department of State. DV 2026 Selected Entrants
15
U.S. Department of State. Medical Examinations FAQs
16
U.S. Department of State. Ineligibilities and Waivers Laws
17
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Green Card Through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program