A US federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to reopen registration for the 2027 Diversity Visa program, commonly known as the Green Card lottery, restoring a pathway to permanent residency for eligible applicants after the government failed to launch the annual registration process on schedule.US District Judge Jinsook Ohta of the Southern District of California issued a preliminary injunction on October 14 in a lawsuit filed by Red Eagle Law, an immigration law firm that challenged the State Department’s failure to open registration for the programme.Under a revised schedule approved by the court, the State Department must announce the registration period by October 29 and open the entry window by November 1. The department must notify selected applicants by December 3. Registration will remain open for 30 days, according to the court proceedings and information provided by the plaintiffs’ counsel.The original order had required the department to announce the registration dates by October 15, open the entry window by October 18 and notify selected applicants by November 19. However, the parties sought an extension, which the court granted.The ruling requires the department to accept eligible electronic entries and process selected applicants under the programme’s established procedures until the available visas for fiscal year 2027 are exhausted or September 30, 2027, whichever comes first.
Why was the 2027 Green Card lottery delayed?
The State Department announced in November 2025 that it was making changes to the entry process for the 2027 Diversity Visa programme and would announce the registration dates as soon as practicable. However, it did not open registration on the usual schedule, leaving prospective applicants uncertain about whether they would be able to participate.The delay prompted Red Eagle Law to take legal action against the department. The firm argued that the government’s failure to open registration threatened to effectively cancel the programme for the 2027 cycle.The Trump administration had argued that the delay made it too late to conduct the lottery within the applicable statutory timetable. The court’s preliminary injunction requires the government to proceed with the programme despite the delay.
What is the US Green Card lottery?
The Diversity Visa programme was established under the Immigration and Nationality Act and provides a route to permanent residency for eligible applicants from countries with historically low levels of immigration to the United States.The programme makes up to 55,000 immigrant visas available annually. Applicants must meet the eligibility requirements, including the applicable education or work-experience criteria, and complete the required application and screening procedures.The selection process is conducted through a lottery. Being selected does not guarantee that an applicant will receive a visa, as applicants must still qualify under the programme’s rules and complete the remaining immigration process.The delayed registration means prospective applicants will have a shorter period than usual for selection and subsequent processing during the 2027 fiscal year, which ends on September 30, 2027.Eligible applicants should monitor official State Department announcements for the registration dates, entry website and participation requirements. They should not assume that registration is already open or that selection automatically guarantees permanent residency.
Diversity Visa 2026 update
In December 2025, the Trump administration paused the Diversity Visa program, citing a review of security screening after a shooting at Brown University and the killing of an MIT professor. The suspected perpetrator had reportedly entered through the DV program. In August, a federal judge ordered the resumption of pending cases. The State Department paused the Diversity Visa again. In September, a court found that the government had been slow to comply with the earlier order. DV-2026 visas had to be issued by September 30 this year as the fiscal year ended. But many applicants who got selected waste their chance.
