Error in Federal Register Notice Causes Confusion Over DV-2026 Green Card Lottery Registration Dates

The U.S. Department of State has published a detailed notice in the Federal Register with guidelines for the DV-2026 Green Card Lottery. However, a serious error in the notice regarding the registration period has caused confusion. While the correct registration period for DV-2026 is from Wednesday, October 2, 2024, to Tuesday, November 5, 2024, the notice mistakenly lists the dates as October 4, 2023, to November 7, 2023, likely due to a copy-and-paste error from last year’s details.

A spokesperson for the State Department has confirmed that the registration period will be open from October 2, 2024, to November 5, 2024.

The notice provides important instructions on the program overview, eligibility, completing electronic entries, the selection process, and submitting digital photographs. Applicants are urged to submit their entries electronically at dvprogram.state.gov during the correct registration window. The Department advises against waiting until the final week to avoid delays. Only one entry per person is allowed, and submitting multiple entries will result in disqualification.

This error has created confusion among those hoping to register for the DV lottery, as the incorrect dates in the Federal Register differ from the actual registration period.

“The Department of State annually administers the statutorily created Diversity Immigrant Visa Program. Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides for a class of immigrants known as ‘diversity immigrants,’ from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. For Fiscal Year 2026, up to 55,000 Diversity Visas (DVs) will be available. There is no cost to register for the DV program, but selectees who are scheduled for an interview will be required to pay a visa application fee prior to submitting their formal visa application, during which a consular officer will determine whether they qualify for the visa,” the Federal Register notice reads.

Applicants selected in the program (selectees) must meet specific but stringent eligibility criteria to qualify for a Diversity Visa (DV). The Department of State selects applicants through a randomized computer drawing and allocates diversity visas among six geographic regions, with no single country receiving more than seven percent of the available visas in any given year, according to the Department of State.

For DV-2026, natives of the following countries and areas are not eligible to apply, as more than 50,000 individuals from these countries immigrated to the United States in the past five years: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, The People’s Republic of China (including mainland and Hong Kong-born), Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea (South Korea), Venezuela, and Vietnam.

Natives of Macau SAR and Taiwan are still eligible. Aside from Cuba, which is ineligible for DV-2026, there were no changes in eligibility from the previous fiscal year, according to the Department of State.