No. The DV-2028 lottery is not open. The State Department has not published a start date, an end date, or a website for DV-2028. You also cannot enter DV-2027 today.
DV-2028 is a year label. It is not a form you can see. A page that says you can register for 2028 now is not the government form. Whether DV-2027 already passed you by is a different question, answered in Is it too late to enter the DV-2027 lottery?.
What does a closed DV-2028 form mean for me?
You wait for a public notice. You do not type an entry on a private website, and you do not pay a person to hold a place.
Picture two classrooms. DV-2027 is the class the State Department already described, running from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027 for people who are selected. Its signup sheet was never posted. DV-2028 would be the next class, and its sheet is not posted either. November 2026 is only the month on the wall. A helper who says “DV-2027 is finished, so I will enter you for DV-2028” is selling a form the government has not opened.
What do the year numbers mean?
The number is the visa year. That is the later year when a selected person may apply for the visa. It is not the year you type the form.
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.
The rule published March 11, 2026, and effective April 10, 2026, says the Department sets an entry period of at least 30 days during each fiscal year. People who enter then are asking to apply for a visa during the following fiscal year. Before that period starts, the Department gives notice of the website and the exact dates in the Federal Register, the government’s public journal.
DV-2026 is the last full example. People entered at dvprogram.state.gov from noon, Eastern Daylight Time, on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, until noon, Eastern Standard Time, on Thursday, November 7, 2024. The instructions, corrected on October 31, 2024, say a selected person could apply only through September 30, 2026, with no carry-over into the next year.
| Program | Entry period | Visa year | Where it stands on November 8, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| DV-2026 | October 2 to November 7, 2024. Closed. | October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026. | Finished. A selection from that year does not carry forward. |
| DV-2027 | Not posted. | October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027, in the November 5, 2025 notice. | Today is inside that visa year. There is no entry form, and there are no selectees. |
| DV-2028 | Not posted. | Not named in a notice. | No instructions, no website, no start time, and no end time. |
Being inside the DV-2027 visa year does not open a form.
Why are people asking about DV-2028 in November?
The last completed entry period ended on November 7, 2024. People remember a fall signup. November 8, 2026 is not that old window, and no new window has been posted.
The notice last updated November 5, 2025 is about DV-2027. It says the start date will be announced “as soon as practicable,” meaning as soon as the Department can do it, not on a named day. The notice does not mention DV-2028.
The Federal Register’s diversity visa instruction notices stop at DV-2026, corrected on October 31, 2024. No later notice in that series gives DV-2027 or DV-2028 dates. The March 11, 2026 rule changes passport and photo requirements. It does not open registration.
Did a court open DV-2028?
No court order has opened DV-2028. No order currently requires DV-2027 registration to open either.
On October 29, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit paused the order that would have required DV-2027 registration to open. That pause is a stay pending appeal: the earlier order waits while a higher court reviews it, like a referee telling a shop it does not have to unlock the door yet. The order says, “We do not endorse the Department’s failure to open the lottery registration period.” It still granted the pause, and it names no DV-2028 entry day.
A different case has a hearing on December 11, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. The case is Ivannikov v. Rubio, No. 2:26-cv-12783, in federal court in Los Angeles. The public case list shows a text-only note on November 3, 2026. The note moves a hearing on a request to open fiscal year 2027 registration from November 30, 2026, to December 11, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. Fiscal year 2027 is the DV-2027 visa year. The note does not grant the request.
A hearing is a meeting for the lawyers. It is like a doctor’s appointment: the time on the card is when they talk. The card is not a signup sheet for DV-2028. Does the December 11 hearing open the DV lottery? explains that meeting.
What should you do now?
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Do not pay for an entry. Neither DV-2028 nor DV-2027 has a posted period. The DV-2026 instructions refused late entries and paper entries. A person who says they can still file you is not the State Department.
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Ignore a message that says you won. There has been no entry, so there is no selection. The DV-2026 instructions said the government would not email or mail a win. The only notice was Entrant Status Check on dvprogram.state.gov, using the confirmation number from your own entry. They also said the Department would not ask you to send money by mail or by Western Union, unless you were adjusting status. A DV-2028 message that asks for money is not a result.
