The 2026 DV lottery is a program offered by the United States government that allows individuals from countries with low rates of immigration to the U.S. to apply for a chance to obtain a Green Card, which grants them the right to live and work in the U.S. permanently. The DV lottery program is held every year, and the results for the 2026 DV Lottery has been announced.
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Check the Diversity Visa Lottery results | How to check 2026 DV Lottery results
- Results for the 2026 DV Lottery are available until September 30, 2026.
You must remember to check the lottery results yourself online using your confirmation number , Name , Date of Birth. If you have lost your confirmation number, you can retrieve it by visiting the DV lottery website and following the instructions provided. The State Department will not send you a letter or an email to let you know if you have been selected. See the fraud warning above.
Being selected in the 2026 DV Lottery does not guarantee you will receive a visa. Selection means you can move forward in the DV Program.
Beware of scams Unfortunately, there are many scams related to the DV lottery program. Scammers may send you emails or letters claiming that you have won the lottery and asking for money or personal information. These emails or letters may appear to be official, but they are not. Remember that the U.S. Department of State will never ask you for money or personal information by email or phone. If you receive a suspicious email or letter, do not respond and report it to the U.S. Department of State immediately.
Also check this : How to Apply for the DV Lottery Program
How will I know if I am not selected? Will I be notified?
The Department of State will NOT notify you directly if your entry is not selected. You must use the Entrant Status Check to learn whether you were selected. You may check the status of your 2026 DV Lottery entry through the Entrant Status Check on the E-DV website from May 3, 2025, until September 30, 2026.
What if I lose my confirmation number?
You must have your confirmation number to access Entrant Status Check. A tool is now available on Entrant Status Check on the E-DV website that will allow you to retrieve your confirmation number via the email address with which you registered by entering certain personal information to confirm your identity. U.S. embassies and consulates and the Kentucky Consular Center are unable to check your selection status for you or provide your confirmation number to you directly (other than through the Entrant Status Check retrieval tool). The Department of State is NOT able to provide a list of those selected to continue the visa process.
Also check this : Enroll Now : British Council free Online Courses 2023
Will I receive information from the Department of State by email or by postal mail?
The Department of State will not send you a notification letter. The U.S. government has never sent emails to notify individuals that they have been selected, and there are no plans to use email for this purpose for the 2026 DV Lottery program. If you are a selectee, you will only receive email communications regarding your visa appointment after you have responded to the notification instructions on Entrant Status Check, if an immigrant visa interview becomes available.
These emails will not contain information on the actual appointment date and time; they will simply tell you to go to the Entrant Status Check website for details. The Department of State may send emails reminding DV program applicants to check the Entrant Status Check for their status. However, such emails will never indicate whether the DV program applicant was selected or not.
Only internet sites that end with the “.gov” domain suffix are official U.S. government websites. Many other websites (e.g., with the suffixes “.com,” “.org,” or “.net”) provide immigration and visa-related information and services. The Department of State does not endorse, recommend, or sponsor any information or material on these other websites.
Warning: You may receive emails from websites that try to trick you into sending money or providing your personal information. You may be asked to pay for forms and information about immigration procedures, all of which are available free on the Department of State website, travel.state.gov, or through U.S. embassy or consulate websites. Additionally, organizations or websites may try to steal your money by charging fees for DV-related services. If you send money to one of these nongovernment organizations or websites, you will likely never see it again.
Also, do not send personal information to these websites, as it may be used for identity fraud/theft. Deceptive emails may come from people pretending to be affiliated with the Kentucky Consular Center or the Department of State. Remember that the U.S. government has never sent emails to notify individuals they have been selected, and there are no plans to use email for this purpose for the DV-2026 program.
The Department of State will never ask you to send money by mail or by services such as Western Union, although applications to USCIS for adjustments of status do require mailing a fee. Visit this site for more details on adjusting status.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many individuals will be selected for DV-2026?
