Diversity VisaDV Lottery 2028 Registration: When Does It Open? New Passport Rules and $1 Fee

Updated October 13, 2026

DV Lottery 2028: Current Registration Status

The Diversity Visa (DV) Program is the U.S. immigrant visa lottery for eligible people from countries with historically low levels of immigration to the United States.

Because DV-2027 registration was delayed, do not assume DV-2028 will open in October 2026. The separate suspension of Diversity Visa issuance also matters, but it is not the same as an announcement about the next entry period.

Submit your entry only through https://dvprogram.state.gov/. Check the Department of State's instructions before sending any personal information or payment.

In This Guide

01 / Registration dates

When Will DV Lottery 2028 Registration Open?

There is no official DV-2028 start date, deadline, or selection-results date in the Department of State guidance available as of this update. Previous lotteries commonly opened in October and closed in November, but those dates are a historical pattern, not a guaranteed schedule.

For perspective, DV-2026 accepted entries from October 2 through November 7, 2024. The State Department delayed DV-2027 registration: on November 5, 2025, the Department announced that its registration opening and Entrant Status Check results date would be published separately. That announcement did not provide an opening date.

DV-2026, DV-2027 and DV-2028 Compared

The number in “DV-2028” denotes the intended visa fiscal year, not necessarily the year in which an applicant enters the lottery. Under 22 CFR 42.33(b)(4), the Department ordinarily establishes a registration period of at least 30 days in the fiscal year preceding the visa year. The unresolved DV-2027 schedule is unusual under that rule. No official notice explains how the delay will affect DV-2028.

Where to Check the Actual Opening

1. Read the official DV instructions and confirm they specifically name DV-2028.
2. Use only https://dvprogram.state.gov/ to submit the electronic entry during the announced window.
3. Note the stated U.S. Eastern Time deadline. An entry completed after the closing time will not count.

See the Department of State's DV-2027 delay announcement for the precise wording of the earlier scheduling change.

02 / Passport and photos

New Passport Requirements for DV Lottery 2028

A Department of State final rule effective April 10, 2026 generally requires the principal DV entrant to provide information from a valid, unexpired passport and upload a scan of its biographic and signature page with Form DS-5501. You generally must provide this information when entering the lottery, not at the visa interview.

For the person submitting an entry as the principal entrant, the requested passport details include the passport number, name, country or authority of issuance, and expiration date. The scan must correspond to that passport. The rule generally concerns the principal entrant's passport; it should not be interpreted as a blanket requirement to upload passports for every listed dependent at the entry stage.

Passport Scan: File Format and Size

Check the spelling, number and expiration date before uploading. An unreadable image or a scan of a different passport creates an avoidable mismatch. Do not remove details from the document or digitally change identifying information.

Who May Be Exempt From the Passport Rule?

The exemptions are narrow and track provisions of 22 CFR 42.2(d), (e), and (g)(2). They include qualifying stateless persons, certain nationals of Communist-controlled countries unable to obtain a passport from that government, and specific individual waivers involving the Secretary of State and Secretary of Homeland Security. An applicant claiming an exemption must be able to support it.

A passport being costly, expired or difficult to renew does not by itself create an exemption. Applicants should not assume that a national ID card or birth certificate can simply replace the required passport scan.

Do You Need a New DV Entry Photograph?

Yes, the lottery also requires a separate recent photograph for the principal entrant and each family member whose photograph is required. The latest published DV-2026 instructions specified a JPEG image of 600 × 600 pixels, no more than 240 KB, on a plain light background, with the face clearly visible. Confirm the final specifications in the instructions for the entry year you use.

• The photo should have been taken within the six months before entry, rather than merely within six months of reading this article.
• Use a direct, front-facing photograph with a neutral expression and eyes open.
• Do not use eyeglasses, an old lottery photo, a heavily retouched image or an inappropriate background.
• A scanned passport page and a DV photograph are different files with different size limits.

Practical timing: You can arrange or renew a passport now. For the photographs, wait until close to the officially announced registration window so that a delayed opening does not make them too old. Use a new compliant photo instead of editing an old one.

Primary legal source: March 11, 2026 final passport rule. Photo guidance: Department of State digital image requirements.

03 / Fees and eligibility

Does DV Lottery 2028 Cost $1 to Enter?

Yes. A final rule effective September 16, 2025 established an electronic $1 Diversity Visa registration fee, to be collected when a lottery entry is submitted. The Department has also expressly stated that no waivers are available for this $1 fee.

The Department describes Pay.gov as the payment-processing service for the new fee. The final entry instructions will show exactly how payment is completed. Older DV-2026 pages may still say registration is free because they predate the fee change. The controlling source is the September 2025 fee rule, read with subsequent regulations.

