Trump Admin Reveals Fresh DV-2027 Lottery Dates and Fees

(UNITED STATES) The U.S. government has not opened the 2027 Green Card Lottery, known as DV-2027, as of November 6, 2025, despite rumors online and on social media claiming the entry window is already live. The U.S. Department of State said the official registration dates will be announced soon and urged prospective applicants to wait for the formal notice before submitting any information or money. The delay matters for millions of would-be immigrants who follow the annual lottery closely and for the cottage industry of agents and websites that spring up each year around the entry period.

In a statement dated November 6, 2025, the Department of State warned against scams and false claims tied to DV-2027.

“We are aware of reports of fraudulent claims that DV-2027 entry is open and of individuals and services falsely claiming they can increase your chances of selection. This is not true,” the department said.
Officials stressed that when registration opens, entries must be submitted only through the government’s official online portal during the published window, and that there is no service or consultant who can boost the odds of selection.

The State Department has signaled that DV-2027 registration dates are expected to fall in October 2025 and close in November 2025, consistent with prior years, but the exact start and end dates have not been released. The department said it will publish the notice on its website and in the Federal Register, which is the formal record for federal agency actions. Until that notice appears, the Green Card Lottery remains closed, and any website inviting early entries for DV-2027 is not authorized.

When the entry window does open, DV-2027 will come with two procedural changes that affect every applicant. First, for the first time, all entrants will have to pay a $1 electronic registration fee at the moment they submit an entry. The State Department said the processing system for this micro-fee goes live on October 16, 2025, and the money is non-refundable. The existing visa application fee for those who are selected and later pursue a diversity visa remains $330, unchanged from prior years. Second, a new document rule requires entrants to upload a digital scan of the biographical page of a valid, unexpired passport at the time of entry. That passport upload requirement took effect on September 16, 2025, with narrow exceptions, such as for stateless individuals.

The department’s message is intentionally simple: do not submit entries until the formal registration dates are announced, do not pay anyone who claims DV-2027 has opened, and do not share personal data with unofficial websites. The Green Card Lottery, created by U.S. law to diversify immigrant flows to the United States 🇺🇸, selects applicants from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the U.S. Applicants must either have a high school education or its equivalent, or show two years of qualifying work experience within the last five years. Those basic eligibility rules continue to apply for DV-2027.

The program’s timing follows a familiar pattern once registration closes. The State Department expects to publish results in May 2026. Selected individuals can then pursue visa processing—either at U.S. consulates abroad or, for those eligible and already in the U.S., through immigrant visa processing—during the government’s fiscal year that runs from October 2026–September 2027. The department says it will release additional technical instructions closer to the opening day, including the image specifications for photos, the online form’s required fields, and the payment process for the $1 registration fee.

Officials say the schedule shift this year reflects system changes behind the scenes as the $1 registration fee is added, along with broader modernization of the government’s online entry platform. The department has also had to work through operational strains from a recent federal government shutdown, which slowed some planned technology work. Immigration analysts note that the broader policy environment under the Trump administration has not favored the Diversity Visa program. They point to proposals within the administration’s immigration agenda that would reduce or eliminate the lottery as part of larger reforms, even as DV-2027 proceeds under existing law and published rules. There has been no official statement from President Trump or the Trump administration changing the DV-2027 registration dates; all updates to date have been issued by the Department of State.

For applicants, the most immediate practical changes are the $1 registration fee and the new passport upload requirement. The department says the fee must be paid through the official portal at the time of entry, with no refunds under any circumstances. Rejected payments will result in invalid entries, and paper entries are not accepted. The passport rule is equally strict: without a valid, unexpired passport scan for the primary applicant—or a documented exception recognized by the program—the system will not accept the submission. These steps are designed to reduce duplicate or frivolous entries and to prevent mass submissions by third-party services that, in prior years, flooded the system.

The State Department emphasizes that there is no early-bird advantage in the Green Card Lottery. Submitting an entry on the first day or the last day of the window does not change the odds of selection, which are determined by a random drawing within regional and country caps set by law. Each person may submit only one entry; duplicate entries by the same individual will lead to disqualification. Married couples can each submit a separate entry if both meet the minimum criteria, and they may include each other and their children as derivatives on those entries, which is a longstanding feature of the program.

The department’s fraud warning underscores a recurring problem: fake services offering guaranteed selection or claiming to have inside access. The agency’s wording—“This is not true”—is pointed, and it comes amid reports of paid websites advertising that DV-2027 is already open or selling alleged priority slots. Over the last decade, U.S. consular posts have reported cases where families paid substantial sums to middlemen only to discover their entries were never submitted or were submitted with incorrect information that later led to rejections. While the department did not cite new enforcement actions in this update, it urged applicants to rely solely on official guidance and to keep confirmation numbers safe for the results check in May 2026.

Prospective entrants watching DV-2027 should also note the timeline from selection to visa issuance. Even after results are released, selection does not guarantee a visa. Selected individuals must complete additional steps, attend an interview, pass security and medical checks, and show they remain eligible. Because interviews and visa numbers run on a monthly schedule tied to the fiscal year, those selected in regions with high demand often push to finalize their cases earlier in the year to avoid backlogs as the October 2026–September 2027 window advances. The unchanged $330 visa application fee applies only at that later stage for those who are selected and proceed with a case.

The registration dates will appear on the State Department’s site and in the Federal Register; those notices will include clear opening and closing times in Eastern Time, a common point of confusion for applicants abroad. In past years, last-minute surges have caused slowdowns on the entry website, so many entrants aim for mid-window submissions. The department counsels applicants to prepare needed documents in advance, including a compliant digital photo and, now, a passport scan, to reduce mistakes that can invalidate an entry.

This year’s new $1 fee has drawn attention not because of the amount, but because of what it signals about the department’s push to manage volume and deter abuse. By attaching a small payment to each entry, officials hope to limit mass submissions that have clogged the system and made it harder for genuine applicants to get through. The fee is small enough not to deter qualified individuals, but it creates a friction point for bulk filers. The agency says the payment must be made at the time of submission through the official system; entries without confirmed payment will not be considered.

Despite the delay in announcing DV-2027 registration dates, the department’s message is steady: watch for the official notice, submit only during the published window, pay the $1 fee through the government portal, and provide a valid passport scan with the entry. There is no shortcut, there are no guaranteed outcomes, and the only way to check results will be through the secure entry status check when it opens in May 2026. For authoritative updates and program rules, the State Department directs the public to the U.S. Department of State – Diversity Visa Program page on its website, including instructions that will be updated ahead of DV-2027: U.S. Department of State – Diversity Visa Program.

As rumors swell around the Green Card Lottery each fall, the specifics carry more weight than ever for DV-2027. Entrants should expect the formal announcement to set the exact opening day in October 2025 and the closing day in November 2025, to confirm the $1 registration fee effective October 16, 2025, and to restate the passport upload rule that began on September 16, 2025. Until then, the government says the lottery is not open, and the only safe plan is to prepare documents, watch for the official notice, and ignore anyone promising early access or better odds.