DV Lottery 2027: What's Changed and How to Enter

The DV-2027 cycle is the most consequential green card lottery in years. Two regulatory changes — a $1 electronic registration fee and a reinstated passport requirement — will reshape who successfully enters and who gets disqualified before the drawing even happens.

If you're planning to enter DV-2027, understanding these changes is not optional. Millions of entries are rejected every year for technical reasons before a human ever reviews them. The new rules raise the bar further.

What Is the DV Lottery 2027?

The Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) program allocates up to 55,000 green cards annually to nationals from countries with historically low immigration rates to the United States. The program operates on U.S. fiscal years: DV-2027 visas are for fiscal year 2027, meaning all processing must complete by September 30, 2027.

For DV-2025, nearly 20 million qualified entries competed for approximately 131,060 selectee slots — and only 55,000 of those selectees would ultimately receive visas. That ratio is why the program is called a lottery, and why procedural compliance is what separates winners who get visas from winners who don't.

The Two Big Changes for DV-2027

The $1 Registration Fee

For the first time in the program's history, the Department of State is charging a $1 electronic registration fee. Payment is made online at dvprogram.state.gov at the time of entry, using a credit or debit card. The fee is non-refundable.

This may seem trivial, but the purpose is significant: it acts as a deterrent against the automated bot systems and fraud rings that historically submitted millions of duplicate entries. A $1 cost multiplied across millions of fraudulent submissions disrupts the economics of mass-entry schemes. It also means you must have a payment method ready when you register — no coming back later to pay.

The Reinstated Passport Requirement

Effective April 10, 2026, all principal applicants must provide valid, unexpired passport information and upload a digital scan of the passport's biographic and signature page at the time of registration.

This rule was previously in place, was temporarily vacated by a federal court, and has now been permanently reinstated through formal rulemaking. The name on your entry form must match the passport exactly — including the order of names and spelling. Any discrepancy is grounds for disqualification.

This requirement closes off a major scam: third-party "visa consultants" who submitted lottery entries for people without their knowledge, then demanded thousands of dollars to hand over the confirmation number if the person was selected.

DV-2027 Registration Dates

The registration window typically opens in early October and closes in early November — approximately a 35-day window. The exact dates for DV-2027 have not been announced as of writing, but the pattern holds each year. You cannot enter after the window closes; there are no extensions.

Who Is Eligible for DV-2027?

Eligibility is based on country of birth, not citizenship or current residence. A country is excluded if it sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States over the previous five years.

Countries currently excluded include: China (mainland), India, Mexico, Philippines, South Korea, Vietnam, Canada, United Kingdom, and Brazil. Note that Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, Taiwan, and Northern Ireland are treated separately and remain eligible.

Beyond country eligibility, the principal applicant must meet one of two educational standards:

• A high school diploma or equivalent (defined as completing 12 years of formal elementary and secondary education — GED certificates are not accepted)
• Two years of qualifying work experience in a Job Zone 4 or 5 occupation with an SVP rating of 7.0 or higher, within the past five years

If you qualified via work experience, be prepared to document it thoroughly. Consular officers verify these claims.

Cross-Chargeability: Your Country Isn't the End of the Story

If you were born in an ineligible country, you may still enter if your spouse was born in an eligible country — and you both plan to enter the U.S. simultaneously. This is called cross-chargeability, and it applies as long as both spouses are listed on the entry.

Similarly, a child born in a country where neither parent was born or legally resident at the time of birth may claim the chargeability of a parent born in a qualifying country.

Cross-chargeability errors are common and costly. Claiming the wrong country of chargeability is treated as a material misrepresentation.

The One-Entry Rule

Submitting more than one entry per person per year is a federal violation. All entries for that person are voided — even if a third party submitted the duplicate without your knowledge. The Department of State uses facial recognition software to detect duplicates.

The only legitimate way for a couple to increase household odds is for each spouse to submit their own separate entry, listing the other as a derivative beneficiary.

What Happens After You Enter

After the registration window closes, the lottery drawing is conducted by computer at random. Results are announced in early May via the Entrant Status Check (ESC) on the official website. The Department of State does not notify winners by email, mail, or phone — any such communication is a scam.

If selected, you receive a case number that ranks you within your geographic region. Being selected does not guarantee a visa. You must then navigate a multi-step process — DS-260 submission, document collection, medical exam, and consular interview — all before September 30, 2027.

That post-selection phase is where most selected applicants fail.

The Full Cost Picture

DV-2027 is not free, despite how it's marketed. The realistic costs per applicant:

These fees are paid after selection, not at registration. If your case number is never called for an interview, you pay nothing beyond the $1 entry fee.

Making the Most of Your Selection

If you're selected, the window between notification (May) and the September 30 deadline is short. Applicants with high case numbers in oversubscribed regions — particularly Africa and Asia — may find their number doesn't become current until August or September, leaving almost no margin for delays.

The US Diversity Visa Lottery Guide covers the full post-selection lifecycle: DS-260 completion, document procurement by country, medical exam timing, financial requirements, and how to read the Visa Bulletin to track your case number.

Don't enter the lottery without a plan for what to do if you win.