The key facts

  • On October 29, the appeals court stayed the enforcement of the ruling to resume DV-2027 registration
  • Earlier, a California district court ordered the State Department to announce dates and begin accepting applications by November 1
  • The lawsuit was filed by the law firm Red Eagle Law LC in August 2026; the court found its interests not protected by law

Appeal freezes the decision to resume registration

A US federal appeals court on October 29 stayed the enforcement of a district court ruling that ordered the State Department to resume registration for the Green Card lottery (DV-2027). This was reported by Bloomberg Law, cited by Kun.uz. While the appellate stay remains in effect, the US government is not required to begin registration for the program, which annually grants up to 55,000 visas to citizens of countries with low levels of immigration.

What the district court decided and why it has been halted

On October 14, the US District Court for the Southern District of California ordered the State Department to announce registration dates by October 29, begin accepting applications no later than November 1, and notify selected participants of the results by December 3, 2026. The government filed an appeal, and a three-judge panel granted the emergency motion, temporarily freezing the enforcement of the ruling.

Who filed the lawsuit and how the court assessed its grounds

The lawsuit was filed in August 2026 by the immigration law firm Red Eagle Law LC — after the government failed to launch DV-2027 registration. The appeals panel found that the firm lacked sufficient legal standing for such a demand: the commercial interests of a company serving program participants do not fall within the circle of interests protected by the lottery statute. At the same time, the judges emphasized that they do not endorse the State Department's inaction on the question of starting registration.

Background of the program's suspension

The administration of Donald Trump suspended the Diversity Visa program in December 2025 following two shootings in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. According to law enforcement data cited by Kun.uz, the suspect in one of the crimes turned out to be a citizen of Portugal who had previously received a US visa through the Diversity Visa program; his body was later found, and the investigation concluded it was a suicide.