DV-2027 Lottery: Visa Year Starts 1 October With No Winners

The DV-2027 lottery visa year began on 1 October 2026, but the US Department of State has still not opened registration or selected any winners for it. The State Department said in November 2025 that it would announce the DV-2027 entry dates as soon as practicable, and as of 7 October 2026 no dates have been published on its official pages. Separately, the Department paused all diversity visa issuance on 31 August 2026.

Key facts

• The DV-2027 visa application period is 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027, according to the State Department.
• The DV-2027 registration period was delayed in a notice dated 5 November 2025. No entry period or results date has been announced since.
• On 31 August 2026 the State Department said it had paused all visa issuance to diversity visa applicants, with no exceptions.
• DV-2026 selectees had until 30 September 2026 to receive a visa. That deadline has now passed.
• A new rule requiring a valid passport and a scan of its bio page in the DV entry form was published for 11 March 2026 and took effect 30 days later.

What changed for the DV-2027 lottery

The Diversity Visa (DV) lottery entry period is held well before the visa year it applies to. For DV-2027, people selected in the lottery would have been able to apply for their visas from 1 October 2026.

That did not happen. On 5 November 2025 the State Department announced changes to the DV-2027 entry process. It said it would publish the registration dates, and the date results would be available, as soon as practicable. The same notice said the DV-2027 application period would remain 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027.

As of 7 October 2026, the official DV entry website (dvprogram.state.gov) still only shows information about the DV-2025 and DV-2026 programmes. It does not list DV-2027 or DV-2028 dates. That means the DV-2027 visa year has opened with no selectees.

There is also a pause on visa issuance. On 31 August 2026 the State Department said a December 2025 pause had ended after a court order in Medani et al. v. Trump et al. But in the same update it announced a new pause on all diversity visa issuance while it reviews its screening and vetting protocols. It said applicants may still attend interviews, but no diversity visas will be issued during the pause. The pause does not cancel any visa that has already been issued.

Who is affected

• People who planned to enter the DV-2027 lottery. With no entry period, no one has been selected.
• DV-2026 selectees whose visas were not issued by 30 September 2026. Under the State Department’s rules, eligibility for a programme year ends on 30 September of that year.
• People hoping to enter DV-2028. That lottery would normally open around this time of year, but no dates have been announced.

What it means for Nepali and Indian applicants

The DV lottery is a route to a US green card that does not need a job offer or a family sponsor. Right now there is nothing to apply for. Any website, agent or social media page that says it can register you for DV-2027 or DV-2028 today is not using an official State Department channel.

The DV programme only accepts natives of eligible countries, and the eligible-country list is published in each year’s instructions. Because no DV-2027 or DV-2028 instructions have been released, we cannot confirm which countries will be eligible.

When the lottery does reopen, the passport rule will matter. Under the State Department’s final rule on enhancing vetting and combatting fraud in the DV programme, entrants must give valid, unexpired passport details and upload a scan of the passport’s biographic and signature page, unless they are exempt.

What to do now

1. Ignore offers to enter DV-2027 or DV-2028 for a fee. The official entry site is dvprogram.state.gov, and the State Department’s DV-2026 instructions describe the online entry as free.
2. If you do not have a valid passport, start the passport process in Nepal now, so you can meet the passport requirement if registration opens.
3. Keep a recent digital photo and your passport scan ready. These are the items most often needed at short notice.
4. Check travel.state.gov and dvprogram.state.gov for official DV-2027 or DV-2028 dates.
5. If you were a DV-2026 selectee and did not receive a visa, speak to a qualified US immigration lawyer about your options.

What we don’t know yet

• Whether DV-2027 registration will be held at all, and when.
• When DV-2028 registration will open.
• When the August 2026 issuance pause will end, and whether further court action will affect it.
• Which countries will be eligible for DV-2027 and DV-2028.

Frequently asked questions

Is the DV-2027 lottery open?

No. As of 7 October 2026 the State Department has not announced an entry period for the DV-2027 lottery, and its official entry site shows no DV-2027 registration.

Has the Diversity Visa programme been cancelled?

No official notice says the programme has been cancelled. The State Department has delayed DV-2027 registration and paused visa issuance, but it says the DV-2027 application period still runs to 30 September 2027.

Do I need a passport to enter the DV lottery?

Yes, under the final rule published in March 2026, entrants must give valid passport details and upload a scan of the bio and signature page, unless an exemption applies.

Sources

• Changes to Entry Period for 2027 Diversity Visa (DV) Program – travel.state.gov
• Diversity Visa Issuance Updated Guidance – travel.state.gov
• Electronic Diversity Visa Program – dvprogram.state.gov
• Diversity Visa Instructions – travel.state.gov
• Visas: Enhancing Vetting and Combatting Fraud in the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program – Federal Register public inspection
• State Department Update on Diversity Visa Issuance Pause – BAL

Last checked: 7 October 2026. This is general information, not immigration advice.