DV Lottery 2027: How to Enter the US Green Card Lottery

The DV Lottery 2027 is the US Diversity Visa program for fiscal year 2027, the annual draw that gives up to 55,000 permanent resident visas (green cards) to people from countries with historically low immigration to the United States. It is completely random: about 10 million people enter each cycle and roughly 55,000 are selected, which makes it a genuine lottery and the only US immigration route most applicants can try without an employer, a family sponsor or an investment. This guide covers the DV-2027 eligibility rules, the new passport and $1 fee requirements, how to enter, and how to avoid the scams that surround the program.

DV-2027 covers the US fiscal year running from October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027. As of this guide's publication the registration window had not yet opened — the State Department delayed it while introducing new entry rules — so the most important advice is to monitor the official portal and prepare your documents now.

Key takeaways

• DV-2027 awards up to 55,000 green cards; entry is free to file aside from a new $1 fee, and registration happens only at dvprogram.state.gov.
• New for DV-2027 (effective April 10, 2026): you need a valid, unexpired passport at entry and must upload a scan of the biographic and signature pages.
• Eligibility depends on your country of birth, plus either a high-school education or two years of qualifying work experience in the last five years.
• You may submit only one entry; multiple entries disqualify you.
• Results appear only on the Entrant Status Check page; the State Department never emails, mails or phones winners.
• If selected, the visa must be issued before September 30, 2027, with no extensions.

What is the DV Lottery?

Created by the Immigration Act of 1990, the Diversity Visa program broadens the mix of nationalities among US immigrants by giving visas to people from countries that sent few immigrants in the previous five years. "High-admission" countries whose natives cannot enter include India, China (mainland), Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, the Philippines, South Korea, Vietnam and the UK (mainland-born), among others, and the list shifts each cycle, so always check the official instructions.

Eligibility for DV-2027

You qualify if you were born in an eligible country and meet one of two standards: a high-school education or its equivalent (a 12-year course of schooling), or, within the five years before applying, two years of work experience in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience. Two family rules expand the pool: if your spouse or parent was born in an eligible country, you may derive eligibility, and under cross-chargeability a married couple can often use the eligible spouse's birth country.

The new DV-2027 entry rules

A final rule effective April 10, 2026 changed how entries work. First, every entrant must have a valid, unexpired passport at the time of entry and upload a JPEG scan of the biographic and signature pages (maximum 5 MB). Limited exemptions exist for stateless persons and nationals of Communist-controlled countries unable to obtain a passport. Second, every entry requires a non-refundable $1 fee, paid through Pay.gov, with no waivers. The form now asks for your date of birth and sex rather than age and gender. The State Department delayed the registration window to give applicants time to obtain passports.

How to enter, step by step

1. Get a valid passport now and scan the biographic and signature pages as a JPEG under 5 MB.
2. Wait for the official registration window to open, announced on travel.state.gov and dvprogram.state.gov — do not enter through any third-party site.
3. Complete the entry form (DS-5501) in one sitting; there is no save-and-return option, so budget about 90 minutes.
4. Submit exactly one entry per person and keep your confirmation page and unique confirmation number.
5. After the window closes, check results only on the Entrant Status Check page using your confirmation number, last name and date of birth.

If you are selected

Selection is not a visa; it is an invitation to apply. You must complete the DS-260 immigrant visa application, attend a consular interview and pay a non-refundable diversity visa fee of $330 per person (principal and each family member), plus a separate USCIS immigrant fee before your green card is mailed. Higher case numbers may only become current in the Visa Bulletin near the end of the fiscal year, so a complete file early is your best protection. Every step must finish before September 30, 2027 or the opportunity expires.

Avoiding DV-2027 scams

Scammers thrive on this program. No one can increase your selection odds, and winners are never notified by email, post or phone. Any site charging you to "guarantee" entry, or an agent offering to submit for a fee, is a scam, since the State Department says entrants should complete the form themselves. The only official addresses are dvprogram.state.gov (entry and status) and travel.state.gov (instructions and news). For the wider picture on US immigration and study, see our immigrate to the USA guide and the study in the USA guide.