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News·2026

The DV-2026 lottery closes on 30 September: unissued visas are forfeited, and no new drawing has been announced

Today, 30 September, fiscal year 2026 ends, and with it the right to a visa for Diversity Visa (DV) lottery selectees of DV-2026. For those who missed an interview because consulates paused, the selection does not carry over. Registration for the next drawing has not opened for the second year in a row.

Sergei Voronin · published September 30, 2026 · Updated: September 30, 2026 · 1 min read

Current as of September 30, 2026

Source: U.S. Department of State, Diversity Visa Program; DV program rules

A closed post-office door early in the morning, an empty street

What happened?

Visas under the DV-2026 lottery are issued through 30 September 2026 inclusive, the last day of the fiscal year. The lottery closes today, 30 September; visas not issued by the end of the day are forfeited. That is a rule of the program: a selection is valid for one year and is not extended. Some selectees this year never received an interview because consular work was paused — a pause for 75 countries from January through August, and a global pause on interviews from 25 August.

Registration for DV-2027, which on the usual calendar should have run in October–November 2025, never opened. There is no announcement that DV-2028 registration will open. The $1 fee per entry, introduced in April 2026, applies to future drawings, and those dates do not exist.

What does it mean?

A selection does not carry over and gives no advantage in other categories. People left without a visa have the ordinary routes: work visas and self-petitions based on their record. There is no reason to expect the lottery back in the coming months. Websites that “accept entries” have nothing to do with the program. What to do instead of waiting is in “Does the green-card lottery work in 2026? How do you file an entry, and what do you do if it does not?”.

This material is informational and is not legal advice on your situation.

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