“DV-2027 Registration Dates Will Be Widely Publicized in the Coming Months,” Says State Department

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs has stated that dates for the Diversity Visa (DV) 2027 program registration period will be “widely publicized in the coming months,” following the program’s failure to launch on its usual early-October schedule.

The department, which published the November Visa Bulletin on Wednesday, reiterated: “Dates for the DV-2027 program registration period will be widely publicized in the coming months. Those interested in entering the DV-2027 program should check the Department of State’s Diversity Visa webpage in the coming months.”

It remains unclear whether this language indicates an imminent announcement or merely reflects standard phrasing carried over from past bulletins.

On Wednesday, the Department of State also published corrected results for the Diversity Visa (DV) 2026 “Green Card Lottery” after issuing a public notice in early October. The correction affected entrants from Cuba and Great Britain (United Kingdom), including its dependent territories.

According to the update, Cuban natives are ineligible to participate in the DV-2026 program—a clarification that reverses the initial “selected” status for a small number of Cuban entrants. The Department determined that a technical error in the entry selection system had mistakenly notified some Cuban nationals of their selection. Under U.S. law, countries with more than 50,000 immigrants admitted to the United States in the previous five years are excluded from the DV program.

The Department reported that approximately 129,516 prospective applicants—selectees, spouses, and children—have been chosen for the DV-2026 program and may be eligible to apply for immigrant visas.

“Since selection is random and blind to the number of family members who may immigrate with the selectee, and because some selectees will not complete their cases or will be found ineligible, this larger figure ensures that all DV-2026 numbers can be used during Fiscal Year 2026 (October 1, 2025 – September 30, 2026),” the Department noted in the Visa Bulletin.

The State Department clarified that entrants were randomly selected from among 20,822,624 qualified entries submitted during the 37-day registration period, from noon EDT on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, to noon EST on Thursday, November 7, 2024. Diversity visas will be distributed among six geographic regions, with no more than seven percent allotted to any single country.

During visa interviews, principal applicants must provide proof of a high school education or its equivalent, or two years of work experience in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience within the past five years. Those selected must act promptly on their visa applications and carefully follow the instructions included in their notification letters, the Department further emphasized.

This publication reached out to the Department of State twice seeking comment on the delayed opening of DV-2027 registration. The Department declined to give a specific reason for the delay. A spokesperson stated, “The Diversity Visa (DV) program is established by statute, and the Department of State will continue to implement the program as required by law,” adding, “This year, there will be changes to the DV entry process.”

The official start and end dates for the DV-2027 registration period have not yet been released. “We will announce registration dates and other details when available,” the spokesperson said, adding that updated information will appear on travel.state.gov and in the Federal Register once finalized.

Delays in DV program openings are not without precedent. In 2017, a technical problem forced the Department to reset the DV-2019 registration period after entries submitted between October 3 and 10 were lost due to a system glitch. A new entry period began on October 18 that year.

Immigration attorneys speculate that the current delay may be related to the introduction of a new $1 electronic registration fee for all entrants, set to take effect with the DV-2027 cycle. “Implementing the new payment system worldwide could represent the new ‘technical reason’ behind the delay,” said Keshab Seadie, an immigration attorney based in New York.

One confirmed change is the adoption of this new $1 electronic registration fee. The State Department did not confirm whether the fee caused the delay, nor did it comment on whether the recent government shutdown played a role.

A final rule establishing the $1 registration fee was published in the Federal Register on September 16, 2025, taking effect immediately. This fee must be paid electronically at the time of DV application submission.

According to the Department, “The new registration fee will more fairly allocate the costs of managing the random selection process to those who register. It will also discourage speculative registrations by individuals exploiting potential entrants.”

Previously, the operational cost of the lottery was covered by the $330 DV application fee, paid only by those selected for visas. The new rule aims to shift this cost toward registrants rather than selected applicants. The Department estimates the new fee will generate approximately $25 million in revenue. Although the lottery’s administrative cost has been detached from the DV application fee, the total $330 fee will remain unchanged for now, pending future adjustments.

Millions of people from eligible countries depend on the DV Lottery for a chance to obtain one of 55,000 available immigrant visas to the United States. Applicants are urged to monitor the official website, travel.state.gov, for the announcement of official registration dates.

Separately, the Trump administration has proposed a rule requiring passports for all DV Lottery applicants. However, the rule will not take effect this year due to the required review timeline. The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on August 5, 2025, with the public comment period ending on September 19, 2025.

The administration is currently working to reinstate the passport requirement in compliance with legal standards, following an unimplemented version of a similar rule proposed under the Biden administration.