Yes, asylum seekers apply for the green card lottery on the same terms as anyone else, but no lottery registration is open as of September 2026. The lottery, formally the Diversity Visa (DV) program, looks at where you were born and your education or work history, not your immigration status. The State Department’s most recent instructions say an entrant may apply from inside the United States.
Selection is only the first step. A selectee must still qualify for a visa abroad or for adjustment of status before the federal fiscal year ends on September 30. Adjustment of status is the process of becoming a permanent resident, or green card holder, without leaving the United States. Faragalla Law represents people with pending claims through its asylum and withholding of removal practice. The firm can weigh how a lottery selection fits that case.
Is the Diversity Visa Lottery Open in 2026?
The State Department announced changes to the DV-2027 entry process in November 2025 and said it would announce registration dates as soon as practicable. As of late September 2026, it had not published DV-2027 entry instructions. A newer rule will also shape the next registration. Under that rule, effective April 10, 2026, entrants must submit details and a scan from a valid, unexpired passport. It allows only limited exemptions, such as for stateless people.
The passport rule can matter for asylum seekers who cannot safely contact their home government. Processing has also shifted during the year. The State Department paused diversity visa issuance in December 2025, and that pause ended on August 28, 2026 under a federal court order. Selectees must receive a visa or adjust status by September 30 of their program year, and unused selections do not carry over.
Nationality matters too. Since January 1, 2026, Proclamation 10998 has generally suspended immigrant visas for nationals of listed countries who were outside the United States that day. People from those countries may be unable to receive a diversity visa abroad.
Can Asylum Seekers Apply for the Green Card Lottery While a Case Is Pending?
The DV rules do not exclude people with pending asylum applications. Eligibility depends on being a native of a qualifying country. You also need a high school education or two years of qualifying work experience within the past five years. Natives of countries that sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States in the prior five years generally cannot enter. The exception is someone who can claim a spouse’s or parent’s eligible country of birth.
The bigger risk comes with travel. Advance parole is a travel permission issued before departure. Federal regulations presume that an asylum applicant who leaves without it has abandoned the asylum application. Even with advance parole, a trip back to the country you fear raises the same presumption unless you show compelling reasons. For example, an asylum seeker from Ukraine living in Plano who wins a selection would weigh adjusting status here against an interview abroad.
Can an Asylum Seeker Adjust Status Through the Diversity Visa?
Adjustment works only for some asylum seekers. The law generally requires that an immigration officer inspected the applicant and then admitted or paroled the person, meaning formally allowed entry. USCIS must deny an application that fails this rule. DV applicants also face bars for failing to keep lawful status since entry or for working without permission.
A pending asylum application does not appear on the regulation’s list of lawful immigration statuses. Asylee status, held by a person already granted asylum, does. For example, a student from Kenya who entered on an F-1 visa and kept that status until filing stands in a different position than a person who crossed without inspection. Removal proceedings are cases in immigration court over whether a person can stay. For an asylum seeker in those proceedings, the immigration judge generally has exclusive authority over adjustment.
For applications before USCIS, Policy Memorandum PM-602-0199, issued May 21, 2026, treats adjustment as extraordinary discretionary relief where consular processing is available. It counts a failure to follow the conditions of a visa or parole as a highly relevant negative factor. If USCIS or a judge grants asylum instead, the lottery may not matter. An asylee can apply for a green card after one year of physical presence in the United States following the asylum grant.
Official Sources on the Diversity Visa and Asylum
The State Department’s notice on changes to the 2027 DV entry period says registration dates will come in a separate announcement. Its updated guidance on diversity visa issuance, last revised August 31, 2026, reports the end of the December 2025 pause. USCIS explains its adjustment policy in Policy Memorandum PM-602-0199.
Federal regulation 8 CFR 208.8 sets the travel presumptions for asylum applicants, with and without advance parole. The passport rule appears in a Federal Register final rule published March 11, 2026, and the adjustment status rules appear in 8 CFR 245.1.
Discuss Asylum and the Lottery With Faragalla Law in Texas
A pending asylum case can change how you approach the green card lottery, including whether you can travel abroad for a visa interview. Faragalla Law can check your entry history, court calendar and travel plans before any future lottery registration.
Asylum applicants can schedule a free consultation through (800) 707-3038.
For a written first step, contact the firm online with your asylum filing date and any hearing dates.