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Breakdowns of visa categories, USCIS criteria, and real cases — from the advocate who files the petitions.

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Green card

Does the green-card lottery work in 2026? How do you file an entry, and what do you do if it does not?

Every autumn, in the first week of October, millions of people open the State Department’s site to fill in a green-card lottery form. In 2025 the window did not open. In 2026 it did not open either. And on 30 September the year ends for the last selectees. Here is what happened to the program, how it worked, whether DV-2028 is worth waiting for, and which four routes to a green card are open without a drawing to anyone who no longer wants to depend on luck. Current as of 28 September 2026.

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Talent visa Green card EB-1A EB-2 NIW O-1 PR Process For citizens of Russia and the CIS Updates

Green card

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September 28, 2026

How much does a U.S. green card cost in 2026? Fees, a lawyer, translations, and what can you not buy?

Ask the internet what a green card costs and you get two answers — “$1” and “$800,000” — and both are true. The first is the lottery, which has not opened for a second year. The second is an investment. Between them is the route through achievements, where the money leaves not as one sum but as a dozen payments at different times, and advertising shows about half of them. Here is the full cost of each route, line by line, and one route that does not exist. Current as of 28 September 2026.