Registration remains closed until October 19, 2026. It costs $1 and can only be done at dvprogram.state.gov; there is no official announcement regarding DV-2028.
Registration for the Diversity Visa Lottery is not open as of October 19, 2026, and the pending cycle is DV-2027, not DV-2028. On October 14, 2026, a federal judge in California ordered the State Department to announce the dates no later than October 29 and open registration for 30 days no later than November 1, 2026.
The Diversity Visa (DV) Program holds a lottery each year for immigrant visas among people from countries with few immigrants to the United States. Registration usually opens in October, but registration for DV-2027 did not open in 2025: on November 5 of that year, the State Department warning which would announce the date "as soon as feasible".
What did the court order?
Judge Jinsook Ohta of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California granted an injunction in the case Red Eagle Law, LC v. Rubio and, at the request of both parties, set these deadlines, at midnight Eastern Time:
- October 29, 2026: announce in the visa news page the opening and closing dates, the registration site and the requirements, and also disseminate them through your usual channels, including the Federal Register.
- November 1, 2026: Open the registration, which will last 30 days.
- December 3, 2026: Notify those selected, whose visas will be processed until September 30, 2027 or until they run out.
There are no official instructions or release dates for the DV-2028. If a website states otherwise, it is not official.
How much does it cost to register?
It's no longer free: it costs $1 dollar. This was established by a State Department final rule published on September 16, 2025. Federal Registry, and another one from March 11, 2026 confirms This fee is payable upon submission of the application, with no exemptions. According to the 2025 rule, the fee is collected during the application process, through an authorized U.S. government payment portal, before completion. Some State Department websites still state that application is free, but the current rule is the $1 fee. Those selected then pay an additional $330 dollars when applying for the visa.
The March rule, in effect since April 10, 2026, requires, since DV-2027, the data of a valid passport and the scanning of its data and signature page, with few exceptions, such as stateless persons.
Which Latin American countries can participate?
The DV-2027 list has not yet been published and changes every year: countries with more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. in the previous five years are excluded. In the last published cycle, the DV-2026, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela were excluded. The notice only names the excluded countries; therefore, the rest of the region could participate, including Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.
If your country is excluded, you can use your spouse's country of birth, provided you both appear on the selected registration, receive a visa, and enter the U.S. together, or the country of birth of one of your parents if neither was born or legally residing in your country when you were born. You also need a high school diploma or two years of work experience within the last five years in a trade that requires at least two years of training.
Apart from that, the Presidential Proclamation 10998, The measure, effective since January 1, 2026, suspends immigrant visas for Haiti, Cuba, and Venezuela with few exceptions. In contrast, the December 2025 diversity visa pause ceased to apply on August 28, 2026, by court order, according to the State Department guide.
What does it mean to you?
- You cannot register today. Anyone offering to register you before the official dates are announced is trying to scam you.
- Registration costs $1 and is only available at dvprogram.state.gov. You don't need intermediaries.
- If you were born in an excluded country, check if you can use your spouse's or parents' country when the DV-2027 list is released.
How to avoid visa lottery scams?
The State Department detected 2.5 million fraudulent DV-2025 registrations, according to the March 2026 rule. Some networks register people without their permission and then charge them for the confirmation number. Official instructions warn:
- Only websites ending in ".gov" are U.S. government sites. The only site to register and view results is dvprogram.state.gov.
- The government never notifies you by email or letter that you have been selected. You can check the result in the Entrant Status Check section using your confirmation number.
- Save that number yourself.
- The State Department never asks for money by mail or through services like Western Union, except from those adjusting their status within the U.S. Be wary of messages claiming to be from the Kentucky Consular Center that request payments or personal information.
What can you do?
- Starting October 29, check the visa news page to see dates, requirements and countries.
- Have your passport ready, a recent photo that meets visa photo requirements, and an email address you can access.
- Register only once: more than one registration will disqualify you.
- If you live in the U.S. and are selected, consult a licensed immigration attorney or accredited representative.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. As of October 19, 2026, there are no official instructions or dates for DV-2028; the pending cycle is DV-2027, whose registration a federal court ordered to open no later than November 1, 2026.
An order dated October 14, 2026, requires the State Department to announce the dates no later than October 29 and open registration for 30 days no later than November 1, 2026.
$1 dollar. A final rule on September 16, 2025, created that fee, which is paid during enrollment at dvprogram.state.gov, on an authorized U.S. government payment portal, before completion.
In DV-2026, the last cycle with an official list, Mexico was excluded. The DV-2027 list has not yet been published; there are exceptions based on the country of birth of the spouse or parents.
No. The State Department does not notify by email or letter; the result can only be checked with the confirmation number at dvprogram.state.gov.
This information is general and does not replace the advice of a licensed immigration attorney or a representative accredited by the Department of Justice. The Latin Americans does not offer legal services.
