Green Card Lottery (DV-2027, DV-2028): the court ruling, the rules and what to do after winning

Probably yes, but as of 10/25/2026 there are no exact dates. On 10/14/2026, federal judge Jinsook Ohta (Red Eagle Law, L.C. v. Rubio, Southern District of California) issued a preliminary injunction and ordered the State Department to announce and open DV-2027 registration for at least 30 days, including through the Federal Register.

• According to law firms, the court schedule is: announcement by 10/29/2026, registration opens by 11/01/2026, at least 30 days, selectees notified by 12/03/2026.
• As of 10/25, there are no DV-2027 instructions in the Federal Register.
• The government may file an appeal, and then the schedule will change.

As soon as the State Department announces the dates, we will update this page and our dates page. Follow only dvprogram.state.gov and the Federal Register.

No, the lottery has not been canceled: the program is established by law (INA 203(c)), and only Congress can cancel it.

• On 11/05/2025, the State Department announced that it was changing the procedure and would announce DV-2027 dates “as soon as practicable.” The usual window (October–November 2025) never opened.
• In December 2025, after the shooting at Brown University, the program was paused, and DV visa issuance was stopped from 12/23/2025.
• The law firm Red Eagle Law filed a lawsuit on 08/19/2026. The government argued that opening registration was now “literally impossible” because fiscal year 2027 began on 10/01/2026.
• On 10/14/2026, the court disagreed and ordered registration to be opened, and then cases to be processed until 55,000 visas are issued or until 09/30/2027.

As of 10/15/2026, no one has announced DV-2028 dates, and there are no announcements in the Federal Register.

The number in the name is the U.S. fiscal year in which the visas are issued. DV-2027 winners must get their visa by 09/30/2027, and DV-2028 winners by 09/30/2028. Usually, registration for the next lottery takes place in the fall, about a year before the “visa” year begins. Because of the DV-2027 delay and the court ruling, the schedule has shifted this year, and it is not yet known whether DV-2028 will open at the same time, later or in some other way. Websites that are already “accepting DV-2028 entries” are scams.

For DV-2026, the court allowed visa issuance to continue, but the process is slow.

• On 08/28/2026, judge Edward Davila (Medani et al. v. Trump) temporarily lifted the pauses for DV-2026, and the State Department announced that the December pause was “no longer in effect.”
• The law prohibits issuing DV visas after 09/30, but on 09/30/2026 the court ordered the State Department to keep processing DV-2026 cases because the agency was late in complying with the order.
• Enforcement was later temporarily paused. According to the class counsel, case processing was expected around 10/11–10/20/2026, and these dates may shift.

If you are a DV-2026 winner and your case is not finished, contact a licensed immigration attorney, because every case depends on the details.

Yes, in DV-2026 Ukraine was on the list of eligible countries (the “Europe” region).

There is no official list for DV-2027 yet, because the instructions have not been published. Important: eligibility is determined by your country of birth, not your citizenship or place of residence. If you were born in a country that is not eligible, sometimes you can claim your husband's or wife's country of birth (then both of you must be on the entry, get visas and enter together). Do not believe websites that say Ukraine has been excluded: according to the official DV-2026 instructions, that is not true.

The principal applicant must have either a complete secondary education (12 years of schooling) or 2 years of work experience within the last 5 years in an occupation that requires at least 2 years of training.

• The State Department determines whether an occupation qualifies using the U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database.
• The requirement applies only to the principal applicant, not to the husband, wife or children.
• At the interview, education is proven with documents (school certificate, diploma), so put on the form only what you can prove.

It is better to get advice before filing about which Ukrainian education documents are considered equivalent.

Yes, you can register if you were born in an eligible country. Your status in the U.S. does not affect registration itself.

The difficulties begin after you win. There are two ways to get a green card: consular processing (an interview at an embassy abroad) or adjustment of status with USCIS. At the end of 2025, USCIS froze processing of DV cases, and since 05/21/2026 memo PM-602-0199 has been in effect, which calls adjustment of status an “extraordinary benefit.” So if you are in the U.S. and win, discuss your path with a licensed immigration attorney before submitting documents.

Yes. If you are legally married, each spouse can submit their own entry as the principal applicant and list the other on it.

• If either of you wins, you go together, with your children under 21.
• Each person can have only one entry as a principal applicant. Several entries for one person disqualify all of them.
• You must list your husband or wife, even if you live separately or they do not plan to go.

In a common-law (unregistered) relationship, each person files separately as an unmarried person. Americanization offers packages that double the chances for married couples.

Yes. Since 04/10/2026, the rule “Visas: Enhancing Vetting and Combatting Fraud in the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program” (91 FR 11891) has been in effect.

• On the form, you must enter the details of a valid, unexpired passport: number, country of issue, expiration date.
• You must upload a scan of the page with your biographic data and signature.
• The exceptions are very narrow: stateless persons, citizens of certain countries where it is impossible to get a passport, and those with an individual waiver.

Keep a copy of the passport you registered with: if you cannot prove at the interview that it was valid on the registration date, the visa may be denied. If your passport is about to expire, renew it in advance.

How to fill in every field of the entry form is in our step-by-step guide; photo rules are on the Green Card photo page.

No. Since 09/16/2025, there has been a $1 government electronic registration fee (rule 90 FR 44524, doc. 2025-17851). It is paid when you submit your entry on dvprogram.state.gov.

