No, if you are still waiting for it. A DV-2026 visa that was not issued by September 30, 2026, cannot be issued now. A diversity visa already in your passport was not revoked by the August pause.
DV-2026 was last year’s program. If you never received the visa, or green card status, the case stopped on September 30, 2026. DV-2027 is a different program, and its entry form is not open. Is it too late to enter the DV-2027 lottery?
What does this mean for me?
Put yourself in one group.
You were selected, and you have no visa and no green card. Your DV-2026 case is over. Do not pay a person who says they can still finish it.
The visa is already in your passport. The August 31, 2026 notice did not cancel it. Questions about entering the United States go to the Department of Homeland Security.
You want to enter now. You cannot. No DV-2027 entry dates are posted. A website that takes an entry today is not the government form.
When did the DV-2026 year end?
A fiscal year is the U.S. government year. It runs from October 1 to September 30. It is not the January-to-December year on a wall calendar.
People entered DV-2026 from noon, Eastern Daylight Time, on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, until noon, Eastern Standard Time, on Thursday, November 7, 2024. The selected-entrants page says about 129,516 people, counting selectees and their families, were registered from 20,822,624 qualified entries. They could apply for the visa only during the government year that ended on September 30, 2026.
22 CFR 42.33 says eligibility ends with that fiscal year. A consular officer may not issue a visa after it ends. The rule’s words are “under no circumstances.” An approved entry stops being valid at midnight on the last day, and visa numbers for that year stop too.
The September 2026 Visa Bulletin repeats the date. DV-2026 entitlement ends as of September 30, 2026. Visas may not be issued after that date, including for a spouse or child.
The selected-entrants page says there is no further benefit if you did not receive a visa or status by then. Status means the green card. That includes adjustment of status, for someone already in the United States in a legal stay, and that path had the same September 30 deadline.
| Date | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| May 4, 2025 to September 30, 2026 | Entrant Status Check for DV-2026 results. That window is closed. |
| August 28, 2026 | The older December 2025 pause on issuing diversity visas ended, after a court order the Department names. |
| August 31, 2026 | A new pause. No diversity visas are issued. Visas already issued are not revoked. |
| September 30, 2026 | Last day of DV-2026. No visa after this date. |
| November 9, 2026 | DV-2026 is closed. DV-2027 entry dates are not posted. |
Did the August pause cancel visas?
The pause and the end of the year are two different locks.
On August 31, 2026, the State Department published Diversity Visa Issuance Updated Guidance. It says that as of August 28, 2026, a court order in Medani et al. v. Trump et al. ended the December 2025 pause. The next sentence starts a new pause: no diversity visas will be issued. The Department calls it a screening review, after a shooting at Brown University and the killing of an MIT professor that it says were suspected to have been committed by a person admitted through this program.
You may still submit an application and attend an interview. Appointments generally stay on the calendar. There are no exceptions, and no diversity visa is issued. A visa you already hold was not revoked. Revoked means cancelled by the government. The page says no diversity visa, and no other visa, was revoked under this guidance. Questions about admission go to the Department of Homeland Security. Read the dates printed on the visa before you travel.
The pause did not move September 30, 2026. If it is later lifted, the regulation still forbids a DV-2026 visa after that year. This August 31 page is the latest Diversity Visa issuance notice on the visas-news list.
I was selected. Can they still print the visa?
No. Selection was permission to apply during that year. It was not a visa, and it does not survive September 30.
The DV-2026 instructions said the only notice of selection was Entrant Status Check on dvprogram.state.gov, from May 4, 2025, through September 30, 2026, with the confirmation number from your own entry. The Department would not mail you a win, and it would not ask you to send money by mail or by Western Union, unless you were adjusting status. How do I check DV lottery results?
If you never received the visa or the green card status by September 30, there is no further benefit. An interview after that day cannot produce a DV-2026 visa. A spouse or child who did not receive a visa by that day is in the same place, even if the main applicant’s visa was issued in time.
A hearing on December 11, 2026, is a request to open DV-2027 registration. The court has not granted it. It is not a DV-2026 visa appointment. A helper who says a “hold” or a hearing keeps your DV-2026 number alive is not the State Department.
Will a new Visa Bulletin reopen DV-2026?
No. A Visa Bulletin is a monthly schedule. It cannot hand out a DV-2026 number after September 30, 2026.
The Visa Bulletin index lists October 2026 and November 2026 for this fiscal year. It does not list a December 2026 bulletin. A December issue, once posted, still cannot issue a DV-2026 visa.
The November 2026 bulletin has no Diversity Visa chart, because DV-2027 has no selectees. Why the November Visa Bulletin has no DV numbers explains that blank. The notice last updated November 5, 2025 gives selected DV-2027 applicants October 1, 2026, through September 30, 2027, to apply. No entry period was posted, so that window does not reopen DV-2026.
