Facts checked at 7:30 p.m. UTC on October 29, 2026, which was 3:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time and 2:30 p.m. EST. About nine and a half hours remained until midnight EST at the end of that date. This is a developing story. The editorial policy explains how this site labels official records.
DV lottery 2027 registration dates are not in the records checked this afternoon. No official entry window is open in those records. The amended injunction still requires the State Department to announce the dates by midnight EST on October 29, 2026, and the Ninth Circuit docket retrieved today does not list a stay.
The calendar behind that order is in When Does the DV Lottery 2027 Open?. The case history is in DV-2027 reopened by court order.
Has the State Department announced DV-2027 dates?
Not in the records this check could read.
A web search on October 29, 2026 still returned Changes to Entry Period for 2027 Diversity Visa (DV) Program with the indexed line “Last Updated: November 5, 2025.” The indexed text still says the Department will announce the DV-2027 start date “as soon as practicable,” and the date selection results may become available through Entry Status Check. It also says the visa application period for people selected for DV-2027 remains October 1, 2026, through September 30, 2027.
A direct request to travel.state.gov, to dvprogram.state.gov, and to uscis.gov each returned HTTP 403 at 7:30 p.m. UTC. This check cannot see a page those sites refused to serve. If a new notice is on the live visas-news page and the search index lags, use the URL written in the court order.
The Federal Register API, queried at the same time for documents matching “Diversity Visa” published on or after October 20, 2026, returned a count of zero. A public-inspection search for “diversity visa” also returned a count of zero. Both queries are linked in the sources. The order requires dissemination through customary channels, including the Federal Register. Zero results means no such notice was in those API responses. Midnight EST had not arrived.
Has the Ninth Circuit stayed the order?
No stay order is on the docket page this check retrieved.
In No. 26-6943, the government filed a motion to stay on October 23. That night the court ordered a response by 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time on October 26. Red Eagle Law’s response is entry 13, entered at 4:38 p.m.
The item that is new since this site’s October 28 morning check is entry 16. The docket title is: “REPLY to Response to Motion to Stay Lower Court or Agency Proceedings, Order, or Judgment (DE 13) filed by Appellant Marco Rubio.” It was entered October 28, 2026, at 8:51 a.m. The free docket shows that title. The reply PDF was not available without a CourtListener login, so this article does not describe the reply’s arguments.
Entries 14 and 15, both October 27, are a status report marked defective for the wrong filing type, and correspondence the court entered to correct it. Nothing on the retrieved page is an order granting or denying the stay.
CourtListener’s page header on the first retrieval read “Oct. 29, 2026, 10:15 a.m.” The page does not label that clock’s time zone. A second retrieval at 7:30 p.m. UTC still ended at entry 16.
The district court already denied a stay on October 21. The written order says that “granting a stay would effectively cancel the congressionally mandated 2027 Diversity Visa Program.” That sentence decides the district-court motion. It does not decide the Ninth Circuit motion. Opening briefs on the appeal are due November 17, 2026. A brief date is not a stay.
What did the district court docket show?
No October 28 or October 29 filing was on the public copy this check could read.
PACER Monitor’s public page for No. 3:26-cv-04738, retrieved at 7:28 p.m. UTC, said “Docket last updated: 12 hours ago.” The newest entries it listed were from October 27: a minute order denying more time to answer as moot, because the answer was filed October 23, and an “ORDER of USCA” on the notice of appeal. The minute order does not move the registration dates. CourtListener’s district docket returned HTTP 401, so this article did not re-read that copy. A filing after the mirror’s refresh could be missing here.
What must the announcement include?
The October 21 amended injunction, Dkt. 31, says it supersedes the October 14 orders. By midnight EST on October 29, 2026, the Department must announce the registration period on the visas-news page. The announcement must identify the opening and closing dates, the website for electronic entries, and the requirements for participating. The Department must also send that information through its other customary public channels, including the Federal Register.
| What Dkt. 31 requires | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Announce opening date, closing date, entry website, and requirements | Midnight EST, October 29, 2026 |
| Open registration, and keep it open for thirty days | Midnight EST, November 1, 2026 |
| Last day to ask for more time to notify selectees | October 30, 2026 |
| Notify selectees, unless that date is extended | Midnight EST, December 3, 2026 |
| Process cases until the allocation is exhausted or the fiscal year ends | September 30, 2027 |
On October 29, 2026, the Eastern time zone was on daylight time, four hours behind UTC. The America/New_York time-zone data checked for this article stays on that offset until 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 1, 2026, then returns to standard time. The order says midnight EST. Midnight at the end of October 29 in the EST offset (UTC−5) is 5:00 a.m. UTC on October 30, which is 1:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on October 30. Midnight on the daylight-time clock, the end of October 29 as people in that zone could see it, is one hour earlier. This article does not know which instant the court meant.
These rows are court deadlines. They are not a statement that the entry form is open.
Entries, once the period opens, must meet 8 U.S.C. §§ 1153 and 1154(a)(1)(I) and 22 C.F.R. § 42.33, and any other applicable provisions. The order says the Department shall accept electronic entries during the thirty-day period under those rules.
What should you do before the deadline?
Use the notice, then the website it names. Do the preparation that does not depend on the clock.
