- The DV-2027 visa year starts October 1, 2026 with no winners, because registration never opened.
- The State Department has announced no dates for DV-2027 or DV-2028 since its November 5, 2025 notice.
- DV-2026 selectees must get visas or green cards by September 30, 2026, from a limit of 52,101.
The DV-2027 Diversity Visa year starts on Thursday, October 1, 2026, and nobody has been selected to use it. The State Department never opened registration for the DV-2027 green card lottery, never drew winners, and as of September 26, 2026 has not announced dates for DV-2027 registration, DV-2027 results, or DV-2028 registration.
The department’s only public explanation dates to November 5, 2025. It said it was “implementing certain changes” to the entry process and would announce the DV-2027 registration period and results date “as soon as practicable.” It also said the visa application period for DV-2027 selectees “will remain Oct. 1, 2026, to Sept. 30, 2027.” That window now opens in five days with an empty list of selectees.
Free toolCSPA Age-Out Calculator OnlineIn a normal cycle, DV-2027 registration would have run in October and November 2025, results would have posted in May 2026, and interviews would begin in October. DV-2028 registration would open around now. Neither is happening on that schedule, and the State Department has not said why beyond its November notice. VisaVerge is not going to guess at one.
The program itself exists in law. Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act makes up to 55,000 immigrant visas available each fiscal year to people from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. A lawsuit in San Diego argues the department is legally required to hold a registration period every year; a judge declined to order one on an emergency basis on September 3.
Where Things Stand on September 26
Three separate lottery years are in play this week. DV-2026 selectees, drawn in May 2025, have until September 30 to receive a visa or adjust status. DV-2027 has a visa year about to begin but no entrants. DV-2028 would normally be taking entries this fall and has no announced dates.
The State Department’s Electronic Diversity Visa site, dvprogram.state.gov, is the only place registration can happen and the only place results are posted. Neither DV-2027 nor DV-2028 registration is open there.
How the Lottery Calendar Came Apart
The DV-2027 delay started before the program was suspended. The November 5, 2025 notice came six weeks before the events that froze diversity visas entirely, and it cited only “changes” to the entry process. Earlier in October 2025, the department had said DV-2027 registration dates would be “widely publicized in the coming months,” after scam sites falsely claimed registration had opened.
Then, after the December 2025 Brown University shooting and the killing of MIT professor Nuno Loureiro, officials identified the suspect as a Portuguese national who had entered through the diversity visa program in 2017. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on December 18, 2025 that, at President Trump’s direction, USCIS would pause the program. USCIS placed pending DV green card applications on hold the next day, and the State Department stopped issuing diversity visas on December 23.
The court orders this summer reopened processing for people already selected in DV-2026. None of them touched the next lottery. Registration for DV-2027 remains a separate question, and it is the one now before a federal judge in San Diego.
What a Normal Lottery Year Looks Like
For at least the past five cycles, the lottery ran on a fixed rhythm: about five weeks of online entries starting in early October, results in early May, and a visa year starting the following October 1. That gave winners roughly five months to file Form DS-260 and gather documents before interviews began.
If the State Department opens DV-2027 now, the whole sequence of entry, random selection, DS-260 filing, document review and interviews would have to fit inside the 12-month visa year, instead of the roughly 24 months a cycle normally spans. Entitlement to a diversity visa ends with the fiscal year for which the applicant was selected, so any DV-2027 winner would still face a September 30, 2027 cutoff.
The department has not said whether it plans a compressed DV-2027 cycle, and it has not said whether DV-2028 will open on the usual autumn schedule.
The Lawsuit to Force Registration
Red Eagle Law L.C., a California immigration firm, filed Red Eagle Law L.C. v. Rubio (No. 3:26-cv-04738) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California on August 19, 2026. It argues that federal law and regulations require the Secretary of State to designate a registration period of at least 30 days in each fiscal year, and that the department has failed to do so for DV-2027. The firm told the court that diversity visa work made up nearly 29% of its gross revenue in 2026.
Justice Department lawyers argued that the firm lacks standing, waited too long to sue, and was asking the court to invent timetables for the agency. On September 3, U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta denied a temporary restraining order without prejudice. “Much of the ship has sailed already,” she said at the hearing, according to Courthouse News Service. She set an expedited schedule for a preliminary injunction instead, with a hearing on September 24.
No ruling from that hearing had been reported as of September 26. Our earlier coverage of Judge Ohta’s denial of the emergency order explains the case and the briefing schedule. Even a win for the plaintiffs would not select anyone by itself; it would require the department to open a registration period.
DV-2026 Winners Face a Hard Stop on September 30
For people already selected, the clock matters more than the lottery calendar. The September 2026 Visa Bulletin states that entitlement for all DV-2026 registrants “ends as of September 30, 2026,” that visas “may not be issued to DV-2026 applicants after that date,” and that numbers “could be exhausted prior to September 30.” Spouses and children lose derivative status on the same day.
The diversity visa pause lasted from December 23, 2025 to August 28, 2026. On that date, U.S. District Judge Edward J. Davila of the Northern District of California issued a preliminary injunction in Medani v. Trump and certified nationwide classes of DV-2026 selectees and family members. The State Department then said that “as of August 28, 2026,” the December pause “is no longer in effect.” Our coverage of the Medani class certification and USCIS resuming DV green card cases covers who the orders reach.
