Can Russians enter the DV lottery?

The State Department publishes the country list each year in the draw instructions; Russia was in the recent draws, and the chats show winners from Russia interviewing in Almaty and Warsaw. The current list is only in this year's instructions.

Does winning the lottery guarantee a green card?

No. Winning is the right to apply. Then come the case number and the regional cut-off: in DV-2024 Europe never became current and high numbers got no visa; the deadline is the end of the fiscal year, and the chats see winners released en masse in August.

When does DV-2027 registration open?

As of Sep 30, 2026 - unknown. On Nov 5, 2025 the State Department announced changes to the entry process and said it would announce the DV-2027 registration start date and the results date "as soon as practicable"; no date has followed. Registration usually ran in October-November (DV-2026: Oct 2 to Nov 5, 2024), and on Sep 30, 2026 the E-DV site still says entries are not being accepted and offers only the DV-2026 status check. The visa application period for DV-2027 selectees, per the State Department, stays Oct 1, 2026 to Sep 30, 2027.

Can a court make the State Department open DV-2027?

There is such a suit: Red Eagle Law v. Rubio (US District Court, Southern District of California, 3:26-cv-04738), filed on Aug 19, 2026 to compel the DV-2027 program to resume. The court denied a temporary restraining order on Sep 3, 2026, heard the preliminary-injunction motion on Sep 24, 2026 and set an oral ruling for Oct 14, 2026. The plaintiff is a single law firm and no class is certified; until a ruling, registration stays closed.

How many criteria do you need to meet for EB-1A?

At least three of the ten USCIS criteria. But meeting criteria is not enough: the officer additionally evaluates the case as a whole (final merits) and must see sustained acclaim and that you are among the best in your field. In the community's experience, a denial is possible even with 5 or more criteria counted if this second part is not proven.

If I met 5 criteria, is the visa guaranteed?

No. Meeting criteria is only the first stage. Next the officer looks at the case as a whole (final merits): you need to show sustained acclaim and a position at the top of the profession. It happens that the criteria are formally met, yet the officer writes that the applicant is not extraordinary enough. The outcome depends largely on the strength of the evidence and on the officer.

Green card

Green card lottery (DV): rules, timeline, odds, experience

Updated: September 30, 2026Author: Alina Kanametova

Key answer

In short

The green card lottery (DV, Diversity Visa) is the annual State Department program: up to 50,000 immigrant visas drawn among entrants from countries with low immigration to the US. Status on Sep 30, 2026, per State Department pages: the pause on DV visa issuance announced in December 2025 is no longer in effect as of Aug 28, 2026, under the court order in Medani v. Trump (guidance of Aug 31, 2026); the DV-2027 registration start date will be announced later, and DV-2027 selectees can apply for visas from Oct 1, 2026 to Sep 30, 2027; entries are not being accepted right now (on Sep 30, 2026 the E-DV site shows only the DV-2026 status check), and a suit to resume DV-2027 awaits a ruling on Oct 14, 2026. Entry is online: free through DV-2026, with a $1 registration fee in force since Sep 16, 2025 (DV-2026 ran from Oct 2 to Nov 5, 2024); the community checks results in May by confirmation number. Winning only gives the right to apply: a case number, the regional cut-off in the visa bulletin, DS-260 and an interview before the fiscal year ends, for Russians in a third country.

Warsaw Almaty Astana Belgrade Yerevan Tbilisi

1,521chat messages about the DV lottery

50 000visas a year under the DV program (USCIS)

October - Mayentry - result, by community account

8community stories on this page

How the DV lottery goes: five steps

Step	What	How	More
1	Check eligibility	born in a country on this year's State Department list (Russia was in the recent draws) and a completed secondary education or two years of qualifying work; the chats say no diploma means no entry	every route to the US
2	Enter	online on the State Department site, one entry per person, a photo to spec; free through DV-2026, a $1 fee since Sep 16, 2025 and a passport scan since Apr 10, 2026; the chats warn the form has a time limit and "session expired" wipes the input	how to move to the US
3	Check the result	in May by confirmation number (Entrant Status Check), no letters are sent; the chats call a first-try win rare: one member's father played since the late 90s and the family won once in 25 years	the bulletin and cut-offs
4	Case and interview	the winner gets a case number; visas go by the regional cut-off in the bulletin - in DV-2024 Europe never became current and high numbers got no visa; DS-260, a consular interview (Russians: Almaty, Warsaw, Frankfurt), the risk of administrative processing	administrative processing
5	A winner inside the US	in lawful status - I-485 through USCIS once a visa is available under the bulletin; the chats tell of a TPS holder whose three filings inside the country all ended in refusals and a lost win	Form I-485

Entry rules from the official instructions and what changes from DV-2027

From the State Department DV-2026 instructions and two State Department rules in the Federal Register shared in the chats; checked Sep 30, 2026 against the State Department pages and the Federal Register.

