US Visa Lottery (DV Lottery): Who Qualifies and DV-2027 Status

Somebody in a WhatsApp group says the "American visa lottery" is open, and for a small fee they'll submit your form. It's tempting, because the lottery is one of the few US green card routes that doesn't need a job offer or a relative. But the real program is run by one government agency, and it has changed a lot in 2026.

This guide explains how the Diversity Visa (DV) lottery works, where DV-2027 stands as of September 2026, and how to protect yourself. To be clear from the start: this website doesn't take lottery entries or applications. Only the US Department of State does, at dvprogram.state.gov.

What the DV lottery is

The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program gives natives of countries with historically low immigration to the US a chance at permanent residence. Selection is by random computer draw.

The law makes up to 55,000 diversity visas available each year, and USCIS describes about 50,000 as available once other allocations are taken out. Visas are shared across six world regions, and no single country can receive more than 7 percent of them in one year.

Demand is huge. In its 2026 passport rule, the State Department cited 6.7 million entries for fiscal year 2021, 7.3 million for 2022 and 9.6 million for 2023, and it estimated about 10 million for DV-2027. Your odds depend on your region and country, but they're small for everyone.

Where DV-2027 stands in September 2026

In a normal year, the entry period runs for about a month in October and November. The DV-2026 period followed that pattern, and results opened in Entrant Status Check in May 2025.

DV-2027 is different. The State Department deferred the opening of the DV-2027 entry period, partly to give people time to get passports under a new rule. It said it would announce the dates as soon as practicable. As of mid-September 2026, we couldn't find any published opening date.

DV-2027 visas belong to the fiscal year that runs from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027. If entries open late, that leaves selectees less time to complete their cases. Check travel.state.gov and dvprogram.state.gov directly, and ignore anyone who claims to know the dates first.

Who is eligible

You must pass two tests.

Test one: your country

You must be a "native" of an eligible country, which usually means born there. The list changes each year. For DV-2026, natives of these countries were not eligible, because more than 50,000 of their natives immigrated to the US in the previous five years:

Natives of Macau and Taiwan were eligible. The DV-2027 list will appear in the official instructions when they're published.

There are two narrow exceptions. You can claim your spouse's country of birth, as long as you're both named on the entry, both issued visas and enter the US together. Or you can claim a parent's country of birth if neither parent was born in, or living in, your country of birth when you were born.

Test two: education or work

You need one of these:

• A high school education, defined as a completed 12-year course of formal elementary and secondary education. Equivalency certificates don't count.
• Two years of work experience within the past five years, in a job that needs at least two years of training or experience. The State Department uses the Department of Labor's O*Net database to decide which jobs qualify.

If you don't clearly meet one of these, being selected won't help. You'll be refused at the interview.

The new passport rule and the $1 fee

A State Department rule effective 10 April 2026 changed the entry form. You must provide valid, unexpired passport details and upload a scan of the passport's biographic and signature page. The department said it would apply the rule from the DV-2027 program. Exemptions are narrow, such as for stateless people.

If you don't have a passport, apply now. Passport offices in many countries take months.

A separate fee rule, effective 16 September 2025, added a $1 registration fee, collected inside the official entry form. That's the only payment at the entry stage.

How to enter when the period opens

1. Read the official instructions for that program year on travel.state.gov.
2. Get your passport scan and photos ready. Photos must be recent and meet the published specifications. Don't reuse an old photo.
3. Go to dvprogram.state.gov yourself. Fill in the form, pay the $1 fee within it and submit once. More than one entry for yourself disqualifies all of them.
4. Save your confirmation number. Print or screenshot the confirmation page. Without it, you can't check your result.
5. Check Entrant Status Check when results open. The US government won't contact you directly.

Married couples may each submit their own entry if each is eligible, listing each other. That can double a household's chances.

If you're selected: steps and costs

Selection means you may apply. It doesn't guarantee a visa. The State Department usually selects more people than there are visas, so selectees with early case numbers have the best chance. Every visa must be issued, or adjustment approved, by 30 September of that fiscal year.

Most selectees complete Form DS-260, the online immigrant visa application, and attend an interview at a US embassy or consulate. Selectees already in the US in a lawful status may apply to USCIS with Form I-485 instead, once a visa number is available.

The State Department figures come from the consular fee schedule in federal regulations, and the USCIS figures from its fee schedule dated 9 September 2026. On top of these, budget for the panel physician's medical exam, vaccinations, police certificates, translations and travel to the embassy.

The biggest cost is often the move itself. Plan for flights, a rental deposit, health insurance from day one and a few months of living costs while you look for work. Open a US bank account soon after you arrive, and compare the full cost of sending money home, including exchange-rate margins. If you want to line up work early, our guide to working legally in the United States explains your rights as a new permanent resident.

Why selectees get refused

Plenty of people are selected and still don't get a visa. The most common reasons are avoidable if you know them in advance.

• Education they can't prove. A consular officer will ask for original certificates and transcripts. If your schooling totals fewer than 12 years, or the documents don't match what you entered, the case fails.
• Work experience in the wrong kind of job. Two years in a role that needs little training won't qualify, however hard you worked.
• Family errors on the entry. An unlisted spouse or child, or a listed person who shouldn't be there, can end the case for everyone.
• Passport or photo problems. Under the new rule, the passport details you entered must belong to you and must have been valid when you entered.
• Missing the deadline. Selectees who wait months to submit their DS-260 can find that visas have run out before their interview is scheduled.
• Admissibility issues. Past overstays, certain criminal records or earlier visa fraud can make you ineligible regardless of selection.

Here's how it can play out. Say a secondary school teacher in Accra, Ghana, is selected. She has her West African Senior School Certificate and university degree, lists her husband and two children, and submits her DS-260 within weeks. Her case number comes up, she attends her interview with original documents and medical results, and she's in a strong position.

Now picture her colleague, selected in the same year, who left his daughter from an earlier relationship off the entry because she lives with her mother. At the interview, the child's birth certificate appears in his records. Under the rules, that omission can make him ineligible, and his wife loses her chance too.

Lottery scams: how to spot them

Scammers love the DV lottery because hope makes people less careful. The State Department's 2026 rule described fraud rings that entered people without their knowledge and then charged selectees large sums to hand over their own confirmation numbers.

Red flags:

• Any entry site that isn't dvprogram.state.gov. Paid "registration services" can't improve your odds.
• An email, text or letter saying you've won. The State Department notifies selectees only through Entrant Status Check.
• Requests to wire money to "secure" a visa, book an interview or reserve a slot.
• Someone offering to keep your confirmation number for you.
• "Guaranteed selection" or "higher chances" packages. The draw is random.

The same warning applies to anyone who calls themselves a "visa lottery agent" on social media. You can enter on your own for the $1 official fee.

If the lottery isn't open or doesn't work out

The lottery is a long shot even in a normal year, so treat it as a bonus rather than your plan. Other routes include employer sponsorship, family sponsorship and study. Our overview of different ways to migrate to the USA compares them, and our guide to EB visas ranked by difficulty covers the employment routes.

Your checklist

• Apply for or renew your passport now.
• Check whether your country, or your spouse's, was eligible in the latest instructions.
• Gather proof of your 12 years of schooling or qualifying work experience.
• Write down every family member you must list.
• Bookmark travel.state.gov and dvprogram.state.gov, and check them for DV-2027 news.
• Never pay anyone other than the official $1 fee to enter.

When the entry period finally opens, you'll be ready to enter safely, on your own, in one sitting.