The final DV-2026 allocation is also smaller than the headline 55,000. Deductions for the NACARA program and Section 5104 of the Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act cut the DV-2026 limit to 52,101 visas. Whatever is not issued by September 30 is lost.
What Changes for the Next Entry
Whenever registration opens, the entry form will not be the one past entrants remember. A State Department final rule published on March 11, 2026 and effective April 10, 2026, titled “Visas: Enhancing Vetting and Combatting Fraud in the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program,” requires each entrant to provide valid, unexpired passport information and upload a scan of the passport’s biographic and signature page, unless an exemption applies.
- Passport scan: a clear image of the bio and signature page, uploaded with the electronic entry form (DS-5501).
- $1 registration fee: a separate consular fee rule published September 16, 2025 added a non-refundable $1 electronic fee at entry, the first charge in the program’s history. It is separate from the $330 diversity visa application fee winners pay later.
- Form wording: the rule replaces “gender” with “sex” and “age” with “date of birth.”
The eligible-country list for any new cycle will appear only in that year’s official instructions. For DV-2026, ineligible countries included Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Vietnam. Our DV-2027 green card lottery guide covers eligibility, photo rules and the entry steps in full.
How to Spot a DV Lottery Scam Right Now
A long gap with no official dates is when fraud thrives. Sites that claim DV-2027 or DV-2028 registration is open, that sell “assisted” entries, or that promise better odds are misleading people: there is no open registration to join.
- Entries happen only at dvprogram.state.gov. A site ending in anything other than .gov is not the lottery.
- The State Department does not email, text or call winners. Results appear only in the Entrant Status Check, using your confirmation number.
- The only entry cost will be the $1 government fee. Anyone charging more for an entry is a third party.
- No one can improve your odds. Selection is random, and duplicate entries disqualify every entry you submitted.
What Entrants Should Do While They Wait
Nobody outside the State Department knows when, or whether, the next registration opens. The useful steps are the ones that make you ready for a short window, because a delayed cycle may give entrants less time than the usual five weeks.
DV-2026 selectees whose cases are still open should contact their embassy or consulate, or USCIS if adjusting status in the United States, before September 30 and keep proof of every step taken. A lawyer can advise whether the Medani class covers a particular case.
What Happens Next
Three developments will set the course. The first is Judge Ohta’s ruling on the preliminary injunction in Red Eagle Law L.C. v. Rubio. The second is the October 2026 Visa Bulletin, which is itself running late; October bulletins normally carry the first diversity visa cutoff numbers of the new fiscal year. The third is any State Department notice on DV-2027 or DV-2028 dates.
VisaVerge will update this page when any of those arrive. Until the department posts dates on travel.state.gov, the accurate answer to “when does the green card lottery open” is that it has not said.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the DV-2027 green card lottery open?
No. As of September 26, 2026, the State Department has never opened DV-2027 registration. On November 5, 2025 it said it was changing the entry process and would announce dates as soon as practicable, and no dates have followed. Entries can only be made at dvprogram.state.gov.
When will DV-2028 registration open?
The State Department has not announced any DV-2028 dates. Past lotteries opened registration in early October and ran about five weeks, but DV-2027 broke that pattern, so no one can say whether DV-2028 will follow the usual schedule until official instructions appear on travel.state.gov.
Were any DV-2027 winners selected?
No. Because DV-2027 registration never opened, no entries were taken and no selection was made. The State Department still says the DV-2027 visa application period runs from October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027, so that visa year begins with no selectees.
Why was the DV-2027 lottery delayed?
The State Department’s only explanation, from November 5, 2025, is that it was implementing changes to the entry process. Separately, the diversity visa program was paused in December 2025 after the Brown University shooting. The department has not given any further reason for the missing DV-2027 dates.
What is the Red Eagle Law v. Rubio lawsuit?
Red Eagle Law L.C. sued Secretary of State Marco Rubio on August 19, 2026 in San Diego federal court, arguing the law requires a registration period of at least 30 days each fiscal year. Judge Jinsook Ohta denied an emergency order on September 3 and held a preliminary injunction hearing on September 24.
What is the deadline for DV-2026 winners?
DV-2026 selectees must receive an immigrant visa or complete adjustment of status by September 30, 2026. The September 2026 Visa Bulletin says visas may not be issued after that date and that numbers could run out sooner. The DV-2026 limit is 52,101 visas after required deductions.
Are diversity visas being issued again?
Yes, for DV-2026. The State Department said its December 2025 pause on diversity visa issuance was no longer in effect as of August 28, 2026, following a court order in Medani v. Trump. USCIS also resumed DV-based green card applications after the court vacated its hold memo.
What will the DV lottery entry require when it opens?
A final rule effective April 10, 2026 requires valid, unexpired passport information and an uploaded scan of the passport’s biographic and signature page. A separate fee rule published September 16, 2025 added a non-refundable $1 electronic registration fee, paid at entry, separate from the $330 visa application fee winners pay.