The country is by birth, not citizenship. DV-2026 admitted Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and nearly all of Europe; 19 countries that sent over 50,000 immigrants in five years were excluded (India, China, Brazil and others). If your country of birth does not qualify, you may claim your spouse's (both then get visas and enter together) or a parent's, if neither parent was born or resided in your country when you were born.
Education or work - for the principal applicant only. You need 12 years of formal schooling (a GED or correspondence courses do not count) or 2 years of experience in the last 5 in an occupation in Job Zone 4 or 5 with an SVP rating of 7.0 or higher in the US Labor Department O*Net database. The proof is shown at the interview; the spouse and children are exempt. Without it no visa can be issued and fees are not refunded.
List the whole family - even those not moving. You must list your spouse (unless legally separated by court order - even if you live apart, plan to divorce or the spouse will not move) and every living unmarried child under 21, adopted and stepchildren included. Leaving someone out or adding someone who is not family disqualifies the whole family. A US citizen or resident spouse is not listed. Spouses may each submit their own entry.
One entry, a fresh photo, 60 minutes. More than one entry per person disqualifies all of them. The photo must be under 6 months old; reusing last year's photo or a manipulated one disqualifies the entry. The form allows 60 minutes and cannot be saved as a draft.
There are no winning letters. Results come only through Entrant Status Check on dvprogram.state.gov; the State Department sends no winning letters or emails and never asks for money by Western Union. A lost confirmation number can be retrieved there with the entry email. More selectees are drawn than there are visas (55,000 by law, up to 5,000 of them set aside for NACARA), so selection is no guarantee.
From DV-2027 - a passport at registration. A State Department final rule (Federal Register, Mar 11, 2026, effective Apr 10, 2026) requires valid passport details and an upload of the biographic and signature page (JPEG up to 5 MB) at entry, with narrow exemptions. A similar 2019 rule was vacated on Feb 4, 2022 (E.B. v. Department of State, D.D.C., 19-2856) for skipping notice and comment; the new one went through comment (399 comments). The State Department cites 2.5 million fraudulent entries in DV-2025.
Fees: $1 to register, $330 at the interview. Since Sep 16, 2025 there is a $1 registration fee, paid only by the principal applicant when entering (State Department rule in the Federal Register). Selectees pay $330 per person applying for a DV at the embassy cashier at the interview; the regular immigrant visa fee is not charged, and nothing is refunded after a refusal. Amounts per the State Department fee page as of Sep 30, 2026.

Documents: State Department: Instructions for the 2026 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, October 2024; Federal Register, Sep 16, 2025: State Department rule on the $1 DV lottery registration fee (90 FR 44524); Federal Register, Mar 11, 2026: State Department final rule "Enhancing Vetting and Combatting Fraud in the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program" (91 FR 11891); US District Court for the District of Columbia: E.B. v. U.S. Department of State, 19-2856, opinion of Feb 4, 2022.