What should you do now?
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Stop paying to “finish” a DV-2026 case with no visa and no green card. September 30, 2026, was the last day. A person who offers to release or transfer it is not the State Department.
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If the visa is already in your passport, read the dates on it. The August 31 notice did not revoke it. Admission questions go to the Department of Homeland Security.
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Ignore a message that says you won. DV-2026 results were only on Entrant Status Check, and that window closed on September 30, 2026. There is no DV-2027 result yet.
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Do not file on a private website. DV-2027 has no posted dates. One petition per person is allowed in a fiscal year. A second petition for the same person voids all of them. Wait for a notice that names the website and the dates.
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Pay the government only on the official page, after it opens. A rule effective September 16, 2025 sets the registration fee at $1. The application fee is $330, and only if you are selected and you apply. Money to a helper today is not the $1 fee.
What photo can I prepare?
A photo does not revive a DV-2026 case, and it does not enter you in DV-2027. You can make the file now so you are ready if a real entry period is posted.
DV-2027 photo instructions are not published. 22 CFR 42.33 says each photo is a color JPEG taken within six months, facing the camera, on a plain light background, with the head about 50 percent of the frame. No eyeglasses. A head covering is allowed only for religious beliefs, and it may not cover the face.
Until a later notice says otherwise, use the DV-2026 file numbers: 600 by 600 pixels, 240 KB or smaller, head at 50 to 69 percent of the height, on white or off-white. If six months pass, take a new photo. Those instructions also said the same photograph from an earlier entry makes you ineligible. Include yourself, a spouse you must list, and each unmarried child under 21. Skip a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident.
The size and file size pages follow those written rules. So does How to make a DV lottery photo while you wait. The tool on this site exports a 600 by 600 JPEG. dvlotteryphoto.com makes one such JPEG per order, with the background corrected and the file size checked, made to those DV-2026 measurements. Order one file per person who must be listed. That is not State Department approval. It does not submit an entry. It is not the $1 fee. A finished photo does not guarantee selection or a visa.
This is general information from public rules and notices, not legal advice. How this site labels records is on the editorial policy.
Questions
Can I still get a DV-2026 visa?
No, if you did not receive the visa or green card status by September 30, 2026. The August 31 pause did not add extra days.
Did the August pause cancel a visa I already have?
No. The August 31, 2026 notice says no diversity visa, and no other visa, was revoked under that guidance. Read the dates on your visa. Admission questions go to the Department of Homeland Security.
I was selected and I am still waiting. Can they print the visa now?
No. Selection was permission to apply during DV-2026. That year ended on September 30, 2026. An interview after that day cannot produce a DV-2026 visa.
Does the pause stop DV-2027?
There are no DV-2027 selectees, because entry dates were never posted. The pause does not open a form, and it does not create a visa to issue.
Will the December Visa Bulletin give me a DV-2026 number?
No. The index lists October 2026 and November 2026, and it does not list a December 2026 bulletin. A later list cannot issue a DV-2026 visa after September 30, 2026.
Does a new photo finish my DV-2026 case?
No. A photo made to the written measurements is a file for a later entry. It does not revive DV-2026, and it is not State Department approval or a guarantee of selection.
Sources
- 22 CFR 42.33, Diversity immigrants, amended at 91 FR 11900, March 11, 2026. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-22/chapter-I/subchapter-E/part-42/section-42.33
- U.S. Department of State, Visa Bulletin for September 2026. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2026/visa-bulletin-for-september-2026.html
- U.S. Department of State, “DV 2026 — Selected Entrants.” https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/diversity-visa-program-entry/dv-2026-selected-entrants.html
- U.S. Department of State, “Diversity Visa Issuance Updated Guidance,” last updated August 31, 2026. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/diversity-visa-issuance-updated-guidance.html
- U.S. Department of State, Visa Bulletin index, fiscal year 2027 list. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin.html
- U.S. Department of State, “Changes to Entry Period for 2027 Diversity Visa (DV) Program,” last updated November 5, 2025. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/changes-to-2027-dv-program-entry-period.html
- Diversity Visa instructions for DV-2026, Federal Register, October 1, 2024. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/10/01/2024-22482/diversity-visa-instructions-for-dv-2026
- Schedule of fees for consular services, final rule effective September 16, 2025. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/09/16/2025-17851/schedule-of-fees-for-consular-services-department-of-state-and-overseas-embassies-and
- U.S. Department of State, U.S. Visas News. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news.html
DV Lottery Guide is an independent, unofficial guide and is not affiliated with the U.S. government. A photo made to the written DV requirements is not approved by the State Department. Entering the lottery does not guarantee selection or a visa.