Entry in the autumn, results the following spring, interviews through the fiscal year — and issuance stops on the last day of it.
Reviewed by Ekaterina Fitenko, Esq. — Florida Bar #1064536. With 20+ years of experience in the legal field, she advises Diversity Visa selectees on adjustment of status and consular processing, in English and Russian.
The cycle opens with a registration window that the Department must keep open for a period of not less than thirty days. Entries go to dvprogram.state.gov and nowhere else, and since 10 April 2026 they carry passport data and a scan of the biographic page.
What is decided here is everything documentary: the photograph, the spelling of the name, the family listed, the country of chargeability. None of it can be revised afterwards.
Results are published through Entrant Status Check — the only channel, with no letters and no emails. You need the confirmation number saved at submission. Entrants who were not selected are told the same way, so nothing arrives for anyone and silence carries no information.
A selection comes with a case number, and from that point the case advances only as the monthly Visa Bulletin cut-offs move. Cases are processed in number order within each region as visas become available out of the 55,000 fixed by INA 201(e). A high number in a heavily subscribed region may not become current at all.
The interval between selection and the number becoming current is the only part of the cycle you control. It is when documents are gathered, translations certified, and the route decided — consular processing abroad or adjustment under INA 245(a) inside the United States. Cases that fail usually fail here, quietly, by treating the wait as nothing to do.
The medical examination is the exception: it has limited validity, so it is scheduled when the interview is in sight rather than early.
Eligibility ceases at the end of the fiscal year. Under no circumstances may a consular officer issue a visa after the end of the fiscal year during which the applicant possessed diversity eligibility, and a pending adjustment application cannot be approved on that basis afterwards either. There is no extension and no carry-over into the next cycle.
Read backwards, the whole calendar is one instruction: everything that can be done early should be done early, because the last month is where all the cases arrive at once.
From entry to visa it spans roughly two years: the autumn entry period, results the following spring, and interviews through the fiscal year that ends the following 30 September.
In the spring following the entry period, through Entrant Status Check on the E-DV website. It is the only channel — no letters, no emails, and no lists at embassies.
Your case number against the monthly Visa Bulletin cut-off for your region. Cases become schedulable in number order as visas become available within the annual limit of 55,000.
Assemble documents and certified translations and settle which route applies — consular processing or adjustment under INA 245(a). Leave only the medical examination for later, because its validity is limited.
No. Diversity eligibility ends with the fiscal year and no visa may be issued after it, regardless of how far the case progressed or why it was delayed.
$200 for 30 minutes, in English or Russian. Call (305) 315-3425 or email fitenkolaw@gmail.com to schedule, or start with the intake form.
This article is informational only and is not legal advice. Immigration rules, fees and processing times change; confirm current requirements with the agency or with counsel before relying on anything here.
Fitenko Law PLLC, 11555 Heron Bay Blvd, Suite 277, Coral Springs, FL 33076 (main office); 600 Three Islands Blvd, Hallandale Beach, FL 33009 (by appointment only). Phone: (305) 315-3425. Email: fitenkolaw@gmail.com