The results for the 2026 Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery are live — and the clock is ticking. If you submitted an Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form during the DV-2026 registration period, you have until September 30, 2026 to check whether your entry was selected for further processing. After that deadline, the Entrant Status Check (ESC) closes permanently for this program year.
Here is everything you need to know to check your status correctly, understand what your result means, and take the right next steps — whether you were selected or not.
What Is the DV Lottery Entrant Status Check?
The Entrant Status Check (ESC) is the only official way the U.S. Department of State notifies Diversity Visa applicants of their selection. The Department of State will not send you a letter. It will not send you an email. U.S. embassies and consulates will not provide lists of who has been selected. The ESC website at dvprogram.state.gov/ESC is the sole channel through which you can find out if your entry was chosen.
This is an important point to understand clearly — and to share with anyone you know who entered. Scam websites, emails, and even some third-party “lottery services” frequently attempt to mislead applicants by claiming they have received an official notification. Any message claiming you have been selected in the DV-2026 program, other than what appears on the official ESC website when you personally log in with your own credentials, should be treated as fraudulent.
What You Need Before You Begin
Before you navigate to the ESC website, make sure you have the following information at hand. You will not be able to check your status without all of these details.
1. Your Confirmation Number
This is the most important piece of information. Your confirmation number is a 16-character alphanumeric code that was displayed — and should have been printed — on your DV Confirmation Page immediately after you submitted your Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form. The first four characters of the number always represent the program year. For DV-2026, your confirmation number begins with “2026” and follows this format:
2026XXXXXXXXXXXX
A real example of the format (not a real number): 20261O0DZWY3DOV9
If you did not save or print your confirmation page at the time of submission, do not panic — there is a recovery option, which is covered below.
2. Your Last/Family Name
This must be entered exactly as you provided it on your original Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form, including any punctuation.
3. Your Year of Birth
Enter your four-digit year of birth only (for example, 1989). Do not include the month or day at this stage.
Step-by-Step: How to Check Your DV-2026 Status
Step 1: Go to the Official ESC Website
Navigate directly to: dvprogram.state.gov/ESC
Do not search for this link through a third-party website. Type the address directly into your browser to ensure you are accessing the genuine U.S. Department of State system.
Step 2: Click “Continue” on the Welcome Page
The Welcome Page confirms that the DV-2026 Entrant Status Check is available until September 30, 2026. Click the Continue button to proceed to the entry form.
Step 3: Enter Your Confirmation Number
In the Confirmation Number field, enter the 16-character code exactly as it appeared on your DV Confirmation Page. The format is YYYYXXXXXXXXXXXX — where YYYY represents the four-digit program year (2026 for this cycle).
Important: Do not use your browser’s Back or Forward buttons while using the ESC website. The browser’s cache does not refresh automatically, which means using navigation buttons may display outdated or incorrect information. Use only the buttons and links provided on the ESC website itself.
Step 4: Enter Your Last/Family Name
Type your Last/Family Name exactly as it was entered on your Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form. Spelling, spacing, and punctuation must match precisely.
Step 5: Enter Your Year of Birth
Enter your four-digit year of birth. Do not include the month or day at this point.
Step 6: Complete the Authentication
Enter the characters displayed in the CAPTCHA field. If you have difficulty reading the characters, you can click the Speaker icon to hear an audio version, or click Refresh to generate a new code.
Step 7: Click “Submit”
After clicking Submit, the status of your Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form will be displayed. Read the message carefully — the text explains exactly what your status means and what your next steps should be.
Decoding Your Status: What Each Result Means
If your entry was NOT selected:
You will see a message confirming that your Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form was not selected for further processing in the DV-2026 program. This does not prevent you from entering future DV programs in subsequent years, provided you meet the eligibility requirements.
If your entry WAS selected:
A letter will appear on screen with detailed instructions on what to do next. This letter will explain the specific steps required before a consular interview can be scheduled to determine whether you will receive a visa. Print this letter and keep it in a safe place. Print the page directly from the ESC website — do not rely on screenshots alone.
One critical point about selection: being selected does not guarantee you will receive a visa. Selection means your entry has been chosen for further processing in the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program. You must still meet all eligibility requirements under U.S. immigration law, complete the required application process, and pass a consular interview before any visa is issued.
What to Do If You Were Selected
If your DV-2026 entry was selected, your next immediate priority is to complete the DS-260 Immigrant Visa Application through the official selectee portal at dvselectee.state.gov. The Department of State strongly encourages selectees to complete the DS-260 as quickly as possible after confirming their selection, because interview appointments are scheduled based on application completeness and visa number availability.
Key things to understand about the timeline:
- Visas are limited. Congress authorizes a set number of Diversity Immigrant Visas each fiscal year. If all available visa numbers are issued before September 30, 2026, no further visas will be issued for this program year, even for selectees who have completed all their paperwork.
- The fiscal year deadline is firm. Under U.S. law, eligibility to apply for a Diversity Immigrant Visa extends only through the end of the fiscal year — September 30, 2026. No extensions are granted.
