Immigration Update: DV-2027 Registration Is Not Open, and No Official Entry Dates Have Been Published

visaconsultants411

11 minutes ago

3 min read

Checked Monday, October 19, 2026.

Anyone waiting to enter the DV-2027 diversity visa lottery has the same question right now: has registration opened? As of today it has not, and the State Department has published no entry dates.

What the official pages show today

The entry system is closed. The State Department's Electronic Diversity Visa site states: "Entries are not being accepted at this time." The only program years it references are DV-2026 and DV-2025. The DV-2026 entry period ran from October 2 to November 7, 2024.

No DV-2027 dates have been announced. The Department's page "Changes to Entry Period for 2027 Diversity Visa (DV) Program" says the Department is changing the DV entry process, and that it will announce the start date for the DV-2027 registration period "as soon as practicable." The page gives no opening date and no closing date. Note the date on that page: it was last updated November 5, 2025. It is not a new announcement. What is current, as of today, is that it still stands and no dates have been added to it.

Nothing in the Federal Register. The Federal Register issues of October 16 and October 19, 2026 contain no Diversity Visa notice.

One DV-2027 date that is published. The same State Department page states that the changes do not affect people who are selected for DV-2027: their visa application period remains October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027.

What applicants should know

1. There is nothing to submit right now. The entry system is not accepting entries, so no entry made today can count.

2. There is exactly one official entry site, and entering is free. Entries are submitted only through the Department of State's Electronic Diversity Visa site. Any website charging a fee to "submit your DV-2027 entry," or claiming entries are open today, is not the U.S. government. This is the period in which DV-related fraud is heaviest, precisely because people are waiting for a date.

3. Treat any circulating opening date as unofficial. Specific DV-2027 dates are being repeated online. Until the Department publishes a date on its own pages, no date is official — and no one can enter early on the strength of one.

4. Prepare your materials now rather than refreshing a page. Whenever the window opens, DV entry periods are short. A valid passport, a photograph that meets the DV photo specifications exactly, and documentation that you meet the education or qualifying work-experience requirement are what decide whether you can file cleanly inside a narrow window. Photograph rejections are among the most common reasons a DV entry fails.

5. Check the official sources yourself. The Department's Visa News page, the Diversity Visa instructions page, and the Electronic Diversity Visa entry site are where an announcement will appear first.

How we can help

Our consultants are former U.S. diplomats who adjudicated immigrant visa cases inside U.S. embassies and consulates. We can tell you whether you are likely to qualify for DV-2027 on nationality, education or work experience before a window opens; what a selected DV applicant should have assembled in advance; and how to tell an official announcement from a rumor. If you were selected in an earlier DV year and your case is unresolved, we can tell you where it actually stands.

Book a consultation

If a change in U.S. visa policy may affect your case, our former U.S. diplomats provide professional visa consultations. Learn more and book at visaexpertdiplomats.com.