The Diversity Visa (DV) 2027 registration period, which normally opens in the first week of October, has been postponed, according to confirmation from the U.S. Department of State. Additionally, the Department stated that the DV entry procedure will undergo modifications.
“The Diversity Visa (DV) program is established by statute, and the Department of State will continue to implement the program as required by law,” a spokesperson told NepYork. “The DV entry process will be altered this year,” they continued.
The DV-2027 registration period’s official or provisional start and end dates have not yet been made public by the Department of State. “As soon as registration dates and other information become available, we will announce them,” the spokesperson stated. It is anticipated that the Department will soon release comprehensive information in the Federal Register and on its website, travel.state.gov.
The introduction of a new $1 electronic registration fee is one of the confirmed modifications. The Department of State spokesperson did not confirm or deny that a government shutdown affected the start date or that this new fee was the reason for the delay.
The public was informed one day in advance of the September 16, 2025, publication in the Federal Register of the final rule establishing the $1 registration fee for the DV Lottery, which went into effect that same day. When submitting the DV application, this new fee needs to be collected electronically.
The new registration fee will more fairly allocate the costs of managing the random selection process to those who register,” the Department said in an explanation of the fee’s goal. Additionally, it will lessen the number of speculative registrations made by people looking to take advantage of dubious possible entrants.
In the past, the $330 Diversity Visa application fee, which was only paid by those who were granted a visa, included the cost of running the lottery. The goal of this new rule is to “more fairly burden the individuals seeking access to the DV application process, instead of placing the costs of the lottery registration on all registrants.
According to the Department, this fee will bring in about $25 million. The $330 fee that successful applicants must pay will not be immediately lowered, even though the lottery’s operating costs have been subtracted from the DV application fee. According to the government, the DV application fee will be reviewed and modified in upcoming model updates.
Up to 55,000 immigrant visas are made available annually through the Diversity Visa program, also referred to as the Green Card Lottery. These visas are intended for citizens of nations with historically low immigration rates to the US. The Department of State oversees the registration and selection procedure, but the program itself is required by law.
The Trump administration has also suggested a rule requiring all DV Lottery applicants to have a passport. However, this passport rule will not be put into effect this year due to the time needed for finalisation. The public comment period for the proposed rule ended on September 19, 2025, after it was published in the Federal Register on August 5, 2025.
Following a prior, unfinished plan by the Biden administration to implement a similar rule, the administration is currently working to re-establish the passport requirement while maintaining legal compliance.
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