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Submit one petition, after a notice names the year, the website, and the dates. The rule allows one petition per person in one fiscal year, October 1 to September 30. A second petition in that same government year voids all of them. Do not send a DV-2027 form and a DV-2028 form. If a period opens, save the confirmation number and stop.
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Pay the $1 fee on the official page, after the form opens. A final rule effective September 16, 2025 sets the registration fee at $1 and keeps the application fee at $330. The $330 comes later, only if you are selected and you apply.
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Prepare the passport details for the person who will submit. The April 10, 2026 rule asks for the passport number, name, issuing country or authority, and expiration date, unless an exemption applies, plus a JPEG of the biographic page and the signature page. A PDF is not accepted, and the scan must not be over 5 megabytes.
What photo can I prepare?
You can make the file now. You cannot upload it until a form opens, and a finished file does not mean you were selected.
Photo instructions for DV-2027 and DV-2028 are not published. The rule effective April 10, 2026 says each photo is a color JPEG, taken no more than six months before you submit. You face the camera, on a neutral light background, with the face in focus and the head covering about 50 percent of the photo. You do not wear eyeglasses. A head covering is allowed only for religious beliefs, and it may not cover the face.
The DV-2026 instructions add the file numbers to use until a later notice says otherwise: exactly 600 by 600 pixels, 240 KB or smaller, with the head at 50 to 69 percent of the image height. If six months pass, take a new photo. The same photograph from a prior year’s entry will make you ineligible under those instructions.
Include a photo for yourself, for a spouse you must list, and for each unmarried child under 21, even if they stay behind. Skip anyone who is already a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident. A baby’s photo includes no other person.
The size, file size, and children 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 records, not legal advice. How this site labels records is on the editorial policy.
Questions
Is the DV-2028 lottery open?
No. There is no posted start date, end date, or website for DV-2028. The Federal Register has no DV-2028 entry instructions.
Did I miss DV-2027, so should I enter DV-2028 instead?
You did not miss a posted DV-2027 form, because no DV-2027 entry dates were announced. DV-2028 is also not open. Entering on a private site does not put you in either year.
What is the difference between DV-2027 and DV-2028?
The number is the visa year, the later year when a selected person may apply for the visa. The November 5, 2025 notice gives selected DV-2027 applicants October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027. No notice names a DV-2028 visa year or an entry period.
Does the December 11 hearing open DV-2028?
No. The public case list sets a December 11, 2026 hearing on a request to open fiscal year 2027 registration. The court has not granted that request. The hearing is not a DV-2028 signup.
Can a website enter me for DV-2028 today?
No. A real entry period is announced by the State Department, with a website and exact dates, including a notice in the Federal Register. A private site cannot file a valid DV-2028 entry while that notice is missing.
Does a finished photo let me enter DV-2028 early?
No. A photo made to the written measurements is a file for a later entry. It is not State Department approval, it does not submit an entry or pay the $1 fee, and it does not guarantee selection or a visa.
Sources
- U.S. Department of State, final rule revising 22 CFR 42.33, “Visas: Enhancing Vetting and Combatting Fraud in the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program,” published March 11, 2026, effective April 10, 2026. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/03/11/2026-04737/visas-enhancing-vetting-and-combatting-fraud-in-the-diversity-immigrant-visa-program
- 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
- Correction of the DV-2026 entry dates, Federal Register, October 31, 2024. The period was October 2 through November 7, 2024. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/10/31/2024-25240/diversity-visa-instructions-for-dv-2026-correction
- 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
- Schedule of fees for consular services, final rule effective September 16, 2025, with the $1 registration fee and the $330 application fee. 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. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, order granting a stay pending appeal, No. 26-6943, October 29, 2026. https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2026/10/29/26-6943.pdf
- PACER Monitor, Ivan Ivannikov v. Marco Rubio, No. 2:26-cv-12783, text-only scheduling notice, November 3, 2026. https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/67681130/Ivan_Ivannikov_v_Marco_Rubio
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.