Who Can Apply for DV Lottery 2028?

Eligibility has two main parts: the applicable country-of-nativity rules and the principal entrant's education or work experience. The complete DV-2028 country eligibility list has not yet been published, so lists from earlier years are not definitive for this program year.

Country of Birth, Not Simply Citizenship

DV chargeability is ordinarily based on where you were born, not where you now live or which passport you hold. A person born in Country A who later becomes a citizen of Country B normally remains chargeable to Country A. Narrow alternative chargeability rules may apply through a qualifying spouse or, in specific cases, a parent's country of birth; the required conditions must be met.

Education or Work Experience

The principal entrant must have either completed a formal course of elementary and secondary education comparable to 12 years of schooling in the United States or have at least two years of qualifying work experience in the five years preceding the date of the immigrant visa application. Under the U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET classifications, qualifying work is generally in Job Zone 4 or 5 with a Specific Vocational Preparation (SVP) rating of at least 7.0.

Two years of employment alone does not meet the test if the occupation does not qualify. Likewise, an informal equivalency credential is not automatically the same as the formal education required by the program. The education or work requirement applies to the principal applicant, rather than separately to every accompanying family member.

Spouses, Children and Separate Entries

Entries must accurately disclose the required spouse and eligible children, including applicable unmarried children under 21, stepchildren and legally adopted children. Some exceptions apply, including to relatives already holding U.S. citizenship or permanent residence. A child or spouse may need to be listed even when not living with the entrant or planning to immigrate.

If both spouses independently qualify, each can generally submit one separate entry, naming the other spouse and all required children. Each spouse who files a separate entry becomes a principal entrant for that entry and therefore must meet the new passport-information and scan requirements unless personally exempt. Listing a spouse as a derivative on the other person's entry is different from filing independently.

The Department's official qualification guidance explains the education and work requirements. Exact country and family instructions should be checked against the new DV-year publication.

04 / Application steps

How to Prepare and Submit a DV-2028 Entry

Mistakes That Can Cost an Applicant the Opportunity

• Duplicate entries: two entries for one individual in the same DV period can invalidate both, including entries submitted by an agent without the person's knowledge.
• Incorrect family information: omitting a required spouse or child may make a selected case ineligible later.
• Wrong documents or outdated photographs: the new passport-scan rule does not replace the separate DV photograph rules.
• No confirmation number: without it, checking results can become difficult. A completed draft form is not proof of an accepted entry.

What Happens After Selection?

A selected entrant may be eligible to complete Form DS-260 for consular immigrant visa processing. DS-260 is not the form used to enter the lottery; the registration form is DS-5501. Depending on eligibility and circumstances, a selectee already in the United States may instead pursue adjustment of status through USCIS.

Selection does not guarantee an interview or approval. Visa numbers are limited, all applicable eligibility and admissibility requirements still apply, and the DV opportunity normally ends on September 30 of its designated fiscal year. Any ongoing government issuance restrictions must also be considered at the processing stage.

05 / Visa policy

How the DV-2027 Delay and Visa Issuance Pause Affect DV-2028

DV-2027 registration was delayed, while a separate State Department policy pauses the issuance of Diversity Visas. Neither announcement sets a DV-2028 opening date.

In guidance updated August 31, 2026, the Department said that the December 2025 pause ended under the court order in Medani et al. v. Trump et al., but a new pause on all Diversity Visa issuances took effect. According to that guidance, visa applications, interviews and appointment scheduling may continue, but Diversity Visas are not being issued under the new pause and no exceptions are provided.

The guidance does not supply a DV-2028 registration date. Nor should a consular issuance announcement automatically be treated as a decision about every USCIS adjustment-of-status case.

For a more detailed examination of the preceding program year, read Why DV-2027 Cut-Offs Are Missing From the October 2026 Visa Bulletin. For background on the original pause and the agencies involved, see Suspension of the Green Card Lottery in December 2025.

Current government position: Department of State Diversity Visa Issuance Updated Guidance.

06 / Frequently asked questions

DV Lottery 2028: Frequently Asked Questions

Official Sources

• Registration and DV instructions: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/diversity-visa-program-entry/diversity-visa-instructions.html
• Official entry system: https://dvprogram.state.gov/
• DV-2027 scheduling notice: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/changes-to-2027-dv-program-entry-period.html
• Passport rule, March 11, 2026: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-03-11/html/2026-04737.htm
• Registration fee rule, September 16, 2025: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-09-16/html/2025-17851.htm
• Visa issuance pause, updated August 31, 2026: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/diversity-visa-issuance-updated-guidance.html