For DV-2026, 55,000 Diversity Visas are available. The Department of State selects more than 55,000 selectees to account for selectees who will not qualify for visas and those who will not pursue their cases to completion. This means there will not be a sufficient number of visas for all those selected. The Department does this to try to use as many of the 55,000 DVs as we can.
You can check the E-DV website’s Entrant Status Check to see if you have been selected for further processing and later to see the status of your case. Interviews for the DV-2026 program will begin in October 2025 for selectees who have submitted all pre-interview paperwork and other information as requested in the notification instructions. Selectees whose applications have been fully processed and have been scheduled for a visa interview appointment will receive a notification to obtain details through the E-DV website’s Entrant Status Check four to six weeks before the scheduled interviews with U.S. consular officers overseas.
How will successful entrants be selected?
Official notifications of selection will be made through Entrant Status Check, available May 3, 2025, through September 30, 2026, on the E-DV website, dvprogram.state.gov. The Department of State does not send selectee notifications or letters by regular postal mail or by email. Any email notification or mailed letter stating that you have been selected to receive a DV that does not come from the Department of State is not legitimate.
Any email communication you receive from the Department of State will direct you to review Entrant Status Check for new information about your application. The Department of State will never ask you to send money by mail or by services such as Western Union, unless you are adjusting status. See this site for more information on adjusting status.
All entries received from each region are individually numbered; at the end of the entry period, a computer will randomly select entries from among all the entries received for each geographic region. Within each region, the first entry randomly selected will be the first case registered; the second entry selected will be the second case registered, etc. All entries received within each region during the entry period will have an equal chance of being selected.
I am already in the United States. If selected, may I adjust my status with USCIS?
Yes, provided you are otherwise eligible to adjust status under the terms of Section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), you may apply to USCIS for adjustment of status to permanent resident. You must ensure that USCIS can complete action on your case, including processing of any overseas applications for a spouse or for children under 21 years of age, before September 30, 2025, since on that date your eligibility for the DV-2026 program expires. The Department of State will not approve any visa numbers or adjustments of status for the DV-2026 program after midnight EDT on September 30, 2026.
If a DV selectee dies, what happens to the case?
If a DV selectee dies at any point before he or she has traveled to the United States or adjusted status, the DV case is automatically closed. Any derivative spouse and/or children of the deceased selectee will no longer be entitled to apply for a DV visa. Any visas issued to them will be revoked.
How much does it cost to enter the Diversity Visa program?
There is no fee charged to submit an electronic entry. However, if you are selected and apply for a Diversity Visa, you must pay all required visa application fees at the time of visa application and interview directly to the consular cashier at the U.S. embassy or consulate. If you are a selectee already in the United States and you apply to USCIS to adjust status, you will pay all required fees directly to USCIS. If you are selected, you will receive details of required fees with the instructions provided through the E-DV website at dvprogram.state.gov.
How and where do I pay DV and immigrant visa fees if I am selected?
If you are a randomly selected entrant, you will receive instructions for the DV application process through Entrant Status Check at dvprogram.state.gov. You will pay all fees in person only at the U.S. embassy or consulate at the time of the visa application. The consular cashier will immediately give you a U.S. government receipt for payment.
Do not send money for DV fees to anyone through the mail, Western Union, or any other delivery service if you are applying for an immigrant visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate. If you are selected and are already present in the United States and plan to file for adjustment of status with USCIS, the instructions page accessible through Entrant Status Check at dvprogram.state.gov contains separate instructions on how to mail adjustment of status application fees to a U.S. bank.
If I apply for a DV, but don’t qualify to receive one, can I get a refund of the visa fees I paid?
No. Visa application fees cannot be refunded. You must meet all qualifications for the visa as detailed in these instructions. If a consular officer determines you do not meet requirements for the visa, or you are otherwise ineligible for the DV under U.S. law, the officer cannot issue a visa and you will forfeit all fees paid.
