State Department Holds Nepal DV Numbers Steady; Issuance Pause Persists

The March cutoff for Nepali DV-2026 winners remains unchanged at case number 6,500, the same level set in the February 2026 Visa Bulletin for Nepal under the Asia region. This lack of forward movement means that Nepali selectees with case numbers above 6,500 will not yet become eligible for interview scheduling in March.

The U.S. government has paused the issuance of new diversity visas since late December while an interagency review of security and admission procedures is underway. Policy summaries describe this as a program-wide pause in decisions on new DV visas. This pause followed late-2025 directives related to diversity visa processing that led consular posts to stop finalizing new DV-1 immigrant visas, even as the statutory framework for the program remains in place.

Despite the pause in issuance, guidance to applicants explains that DV selectees may still submit their immigrant visa forms and attend scheduled interviews at U.S. embassies and consulates. The halt applies specifically to printing and issuing new visas, meaning that already issued diversity visas generally remain valid unless revoked under separate grounds.

The Diversity Visa program itself continues to operate under Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Diversity visas are distributed among six global regions, and no single country may receive more than 7 percent of the worldwide annual total.

A separate policy change affecting future DV rounds is the introduction of a $1 electronic registration fee for lottery entries. The State Department’s final rule, published in mid-September 2025, establishes that this fee must be paid at the time of online DV registration; this is distinct from the much higher immigrant visa fee paid later by those who are selected. According to the Department of State, there are no new announcements regarding DV-2027 at this time.