Community experience: playing, winning, the interview

From community discussions

«Hello everyone! I can only speak from personal experience. The entry period can be at any moment with a valid visa. It's more about the arrangements with the employer; I entered on an L1 after a month, there were no questions. For statistics, my husband on an L2 was on administrative processing since December 20, 2023, we filed the mandamus on June 2, 2024, and he received the visa on June 26, 2024.»
Svetlana Z. · from public community chats
«I've been stuck with my L1 for more than 18 months, and mandamus didn't help. I'm no longer working where the L1 was needed. But, 8 months before, I received a B1/B2. Honestly, the officer's attitude and preparation affect the chances of going into AP. Once you're in AP, the duration is not dependent on where the interview was held.»
Sasha · from public community chats
«Hello, recently the AP ended after 6 months. The Frankfurt O-1 and O-3 visas were taken to court in July, and after filing, the respondents had exactly 60 days to respond. Just as this period expired, a letter arrived stating that the AP had ended. No other options besides court were helpful.»
community member · from public community chats
«A person lived in the U.S., worked, supported a family, rented housing, bought a car, and so on. They left to renew their visa and cannot return. The AP is in progress. In an instant, they got stuck between two worlds. It's a very complicated situation.»
Nadezhda P. · from public community chats
«She had a friend who was on TPS, entered and exited, and won the DV lottery for 2023. She applied inside for the I-485 three times with expedited processing through senators, submitting in Florida and California, and all three times she received denials. If she had gone to the embassy in Warsaw, she would have received a visa through the DV lottery, but instead, she lost everything and forfeited her right to obtain a green card through that lottery. She spent nearly $20,000 on fees.»
Vladimir · from public community chats
«I have been participating since 2009. I also have not received such a letter. I even managed to win in DV-2023, but due to a high case number, my turn did not come. So just winning the lottery does not guarantee that you will definitely get a green card. It is a lottery within a lottery.»
Tatiana · from public community chats
«Meanwhile, in the DV chat, another couple received their visa without an RFE. I am the only one from the small DV group who ended up with an RFE. But... my husband and I are the only ones who achieved real results in Russia (this is about our small group, not all DV participants).»
Lena · from public community chats
«But let's not categorically state that supposedly without a residence permit, people are not allowed into the consulate, as you wrote earlier, because that is not true. There is not a single documented case where a person with a scheduled DV 2026 interview was turned away at the door in Almaty (or any other consulate) due to the lack of a residence permit. And even more so, this could not have happened a year ago, in DV 2025, when the whole world could attend interviews at any desired consulate.»
Gleb · from public community chats

Personal opinions of community members from public discussions, not legal advice.

What the chats ask about the DV lottery

1×The Green Card lottery; I'm talking about that.

Myths and reality

Myth: Winning the DV lottery almost guarantees getting a visa, so it is safe to sell property in advance and plan the move as a settled matter.

In reality: Winning the DV lottery does not guarantee visa issuance. Administrative processing, denial, a shortage of visas before the end of the fiscal year, or other interview-related issues are possible.

Rules and tips from the chats

ruleFor the DV Lottery, a foreign passport is not a mandatory requirement, but the information in the entry must be accurate, and documents at later stages must meet consular processing requirements.

Distilled from the public community chats, anonymised; corpus as of June 2026. These are participants' observations, not legal advice and not USCIS statistics.

Frequently asked questions

Can Russians enter the DV lottery?: The State Department publishes the country list each year in the draw instructions; Russia was in the recent draws, and the chats show winners from Russia interviewing in Almaty and Warsaw. The current list is only in this year's instructions.
Does winning the lottery guarantee a green card?: No. Winning is the right to apply. Then come the case number and the regional cut-off: in DV-2024 Europe never became current and high numbers got no visa; the deadline is the end of the fiscal year, and the chats see winners released en masse in August.
When does DV-2027 registration open?: As of Sep 30, 2026 - unknown. On Nov 5, 2025 the State Department announced changes to the entry process and said it would announce the DV-2027 registration start date and the results date "as soon as practicable"; no date has followed. Registration usually ran in October-November (DV-2026: Oct 2 to Nov 5, 2024), and on Sep 30, 2026 the E-DV site still says entries are not being accepted and offers only the DV-2026 status check. The visa application period for DV-2027 selectees, per the State Department, stays Oct 1, 2026 to Sep 30, 2027.
Can a court make the State Department open DV-2027?: There is such a suit: Red Eagle Law v. Rubio (US District Court, Southern District of California, 3:26-cv-04738), filed on Aug 19, 2026 to compel the DV-2027 program to resume. The court denied a temporary restraining order on Sep 3, 2026, heard the preliminary-injunction motion on Sep 24, 2026 and set an oral ruling for Oct 14, 2026. The plaintiff is a single law firm and no class is certified; until a ruling, registration stays closed.
How many criteria do you need to meet for EB-1A?: At least three of the ten USCIS criteria. But meeting criteria is not enough: the officer additionally evaluates the case as a whole (final merits) and must see sustained acclaim and that you are among the best in your field. In the community's experience, a denial is possible even with 5 or more criteria counted if this second part is not proven.
If I met 5 criteria, is the visa guaranteed?: No. Meeting criteria is only the first stage. Next the officer looks at the case as a whole (final merits): you need to show sustained acclaim and a position at the top of the profession. It happens that the criteria are formally met, yet the officer writes that the applicant is not extraordinary enough. The outcome depends largely on the strength of the evidence and on the officer.

Where next

Consulates Russians travel to

Warsaw Almaty Astana Belgrade Yerevan Tbilisi Istanbul Tashkent Bishkek Ankara Prague Paris

Sources

This page is reference, not legal advice; rules and practice change - verify on uscis.gov.