Appeals court suspends the decision to resume the DV-2027 green card lottery

On October 29, the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals suspended a California court ruling that required the State Department to open registration for the DV-2027 green card lottery no later than November 1. The application deadlines are once again unknown, and no new launch date has been announced.

Aziz KarimovFirst published on tafs uz 30 October 2026 at 14:582 min read

The key facts

On October 29, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals suspended the California court's ruling requiring DV-2027 registration to launch by November 1
The Trump administration appealed the lower court's ruling
New application deadlines have not been announced

Appeal suspends the lottery launch deadlines

The DV-2027 green card lottery is once again in question: on October 29 the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the Donald Trump administration's motion and suspended the ruling that required the State Department to open participant registration no later than November 1. This was reported by Life.ru. The application deadlines are now unknown once again.

How the dispute unfolded

The litigation began with a lawsuit filed by the law firm Red Eagle Law, which claimed that the lottery delay was depriving it of potential clients and income from immigration services. On October 14, the trial court in California sided with the plaintiff: the State Department was ordered to announce registration deadlines by October 29, open the acceptance of entries no later than November 1, and notify selected participants of the results by December 3. The Trump administration challenged this ruling, and the appellate court found that the law firm had not yet proven it had standing to demand the program's launch under the relevant law. The judges, however, separately emphasized that they do not approve of the State Department's inaction.

What this means for participants

Enforcement of the original ruling has been suspended while the appeal is being considered. This does not mean the lottery is finally canceled, but the previously set deadlines are no longer binding on the US authorities. The Diversity Visa program annually provides for the issuance of up to 55,000 immigration visas to citizens of countries with relatively low levels of immigration to the United States. Registration for DV-2027 was supposed to begin back in the fall of 2025, but the State Department postponed it, citing procedural changes; a new launch date has not yet been announced. Thus, the practical outcome for potential participants has changed: the November 1 deadline binding on the authorities, set on October 14, is no longer in effect, and the moment registration opens once again depends on the outcome of the appeal.