En esta noticia
No one has been selected for the 2027 diversity visa lottery, even though federal law still sets aside 55,000 green cards a year for the program. The State Department never opened registration for the DV-2027 drawing, whose visa year began Oct. 1.
The department said on Nov. 5, 2025, that it was changing the entry process and would post registration dates later. It still hadn’t posted them this week, and the official entry website was not accepting entries.
Congress has not repealed the program. The statute fixes the number of visas but lets the secretary of state decide when people can enter, so the drawing can stall without any change in the law.
The lottery awards green cards to people from countries with low rates of immigration to the U.S. Most winners apply from abroad, but eligible people already living in the country can also take part.
When could the 2027 visa lottery for green cards open?
A federal court has ordered the State Department to hold the drawing. U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta of the Southern District of California issued the order Oct. 14 in a lawsuit brought by an immigration law firm.
Under the revised schedule, the department must announce the entry dates and rules by Oct. 29 and open registration by Nov. 1. Entries must be accepted for 30 days, and selectees must be notified by Dec. 3.
The government has appealed and asked to pause the order. Ohta denied that request this week, according to the firm that sued. The administration can still seek a stay from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which could push the dates back.
Even if the schedule holds, winners will have far less time than usual. All DV-2027 visas and green cards must be issued by Sept. 30, 2027, which leaves someone notified Dec. 3 less than 10 months. Selection also doesn’t guarantee a visa.
What do you need to enter the 2027 visa lottery for a green card?
This cycle is the first under two new rules: one requires passport details at entry, and the other adds a registration fee. Each entry must include:
- The number, issuing country and expiration date of a valid, unexpired passport.
- A JPEG scan of the passport’s biographic and signature pages, no larger than 5 MB.
- A $1 fee, paid electronically when you register. It is not refunded.
- A color photo taken within the past six months.
- The name, date and place of birth, and sex of your spouse and children.
Stateless people, nationals of a communist-controlled country who can’t obtain a passport and people granted an individual waiver are exempt from the passport rule. Winners still need a high school education or its equivalent, or two years of qualifying work experience within the past five years.
Submit only one entry. Filing more than one for the same period disqualifies all of them.
Until the department posts the dates, no one can file an entry for you. Use only dvprogram.state.gov, and don’t pay anyone who claims to have already submitted an entry. The department does not email or mail winners.