What's Delaying the 2027 DV Lottery? Here's the State Department's Response

The U.S. Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery, which typically opens for registration in the first week of October, has been delayed for the 2027 program. The U.S. Department of State has not yet announced the official registration dates, leading to speculation about potential causes, including technical updates to implement a new $1 registration fee or the impact of a government shutdown.

NepYork reached out to the State Department for clarification. A U.S. Department of State spokesperson did not confirm the reason for the delay but stated that an announcement for the DV 2027 program is forthcoming. “The Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) 2027 program will be announced soon. The announcement will be made on travel.state.gov,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson reminded that a final rule establishing a $1 registration fee for the DV Lottery was published in the Federal Register on September 16, 2025, and took effect the same day. The public was notified of this fee on September 15, 2025. “The new fee for registration will more fairly allocate the costs of managing the random selection process to those who register. It will also help reduce speculative registrations by individuals seeking to exploit questionable potential entrants,” the spokesperson explained.

The final rule establishing the $1 registration fee was published in the Federal Register last September. This new fee must be collected electronically at the time of filing the DV application. The State Department estimates this fee will generate approximately $25 million in revenue.

The notice in the Federal Register states the final rule aims 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.” Previously, the operational cost of the lottery was bundled into the $330 Diversity Visa application fee. This larger fee was only paid by those applicants who were successfully selected and received a visa.

While the cost of operating the lottery has now been removed from the DV application fee, the total fee of $330 paid by successful applicants will not be immediately reduced. The government stated it plans to review and adjust the DV application fee in future model updates.

A definitive date for the DV 2027 application period has not yet been set. The State Department is expected to publish detailed information soon on its website and in the Federal Register, including the application period, eligibility criteria, and the list of eligible countries.

In a separate action, the Trump administration has proposed a rule to mandate a passport for all DV Lottery applicants. Due to the time required for finalization, this passport rule will not be implemented this year. The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on August 5, 2025, with a public comment period that closed on September 19, 2025.

The administration is currently working to re-establish the passport requirement while ensuring legal compliance. The Biden administration had previously planned to implement a similar requirement, but it was not finalized.