DV Lottery 2028 (DV-2028): how to apply

DV-2028 dates: not announced yet

As of 23 October 2026, these are the official facts:

• The newest instructions on the State Department's Diversity Visa instructions page are still for DV-2026. Its online registration ran from 2 October 2024 to 7 November 2024.
• DV-2027 registration has not started. U.S. embassies, for example the U.S. Embassy in Samoa, say the dates will be announced and that claims of an open DV-2027 registration are false. A court has reportedly ordered it to open by 1 November 2026: see DV-2027: how to apply.
• There is no official information about DV-2028: no registration dates, no instructions and no list of eligible countries.

So any website, video or agent giving you DV-2028 dates, or offering to "register you early", is guessing or trying to take your money. Dates only become real when they appear on travel.state.gov and dvprogram.state.gov. This guide is based on the latest official instructions (DV-2026), and we will update it when DV-2028 is announced.

Who can enter

The DV-2026 instructions set two requirements. The DV-2028 instructions may change details, especially the list of countries.

1. Your country. You must be a native of a country with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. If your own country isn't eligible, you may be able to claim your spouse's country of birth, or in some cases a parent's.
2. Education or work. You need at least a high school education or its equivalent, or two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation that requires at least two years of training. The State Department uses the Department of Labor's O*Net database to decide which jobs qualify.

The list of eligible countries is published in each year's instructions and can change, so check it again when the DV-2028 instructions come out.

What to prepare now

• A list of your family. Your spouse (unless legally separated, or a U.S. citizen or permanent resident) and every living, unmarried child under 21, including adopted children and stepchildren, even those who won't move with you. See DV photos for your spouse and children.
• Exact personal details for everyone: full names as written in their documents, dates and places of birth.
• Photos for every person, taken within 6 months of entering. Plan to take them close to the registration period, not now: see the DV photo requirements.
• Proof of education or work (diplomas, certificates). You don't upload them with the entry, but selectees need them later.

On passports: from DV-2027, a final rule requires your valid passport's number, issuing country and expiry date and a scan of its biographic page on the entry, with narrow exemptions. The rule is permanent, so expect it for DV-2028 too and keep your passport valid.

How to enter, step by step

Based on the latest official instructions; DV-2028 may differ in details.

1. During the registration period, open dvprogram.state.gov. There is no paper form, and no other website takes entries.
2. Fill in the entry form: your details, your education, your marital status, and the details of your spouse and children.
3. Upload a photo for every person on the entry: a 600 × 600 pixel JPEG of at most 240 kB (see DV photo size in pixels).
4. Check everything, then submit once. More than one entry for the same person disqualifies all of that person's entries.
5. Save the confirmation page and confirmation number yourself, as a printout or a screenshot on your own phone.

Entering used to be free. A State Department fee rule of September 2025 adds a $1 registration fee per entry, collected when you register, from DV-2027 on. Pay it only on the official site.

Getting the photos right

Photos are the most common reason entries fail. Every photo must be in colour, taken in the last 6 months, square, 600 × 600 pixels and at most 240 kB. It needs a plain white or off-white background, a neutral face with eyes open, and no glasses. Never reuse a photo from a previous year's entry: the instructions say that makes you ineligible.

The DV Lottery Photo Tool crops and sizes the photo on your phone and checks it; the DV Photo Checker tests a photo you already have. Your photos are never uploaded to Picsawa.

After you enter

• Results: only through Entrant Status Check on dvprogram.state.gov, with your confirmation number. For DV-2026 it opened on 4 May 2025. The State Department does not send emails or letters to tell people they were selected.
• Being selected is not a visa. Selectees still apply, attend an interview and must qualify, and visas run out: DV-2026 visas had to be issued by 30 September 2026, the end of that U.S. fiscal year.
• Fees after selection are paid as the official instructions describe, never by money transfer to a person.

Read DV Lottery scams to avoid before you trust any message about the DV.