This is the first paid step in the program's entire history. In practice, no one has paid it yet, because registration has not opened since then, so some websites still say “free.” The State Department charges no other money for registration. Paid services from private companies, including ours, are help with filling out the entry correctly, not a “ticket” to the lottery: no one can influence the result of the drawing.

According to the DV-2026 instructions (there are no new ones yet), the photo must be:

• JPEG format, file size no more than 240 KB;
• a 600×600 pixel square;
• taken no more than 6 months ago;
• without glasses, headphones or shadows on the face, with the same quality as a U.S. visa photo;
• a separate photo for each family member on the entry.

A scan of a paper photo is allowed only under strict technical requirements (2×2 inches, 300 ppi). A wrong or old photo is one of the most common reasons for disqualification. If the requirements change for DV-2027, we will update this answer.

You can check your photo for free with our online photo checker: it shows what to fix and prepares a 600×600 file under 240 KB.

You must list your husband or wife and all unmarried children under 21, even if they do not plan to go.

• Children include biological children, adopted children and stepchildren.
• A former husband or wife after a legal divorce is not listed.
• Write names exactly as in the passport.

If you leave out a person who should have been listed, the entry can be found invalid even after winning, and the consul will deny the visa. Children age 21 or older, or married children, need their own separate entry.

Only by yourself, on dvprogram.state.gov, in the Entrant Status Check section. The U.S. government does not notify anyone by letter, email or phone call.

1. Open Entrant Status Check.
2. Enter your confirmation number, last name and year of birth.
3. If you were selected, you will find instructions for the next steps there.

The confirmation number is given right after you submit: save it (screenshot, printout). If you lose the number, the check page has a function to recover it using your entry details and email. The State Department has not yet announced the DV-2027 results date.

The only official website is dvprogram.state.gov. Registration and checking results happen only there.

Watch out for confusion: in Ukraine, a “green card” is also the name of car insurance for traveling abroad, which is something completely different. Websites with .com or .org domains or similar names that “sell participation” or “guarantee a win” have nothing to do with the State Department. Another sign of a fake: official U.S. government websites have a .gov domain. A private company can help you fill out the form, but the submission itself still happens on dvprogram.state.gov, and you must have the confirmation number.

The main rule: you cannot buy or “guarantee” a lottery win, because the winners are chosen by a computer at random.

• The State Department does not send letters saying “You won, pay the fee.” The result is only in Entrant Status Check.
• Never give anyone your confirmation number without being able to check your status yourself. A known scam: a middleman submits for a person, keeps the number and then demands money. The State Department mentioned exactly these Ukrainian schemes from 2013, with demands of up to $15,000, in its 2026 rule.
• Until the State Department announces dates, any website that is “already accepting DV-2027 or DV-2028 entries” is a scam.

Winning only means the right to submit documents for a visa. After that, everything depends on speed and accuracy.

1. Read the instructions in Entrant Status Check and save your case number.
2. Fill out the online Form DS-260 for each person who is immigrating.
3. Gather documents (passports, birth and marriage certificates, education documents, police certificates) and send them to the Kentucky Consular Center (KCC) as the instructions say.
4. Wait for your interview appointment: it is scheduled when your case number becomes current in the Visa Bulletin.
5. Complete the medical exam and the interview.

There are always more winners than visas, so do not delay.

The DS-260 is an online immigrant visa application that is filled out in English for the principal applicant and each family member who is going.

• The information must match what you put on your lottery entry and your documents: education, marital status, children, addresses, work.
• The form asks about criminal records, immigration violations, previous trips and social media accounts.
• False answers can be grounds for a denial and a lifetime ban on entry.

Mismatches between the lottery entry, the DS-260 and the documents are a typical cause of problems at the interview. If you are not sure, it is better to get advice before submitting.

The main fees after winning are (as of 10/15/2026):

• DV application fee – according to law firms, $330 per applicant, paid to the consulate. We were not able to open the official State Department table, so check the amount in the instructions for your case.
• USCIS Immigrant Fee – $235 per person, paid after you get the visa and before you enter the U.S. (according to the USCIS G-1055 table). Without it, the plastic green card will not be mailed.
• The medical exam and vaccinations are separate, and the price depends on the country and clinic.

The $250 Visa Integrity Fee does not apply to immigrant visas, including DV.

The consul checks three things: whether your win is real, whether you meet the requirements, and whether there are grounds of inadmissibility.

• Education or experience: bring the originals of your school certificate, diploma and translations.
• Family: marriage certificates and your children's birth certificates; everyone must be listed on the lottery entry.
• The passport you registered with: since 2026, the consul can check whether it was valid on the registration date.
• Criminal records and previous immigration violations.
• Whether you will be able to support yourself (public charge).

Answer briefly and truthfully, the same way as on the DS-260.

Because more winners are selected than there are visas (about 55,000 per year), and the visa still has to be issued by 09/30 of the relevant year.

• Your case may not be processed in time if your case number is high.
• In 2025–2026, DV visa issuance was stopped from 12/23/2025 until the court ruling of 08/28/2026, and according to the media, of more than 50,000 DV-2026 visas, only about 11,000 were issued.
• A presidential entry ban applies to 39 countries. Ukraine is not on it.
• The consul reviews public charge: since November 2025, consuls have been told to also consider health, age and the ability to pay for medical care. You may need proof of funds, a job or a sponsor.

Americanization helps with registration, but the result is always decided by the State Department and the consul.