The green card lottery runs on a fixed annual calendar: registration opens in early October and closes in early November, selection results are posted the following May, and every visa for that cycle must be issued by September 30 of the year after that. The program’s official name is the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, and it makes up to 55,000 green cards available each fiscal year to people from countries that send relatively few immigrants to the United States.1Congress.gov. The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program From the day you submit an entry to the day a visa is either issued or lost forever, the process spans roughly two to three years, and every date on that calendar is fixed.
When Registration Opens and Closes
The Department of State opens the online entry portal at dvprogram.state.gov sometime in early October and closes it in early November. For the DV-2026 cycle, registration opened on October 2, 2024, at noon Eastern time. The exact dates shift slightly each year, but the window consistently falls within that October-to-November range and lasts about five weeks.
Once the window closes, there is no late submission and no appeal. You wait until the next year. The portal can be sluggish on the first and last days as millions of applicants compete for server time, but submitting in the middle of the window carries no disadvantage since selection is random rather than first-come-first-served. The State Department also recently finalized a $1 electronic registration fee, which takes effect for future registration cycles.2Federal Register. Schedule of Fees for Consular Services, Department of State and Overseas Embassies
Only one entry per person is allowed in a given registration period. If you or anyone acting on your behalf submits a second entry, every entry in your name gets thrown out.3GovInfo. Diversity Visa Lottery: Read the Rules, Avoid the Rip-Offs Married couples may each submit a separate entry as long as both spouses independently qualify and each lists the other as a derivative.
A New Passport Requirement Starting April 2026
A final rule published in March 2026 reinstates a passport requirement for DV lottery registration, effective April 10, 2026. Starting with the DV-2027 cycle, you must provide your valid, unexpired passport number, the country of issuance, and the expiration date on the entry form, and you must upload a JPEG scan of the passport’s biographical and signature page no larger than 5 megabytes.4Federal Register. Visas: Enhancing Vetting and Combatting Fraud in the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program Limited exemptions exist for stateless individuals, nationals of certain countries who cannot obtain a passport, and people who receive an individual waiver from the Departments of Homeland Security and State. If you don’t already have a passport, factor that lead time into your calendar before the next October window opens.
When Results Are Released
Selection results typically go live in early May of the year after you registered. For the DV-2026 lottery, results became available on May 3, 2025, and remain accessible through at least September 30, 2026.5USAGov. Check the Diversity Visa Lottery Results and What To Do if You Were Selected You check your status at dvprogram.state.gov using the confirmation number you received when you submitted your entry.
The State Department does not send emails or letters telling you whether you were selected. This is worth emphasizing because it is the single biggest opening for scammers. Any email, letter, or phone call claiming you “won” the DV lottery and asking for payment is fraudulent.6U.S. Department of State. Fraud Warning The government will never ask you to wire money or pay fees in advance of an interview. The only legitimate way to learn your status is to log in and check yourself.
If you lost your confirmation number, go to dvprogram.state.gov, click “Continue,” then select “Forgot Confirmation Number” and enter your personal information to retrieve it. There is no other recovery method, and the State Department cannot look it up for you over the phone.
What Selection Means for Your Timeline
Being selected does not guarantee a green card. The State Department deliberately selects more people than there are visas available, because many selectees won’t complete the process, won’t qualify, or won’t be processed in time. Each selectee receives a rank number, and the State Department works through those numbers in order throughout the fiscal year. Lower numbers get interview appointments earlier, which matters a great deal given the September 30 cutoff.
Between May and the end of September, selectees submit the DS-260 immigrant visa application, gather civil documents, complete a medical examination with an approved panel physician, and pay the $330 application fee per person.7U.S. Department of State. Prepare for the Interview All of this happens before an interview can be scheduled.
When Interviews Begin
Interviews start in October of the fiscal year the visas are allocated for, since the federal fiscal year begins on October 1. For the DV-2026 cycle, that means interviews started in October 2025. The State Department schedules interviews based on rank number, with lower numbers going first. Your interview appointment, location, and instructions appear on the Entrant Status Check portal, not through email or postal mail.8U.S. Department of State. Diversity Visa Program – Interview
If you are already legally living in the United States on a valid nonimmigrant visa, you can apply for adjustment of status by filing Form I-485 with USCIS instead of attending a consular interview abroad. You can file as soon as a monthly Visa Bulletin shows that your rank number is current, which can be up to six or seven weeks before a visa number is actually allocated.9U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Green Card Through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program Filing early in the fiscal year matters, because the same September 30 wall applies.
The September 30 Hard Deadline
Every diversity visa for a given lottery cycle must be issued by the end of the federal fiscal year, which falls on September 30.1Congress.gov. The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program There are no exceptions, no extensions, and no carryover into the next fiscal year.9U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Green Card Through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program If your interview gets delayed by administrative backlogs, or your case gets sent for additional processing that doesn’t resolve before October 1, your selection is worthless. The same rule applies to adjustment of status: USCIS must approve the I-485 before the fiscal year ends.
This is the most unforgiving date in the entire process, and it hits people with high rank numbers hardest because they get scheduled later in the year with less margin for problems. Anyone selected should treat every earlier step as time-sensitive, because delays compound.
The Full Green Card Lottery Calendar
- October–November (Year 1): Registration window opens and closes at dvprogram.state.gov. Submit one entry per person during this period.
- Early May (Year 2): Selection results become available at the Entrant Status Check portal. Check using your confirmation number.
- May–September (Year 2): Selected applicants submit the DS-260, gather documents, complete medical exams, and pay fees.
- October (Year 2) onward: Consular interviews begin, scheduled by rank number. U.S. residents file Form I-485 when the Visa Bulletin shows their number is current.
- September 30 (Year 3): Absolute deadline. Every visa for this cycle must be issued or every adjustment approved before the fiscal year ends.
From the October you enter to the September you either receive a visa or lose eligibility, roughly two to three years elapse. Marking each date on a calendar the moment you enter the lottery, and treating every one as immovable, is what separates selectees who reach a green card from those who don’t.