Results for the green card lottery 2026 have been available since May 3, 2025 through the Entrant Status Check at dvprogram.state.gov, but selectees face an unusual obstacle: in December 2025, the Department of State paused all diversity visa issuance, and every DV-2026 visa not issued by September 30, 2026 is permanently lost. Registration for DV-2026 closed on November 7, 2024, so no new entries are possible. If you already entered, what matters now is checking your status, understanding the freeze, and knowing what to do if the pause lifts.
The Current Pause on Diversity Visa Issuance
In December 2025, the Department of State announced that it had paused all visa issuances to diversity immigrant visa applicants, effective immediately.1U.S. Department of State. Diversity Visa Issuance Updated Guidance Under this guidance, selectees can still submit visa applications and attend interviews, and the Department of State will continue scheduling appointments. No diversity visas will actually be issued. The guidance states there are no exceptions.
No end date has been announced, and the government has not said whether the pause will become permanent. The practical response is to keep your case ready to go: monitor the Entrant Status Check, respond to any correspondence, complete your medical exam, and attend any interview you are scheduled for. If the freeze lifts, cases that are already through interview and documentarily complete will be positioned to receive visas first.
The Deadline That Still Applies
The DV-2026 fiscal year runs from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026. All interviews, visa issuances, and admissions must happen within that window. After September 30, 2026, unused visa numbers vanish permanently — the statute does not allow leftover numbers to roll into the next fiscal year.
That deadline creates real urgency the longer the pause lasts. Even if issuance resumes, the pool of selectees who can still be processed shrinks with every week that passes. The Entrant Status Check remains accessible through at least September 30, 2026.2USAGov. Check the Diversity Visa Lottery Results and What to Do If You Were Selected
How to Check If You Were Selected
The only legitimate way to find out whether you were selected is the Entrant Status Check at dvprogram.state.gov.3U.S. Department of State. Fraud Warning You need three pieces of information: your confirmation number from when you submitted your entry, your last name, and your birth year. If you lost your confirmation number, you cannot check your results. There is no alternative method and no way to retrieve it.
The Department of State does not send letters or emails telling people they were selected.3U.S. Department of State. Fraud Warning You may receive a general reminder to check your status online, but any message claiming you “won” and asking for payment or personal information is a scam. Legitimate visa application fees are paid only at the U.S. embassy or consulate cashier at the time of your scheduled appointment. The government will never ask you to wire money or send a check in advance.
How Many Visas Are Actually Available
The Immigration and Nationality Act authorizes up to 55,000 diversity visas each fiscal year.4U.S. Department of State. Instructions for the 2026 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program The real number is smaller. Since 1999, the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act has diverted up to 5,000 of those visas to a separate program. Starting with fiscal year 2025, the National Defense Authorization Act further reduces the pool by up to 3,000 visas per year for certain U.S. government employees abroad and their families.5U.S. Department of State. 9 FAM 502.6 – Diversity Immigrant Visas The actual number available for DV-2026 could be roughly 47,000 to 50,000.
Because many selectees do not qualify, decline to apply, or fail to complete processing in time, the Department of State selects far more people than there are visas. Each selectee gets a case number, and numbers are processed in order. A lower case number generally means an earlier interview and a better chance of receiving a visa before the supply runs out. The monthly Visa Bulletin indicates which case numbers are being processed. No single country’s nationals can receive more than 7 percent of the available diversity visas in any given year.5U.S. Department of State. 9 FAM 502.6 – Diversity Immigrant Visas
Who Qualifies
Country of Birth
The lottery is only open to people born in countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. For DV-2026, natives of the following countries were ineligible: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (including Hong Kong SAR), Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Venezuela, and Vietnam.6U.S. Department of State. DV 2026 – Selected Entrants This list changes annually.
If you were born in an ineligible country, you may still qualify through cross-chargeability. You can charge your entry to your spouse’s birth country if that country is eligible, as long as the marriage existed before you submitted your entry. Both spouses must then apply for visas and enter the United States at the same time.5U.S. Department of State. 9 FAM 502.6 – Diversity Immigrant Visas If you were born in a country where neither of your parents was born or resided at the time, you can claim either parent’s birth country instead.
Education or Work Experience
Every entrant must meet one of two tracks. The first is a high school education or its equivalent, meaning completion of a 12-year course of elementary and secondary education in the United States or a comparable program abroad that would qualify a student to apply for college admission.7U.S. Department of State. Confirm Your Qualifications A GED does not count. Vocational degrees that don’t serve as a basis for further academic study also fail to qualify.
The second track is qualifying work experience: at least two years in the past five years in an occupation that requires a minimum of two years of training or experience.8eCFR. 22 CFR 40.205 – Applicant for Immigrant Visa Under INA 203(c) The Department of State evaluates this using the Department of Labor’s O*NET OnLine database. The job must be classified as Job Zone 4 or 5 with a Specific Vocational Preparation rating of 7.0 or higher.9U.S. Department of State. Prepare for the Interview In practice, that means professional or managerial roles. Entry-level jobs and most skilled trades don’t clear the threshold. Look up your occupation at onetonline.org before relying on this track.
Steps and Costs After Selection
Being selected does not mean you have a green card. It means you are eligible to apply for a diversity immigrant visa and will be assigned a case number. Everything that follows must be completed before September 30, 2026.
Filing the DS-260
Selected entrants complete Form DS-260, the Online Immigrant Visa Application, through the Consular Electronic Application Center. At the interview, bring original or certified copies of civil documents: birth certificate, passport valid for at least six months beyond your intended entry date, police certificates, and your education or work experience documentation.9U.S. Department of State. Prepare for the Interview Documents in a foreign language need certified English translations.
Medical Examination
Every visa applicant, including accompanying family members, must complete a medical examination with an approved panel physician in the country where the interview will take place. The exam and all required vaccinations must be finished before the interview date.10U.S. Department of State. Medical Examinations FAQs Required vaccinations cover hepatitis A and B, measles, mumps, rubella, polio, and tetanus, among others. Panel physician fees vary by country and typically run a few hundred dollars per person. Book early, since appointments can fill up.
Fees
The diversity visa application fee is $330 per person applying for a visa.11U.S. Department of State. Fees for Visa Services After visa approval, each new immigrant must also pay a $235 USCIS immigrant fee before receiving their green card.12U.S. Embassy. USCIS Immigrant Fee Add the medical exam, passport photos, certified translations, and document procurement, and a family of four could easily spend over $2,000. None of these fees are refundable if the visa is denied or the fiscal year deadline passes.
Adjustment of Status for Selectees Already in the U.S.
DV lottery selectees who are already legally present in the United States may be able to adjust their status through USCIS rather than attending a consular interview abroad. To qualify, you must have been inspected and admitted or paroled into the country, be physically present when you file Form I-485, and have a visa number immediately available both at filing and at final adjudication.13U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 7 Part G Chapter 2 – Eligibility Requirements You must also not be subject to any bars to adjustment and must be admissible to the United States.
Timing is especially tight for adjustment cases. Your case must be fully adjudicated before September 30, 2026; USCIS will not approve it after the fiscal year ends, even if you filed months earlier. If you are using cross-chargeability through a spouse, both of you must file to adjust status at the same time.13U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 7 Part G Chapter 2 – Eligibility Requirements Given the current pause on diversity visa issuance and USCIS processing backlogs, this path faces serious uncertainty for DV-2026 selectees.