Won the DV lottery? Official next steps and scams to avoid

Step 1 — Check your result yourself

The State Department’s Entrant Status Check, on the E-DV website at dvprogram.state.gov, is “the ONLY way” it tells people they were selected (State Department — If Selected). It does not mail letters or send emails to winners, and U.S. embassies and consulates don’t give out a list of selectees (State Department — If Selected).

• What you need: your confirmation number, your last name and your year of birth (State Department — Entrant Status Check).
• Lost the number? USA.gov links to a retrieval tool in the Entrant Status Check (USA.gov — DV results), which sends it to the email address you used to enter (State Department — DV-2026 instructions).
• Keep it yourself. Dishonest “visa facilitators” have kept people’s confirmation pages and then demanded more money (State Department — DV-2026 instructions).

If you were selected, the result page gives instructions, including about fees (State Department — Selection of Applicants). Print or save it.

Step 2 — Understand what “selected” means

Being selected “does not guarantee you will receive a visa”; it means you can move forward in the program (USA.gov — DV results). The State Department selects more people than there are visas, so “there will not be a sufficient number of visas for all those selected” (State Department — DV-2026 instructions).

• A hard deadline. All diversity visas for a fiscal year must be issued before September 30 (State Department — Applicant Interview). For winners applying inside the U.S., USCIS says the process must be completed by September 30 of the lottery’s fiscal year, and visas “cannot be carried over” (USCIS — Diversity Visa). For DV-2027 selectees, a State Department notice of November 5, 2025, gives the visa application period as October 1, 2026, to September 30, 2027 (State Department — DV-2027). Visas for some countries and regions can run out earlier, so don’t wait (State Department — Applicant Interview).
• Your rank number. Each month, the State Department’s Visa Bulletin shows which rank numbers in each region can move forward (USCIS — Diversity Visa).
• The education or work rule. The person who entered must have a high school education or its equivalent, or two years of qualifying work experience; a spouse and children don’t (State Department — Qualifications). Equivalency certificates such as the GED don’t count, and fees aren’t refunded if you don’t qualify (State Department — Qualifications).

Check for official changes before you spend money. Presidential Proclamation 10998, effective January 1, 2026, suspends and limits the entry of nationals of certain countries, including as immigrants, subject to exceptions and case-by-case waivers (Federal Register — Proclamation 10998). If your country is named in it, talk to free, authorized legal help before you pay fees or make plans. Before you spend money, also read the State Department’s visa news and the USCIS Alerts for announcements that affect DV applicants.

Step 3 — Submit Form DS-260 for your whole family

The State Department encourages selectees to complete the online DS-260 immigrant visa application “immediately,” so an interview can be scheduled (State Department — If Selected). You and each family member applying with you must complete it, using your DV case number (State Department — DS-260), through the State Department’s immigrant visa portal (USA.gov — DV results).

• Your family must match the truth. Leaving an existing spouse or child off your entry, or listing someone who wasn’t really your spouse or child, may make you and your family ineligible (State Department — DS-260). If you married or had a child after you entered, you add them and upload proof of the relationship (State Department — DS-260).
• Print the confirmation page and bring it to your interview (State Department — DS-260).
• Contact KCC by email only. The State Department’s Kentucky Consular Center (KCC) runs the program (State Department — KCC). Write to [email protected] with your name, birthdate and case number exactly as they appear in the Entrant Status Check; KCC destroys paper documents sent by mail, and it can tell you whether your form was processed, but not whether you qualify (State Department — DS-260).

Already living in the U.S.? Read Step 6 before you continue.

Step 4 — Gather documents and do the medical exam

You don’t mail supporting documents to KCC: you bring the originals or certified copies, with any required translations, to your interview (State Department — Documents). The State Department’s list includes (State Department — Documents):

• a long-form birth certificate for each applicant, with both parents’ names — short forms are not accepted;
• police certificates for each applicant 16 or older, from the places its rules list (no U.S. police certificates are needed);
• court and prison records for anyone convicted of a crime, and military records for anyone who served.

Each person also needs a passport valid for six months beyond the planned date of entry, two identical color photos and the medical exam results from the “panel physician,” plus certified English translations where needed (State Department — Applicant Interview). Start early: the September 30 deadline doesn’t move.

Step 5 — Go to your consular interview

After KCC reviews your DS-260, you may get an email asking you to log in to the Entrant Status Check to see the date, time and place of your interview (State Department — Interview).

• Who attends: you, your spouse and the unmarried children immigrating with you; family who will travel later can be interviewed separately (State Department — Applicant Interview).
• Fees: DV application fees are paid to the embassy or consulate cashier at the time of your appointment (State Department — Fraud Warning), and they are not refunded if the visa is refused (State Department — KCC).
• The decision: the officer tells you at the end; some cases need extra “administrative processing” (State Department — After the Interview).
• Don’t burn bridges early. Don’t sell your home, car or property, quit your job or buy non-refundable tickets until you have the visa (State Department — Interview).
• Family timing. If a child will soon turn 21, contact the embassy or consulate right away; family who follow you later must also get visas by September 30, or they may wait years for a family petition (State Department — Applicant Interview). See bringing family to the U.S.

Step 6 — Already in the U.S.? The USCIS route

For the few winners already living in the U.S. in a nonimmigrant or other legal status, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) handles “adjustment of status” — applying for a green card from inside the country (USCIS — Diversity Visa). You must show that you were selected, that a visa is immediately available when you file Form I-485, and that you are admissible (USCIS — Diversity Visa). Whether this route fits you is a question for authorized legal help.

• Timing: you may file once your rank number is below the cut-off in Section C of the Visa Bulletin, but USCIS can’t decide your case until a visa can be allocated (USCIS — Diversity Visa).
• Evidence: USCIS’s list includes the medical exam (Form I-693), your Form I-94 arrival record, a copy of your selection letter and a copy of the State Department receipt for the DV processing fee (USCIS — Diversity Visa). Our I-94 guide shows how to get yours.
• Current form only: since September 18, 2026, USCIS rejects older editions of Form I-485, and on October 7, 2026, it changed where to mail it (USCIS — I-485).
• Court case: in December 2025, USCIS ordered a hold on pending DV adjustment applications (memo PM-602-0193) (USCIS — PM-602-0193). On August 28, 2026, a federal court temporarily vacated that memo “pending further litigation”; USCIS “strongly disagrees” but will follow the order (USCIS — Court order, Sept. 4, 2026). Watch USCIS Alerts for changes (USCIS — Alerts).

Step 7 — Got the visa? Prepare to travel

• Check it right away and contact the embassy or consulate about any spelling errors (State Department — After the Interview).
• Don’t open the sealed packet. You give it to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) when you arrive (State Department — After the Interview).
• Travel in time. A diversity visa is usually valid for up to six months, or less if your medical exam expires sooner; the principal applicant must enter before or together with the family, and X-rays go in your hand luggage (State Department — After the Interview).
• Pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee online, ideally after you pick up your visa and before you leave; your DV case ID has 4 numbers, 2 letters and 5 more numbers (USCIS — Immigrant Fee).
• Pack your paperwork with our before-you-move checklist.

Step 8 — Your first days after arrival

A visa doesn’t guarantee entry, because CBP officers decide; if you’re admitted, you enter as a lawful permanent resident — a green card holder — and may live and work permanently in the U.S. (State Department — After the Interview). USCIS mails your card to the U.S. address you gave at the interview, so if you’ll live somewhere else, give the new address to the CBP officer (USCIS — Immigrant Fee).

From here, our guides take over: your first 30 days, new green card holders: the first 90 days, your Social Security number and green card basics.