What changed
DV-2026 is the fiscal-year 2026 cohort of the Diversity Visa Program. The State Department published the DV-2026 instructions on October 2, 2024, opened the entry window at noon Eastern on October 2, 2024, and closed it at noon Eastern on November 5, 2024. Selection results — through the Entrant Status Check tool only — became available beginning May 3, 2025, and remain available there through September 30, 2026. The mechanics, capped at 55,000 visas under INA § 203(c), did not change for DV-2026.
Why it matters
The Diversity Visa is the only routinely available immigrant-visa path that does not require a family or employer petitioner. For nationals of countries with low U.S. immigration rates over the past five years — which excludes high-volume sending countries like Mexico, India, China-mainland, the Philippines, El Salvador, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Nigeria, Pakistan, the United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland), Venezuela, and Vietnam in recent program years — a DV win is, in practical terms, the only realistic path to LPR status that the applicant can self-initiate. The list of excluded countries is republished each year in the program instructions; verify against the DV-2026 instructions.
Way forward
Confirm eligibility. Under INA § 203(c) and 9 FAM 502.6, a DV applicant must be a native of a qualifying country (the chargeability rules of INA § 202(b) apply — country of birth, or spouse’s country of birth, or parents’ country of birth) AND meet one of two education/experience qualifications: (a) at least a high school education or its foreign equivalent, defined as a formal course of elementary and secondary education comparable to U.S. 12-year curriculum, or (b) two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience, as classified by the Labor Department’s O*NET database at Job Zone 4 or 5 with an SVP rating of 7.0 or higher.
File the DV entry on the official form, free, in the program window. Entries are submitted only at dvprogram.state.gov on the Electronic Diversity Visa (E-DV) form. There is no paper form, no fee at entry, and no agent or third-party service authorized to file. Each applicant may submit only one entry per program year; duplicates disqualify the entrant. The entry asks for biographical information, passport details (a valid, unexpired passport number from each principal applicant has been required since DV-2021 under the State Department’s passport requirement), a recent photograph in the prescribed format, and the identity of spouse and unmarried children under 21 (who become derivatives if the principal is selected).
Save the confirmation number. At submission, the system generates a unique confirmation number. That number is the ONLY way to check results — DOS does not email or mail notifications. Lose the confirmation number and the applicant has no way to learn whether they were selected.
Check Entrant Status Check on May 3. Selections are randomized within each of the six DOS-defined regions (Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America and Central America and the Caribbean). DOS selects more entrants than visas — typically about 100,000 for 55,000 visas — to account for ineligibility and non-pursuit. Selection is not a guarantee of a visa.
Follow up at KCC if selected. Selectees process through the Kentucky Consular Center (KCC), file Form DS-260 online, and pay the DV processing fee at the consulate at the time of interview (currently $330 per applicant). Civil documents — birth certificate, marriage certificate, police clearance from every country of residence over 12 months since age 16, military records where applicable — go to KCC for review and then to the embassy for the interview.
Watch the case-number cut-off in the Visa Bulletin. Each month’s Visa Bulletin publishes a DV case-number cut-off by region. A selectee whose case number is below the regional cut-off may schedule an interview that month. Numbers run out by September 30 — the fiscal-year-end statutory cap. Selectees with high case numbers must process quickly or risk losing their slot.
Adjust status if the selectee is in the U.S. A selectee already inside the United States in lawful status (typically F-1, H-1B, etc.) may file Form I-485 once the case number is current — but USCIS adjudication must complete by September 30 of the program year. Adjustment after the year-end deadline is impossible because the visa allocation lapses by statute. Most selectees in the U.S. should plan for consular processing if they cannot file I-485 by spring.
Watch the September 30 hard deadline. The DV-2026 fiscal year ends September 30, 2026. Any DV-2026 visa not issued by that date is lost. KCC and the consulates publish visa-issuance progress and frequently send urgent scheduling notices in August and September.
Disclaimer
Fola is a software company, not a law firm, and nothing in this article is legal advice. DV procedure is unforgiving — missed windows, ineligible entries, and incomplete documentation routinely cost selectees their visa. Verify against the DV-2026 instructions, INA § 203(c), and consult a qualified U.S. immigration attorney before relying on this article for a real case.