A federal judge has ordered the US State Department to run the delayed DV-2027 Diversity Visa programme — the green card lottery — on a fixed timetable, with registration to be announced by October 29 and the entry window to open by November 1, 2026.

Source: Day1CPT (citing Courthouse News)

US District Judge Jinsook Ohta of the Southern District of California issued the preliminary injunction on October 14 in Red Eagle Law, L.C. v. Rubio, a lawsuit filed after the State Department failed to open DV-2027 registration on its usual schedule. The court later approved a revised schedule agreed by both sides.

The court-ordered timetable

Under the revised order, the State Department must publicly announce the registration period, the official entry website and the participation requirements by October 29. Registration must open by November 1 and stay open for at least 30 days. People selected in the lottery must be notified by December 3, and the department must process selected applicants until the fiscal-year visa numbers are used up or September 30, 2027, whichever comes first.

55,000Diversity visas available per year (maximum)
Oct 29Deadline to announce registration
Nov 1Deadline to open registration
30 daysMinimum entry window

The Diversity Visa programme makes up to 55,000 immigrant visas available each year to people born in countries with historically low levels of immigration to the United States. Applicants must meet education or work-experience requirements and pass the normal immigration screening. Entering the lottery does not guarantee selection, and selection does not guarantee a visa.

The order is a preliminary injunction, not a final judgment in the case, so an appeal or a later court ruling could still change the schedule. Prospective applicants should wait for the State Department's official DV-2027 announcement and enter only through the official entry website named in it — entry is free, and anyone charging a fee to submit the basic entry is not the US government.

Source: Kenya Today