Effective April 10, 2026, the U.S. Department of State published a final rule implementing changes to the Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) Program to strengthen security, improve vetting, and combat fraud. These changes will apply beginning with the DV-2027 registration cycle.

Under the new rule, individuals entering the DV Lottery must provide information from a valid, unexpired passport when submitting their electronic entry and upload a scan of the passport’s biographic and signature pages. Applicants who qualify for a limited exemption must indicate their eligibility for the exemption at the time of registration. According to the Department of State, these measures are intended to improve identity verification at the registration stage and reduce fraudulent, duplicate, and unauthorized entries. The Department noted that it identified approximately 2.5 million fraudulent entries in the DV-2025 program alone.

The final rule also includes several technical amendments to the regulations, including replacing the term “gender” with “sex,” replacing “age” with “date of birth,” and adding the word “shall” in various provisions to provide clearer guidance and promote consistency in adjudications.

Key Takeaways for DV Applicants

Individuals planning to participate in the DV-2027 lottery should:

• Ensure their passport is valid and unexpired.
• Renew any passport that may expire before registration.
• Maintain a clear electronic copy of the passport’s biographic and signature pages.
• Carefully review the DV-2027 registration instructions, including any exemption criteria and filing requirements.