- Medical examinations are required. When you attend your consular interview, you must bring all required documentation including the results of a medical examination from an authorized physician.
I Forgot My Confirmation Number — What Now?
If you did not save or print your DV Confirmation Page and no longer have your confirmation number, you can use the Forgot Confirmation Number recovery option on the ESC website.
Click “Forgot Confirmation Number” from the Enter Entrant Information page. The Verify Entrant page will appear, and you will need to provide:
- The program year (DV-2026)
- Your full name exactly as entered on your Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form — first name, middle name, and last/family name. Check the relevant checkbox for any name field that was left blank on your original entry.
- Your full date of birth — two-digit month, two-digit day, and four-digit year (for example: 01 15 1990)
- The email address you used when you completed your Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form
- The CAPTCHA authentication characters
Click Submit. The system will attempt to locate your entry based on the information you provide.
Common Errors and How to Fix Them
“Information Entered Is Not Valid” Error
If you receive this error message even though you believe you have entered everything correctly, the most likely cause is a character confusion error in the confirmation number itself. Several characters in the 16-character confirmation number look visually similar to one another and are commonly misread.
The most frequently confused character pairs are:
| Character You Typed | Could Actually Be |
|---|---|
| Number 0 (zero) | Letter O (uppercase “oh”) |
| Letter I (uppercase “eye”) | Number 1 (one) or lowercase l |
| Letter B | Number 8 |
| Letter S | Number 5 |
Go back to your original printed DV Confirmation Page and look very carefully at each character in the confirmation number, paying particular attention to these pairs. Re-enter the number slowly and precisely.
Name Mismatch
Your last/family name must match your original entry exactly. If you used a hyphenated name, abbreviated a name, or used a different spelling variant when you registered, you must replicate that exact version here — not the “correct” spelling of your name.
Important Updates for DV-2026: Cuba and the United Kingdom
The Department of State issued notable updates regarding two specific groups of DV-2026 applicants.
Cuba: Under U.S. law, nationals from countries that have sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States over the previous five-year period are not eligible to participate in the DV program. Cuba exceeded this threshold, meaning Cuban natives are not eligible for the DV-2026 program year. The Department of State identified that a small number of entrants who selected Cuba as their foreign state of chargeability were incorrectly shown as selected. Those individuals have been notified that they will be ineligible for DV-2026.
Great Britain (United Kingdom) and Dependent Areas: The Department of State also identified that a small number of entrants from Great Britain and its dependent areas received incorrect selection status results. Affected entrants from the UK and its territories — including Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, British Indian Ocean Territory, and others — should check their status directly through the ESC to confirm their accurate result.
How to Protect Yourself From DV Lottery Scams
The popularity of the Diversity Visa Program makes it a frequent target for fraud. The Department of State issues regular warnings about websites and communications that impersonate official U.S. government services.
Protect yourself by following these rules:
- The DV Program is completely free. There is no fee to submit an entry. There is no fee to check your status on the ESC website. There is no legitimate service that charges you to determine whether your entry was selected.
- No official notification is sent by email or mail. If you receive a letter, postcard, or email claiming you have been selected in the DV Lottery, it is not from the U.S. government — regardless of how official it looks.
- Only use official government URLs. The legitimate websites are dvprogram.state.gov for entry and status checking, dvselectee.state.gov for selectees completing their DS-260, and travel.state.gov for official DV program information.
- Do your own application. You do not need to pay a third-party service to submit a DV entry or check your status. Both processes are straightforward and free.
Key DV-2026 Dates and Information at a Glance
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| DV-2026 Registration Period | October 2, 2024 – November 7, 2024 (now closed) |
| ESC Results Available From | May 3, 2025 |
| DV-2026 ESC Deadline | September 30, 2026 |
| DV-2025 ESC Deadline | September 30, 2025 |
| Official ESC Website | dvprogram.state.gov/ESC |
| Confirmation Number Length | 16 characters (alphanumeric) |
| Confirmation Number Format | YYYYXXXXXXXXXXXX (first 4 digits = program year) |
| Example Confirmation Number | 20261O0DZWY3DOV9 |
| What You Need to Check Status | Confirmation number, last/family name, year of birth |
| If Confirmation Number Lost | Use “Forgot Confirmation Number” with name, full DOB, and email |
| Next Step If Selected | Complete DS-260 at dvselectee.state.gov immediately |
| Contact for Questions | kccdv@state.gov (Kentucky Consular Center) |
| Does Selection Guarantee a Visa? | No — eligibility must still be confirmed at interview |
Final Reminder: Check Before September 30, 2026
The Entrant Status Check for DV-2026 applicants will close permanently on September 30, 2026. If you submitted an entry during the October–November 2024 registration window and have not yet checked your status, do so as soon as possible at dvprogram.state.gov/ESC.
If you were selected, every day of delay in completing your DS-260 reduces your chances of securing an interview appointment and visa number before the fiscal year deadline. The DV Program operates on a fixed annual timeline, and that timeline cannot be extended for any individual applicant regardless of circumstances.