-
Read the page the order names. Start at the visas-news URL written in Dkt. 31. A screenshot forwarded in a message is not that page.
-
Enter only on the website the notice names. Past DV instructions used the DS-5501 at dvprogram.state.gov. A direct request to that site returned HTTP 403 today, so this article does not describe the live page. The order requires the Department to name the entry website. Use that name when it is posted.
-
Submit one entry in your name. The DV-2026 instructions say the Department uses technology to detect multiple entries, and that more than one entry for a person disqualifies all entries for that person. Each spouse may submit one entry if each meets the eligibility rules. DV-2027 instructions are unpublished, so read the new notice before you file. Keep your own confirmation number and the confirmation screen. Those instructions warn that a facilitator who keeps the number can later demand money in exchange for it.
-
List the family members the DV-2026 instructions list, then read the new notice. Those instructions require a spouse, with a court-order exception for legal separation, and every living unmarried child under 21, and they require photos for the entrant, the spouse, and each child. They say omitting an eligible spouse or child can make the entry ineligible. Do not list a spouse who is already a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. A child in that status does not have to be listed. DV-2027 instructions are unpublished, so the new notice controls if the list changes.
-
Expect a fee conflict, and pay only the government. A final rule effective September 16, 2025 sets a $1 Diversity Visa lottery registration fee, collected through an authorized U.S. government payment portal at registration, before the registration is submitted and completed. The same schedule leaves the Diversity Visa application fee at $330 and says that fee would not be immediately reduced. The DV-2026 Federal Register notice, published October 1, 2024, says there is no fee charged to submit an electronic entry. The $1 rule is the later text. The fee guide walks through both documents. Pay the $1 only on the official portal after the notice is up.
-
Treat a December 3 notice as permission to apply. Dkt. 31 requires notice to selectees by midnight EST on December 3 unless the Department asks for more time by October 30. Processing then runs until the fiscal year 2027 allocation is exhausted or September 30, 2027, whichever comes first. The indexed November 5, 2025 notice gives selected DV-2027 applicants that same visa window, and that window has already started. Selection is not a visa.
What photo file should you have ready?
DV-2027 photo instructions are not in the records checked today. The last full set is the DV-2026 instructions: a color JPEG, in focus, exactly 600 by 600 pixels, 240 KB or smaller, taken within six months, on a plain white or off-white background, full face, both eyes open. Chin to crown must be 50 to 69 percent of the height (1 inch to 1 3/8 inches, or 22 mm to 35 mm). No eyeglasses or headphones. A daily religious head covering is allowed only with the full face visible and no shadow. The same instructions say a manipulated photo, a missed specification, or the same photo as a prior entry can make the entry ineligible, and that a driver’s-license copy is not acceptable. In a baby’s or toddler’s photo, no other person may appear, and the child should look at the camera with eyes open.
The problems those instructions tie to an ineligible entry are:
- The file is not a JPEG of exactly 600 by 600 pixels at 240 KB or less.
- The head, chin to crown, is outside 50 to 69 percent of the height.
- The photo is older than six months, out of focus, or not on a plain white or off-white background.
- The person wears eyeglasses, headphones, or a head covering that hides the face or casts a shadow.
- The photo was manipulated, reused from an earlier entry, or copied from a driver’s license or other official document.
- Another person appears in a baby’s or toddler’s photo.
Follow the DV-2027 notice if it chooses different numbers. The size, file size, and examples pages track the written rules. The tool on this site exports a 600 by 600 JPEG. dvlotteryphoto.com makes one such JPEG per order, with the background corrected and the file size checked, made to those written DV-2026 requirements. That is not State Department approval. It does not submit an entry. It is not the $1 registration fee. A finished photo file does not guarantee selection or a visa.
Which messages should you ignore?
The DV-2026 instructions warn that emails and websites try to obtain money or personal information, and that people may be asked to pay for forms and immigration information that the Department posts on travel.state.gov and on U.S. embassy and consulate sites. They say organizations or websites may charge fees for DV-related services, and that money sent to those non-government organizations is likely not returned. They also say personal information sent to those sites may be used for identity fraud. Reports go to econsumer.gov and the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center.
A site that accepts DV-2027 entries before the State Department posts the dates is not the government form. A payment for a photograph is a payment for a photograph. It is not an entry, and it is not selection.
This is general information from public records.
Questions
Are DV lottery 2027 dates posted?
Not in the records checked at 7:30 p.m. UTC on October 29, 2026. The indexed State Department notice was still the November 5, 2025 page, and the Federal Register API returned no Diversity Visa document published on or after October 20, 2026. A direct request to travel.state.gov returned HTTP 403.
Has the Ninth Circuit stayed the injunction?
No stay order was on Ninth Circuit docket 26-6943 in the CourtListener page retrieved October 29, 2026. The newest entry was the government’s October 28 reply to the stay motion. The reply’s text was not on the free docket.
When is the DV-2027 announcement deadline?
The amended injunction sets midnight EST on October 29, 2026. At 7:30 p.m. UTC that deadline had not passed. Eastern clocks were on daylight time. Midnight at the end of October 29 in the EST offset is 1:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on October 30.
Where will the official DV-2027 notice appear?
On the visas-news page named in the order, and through customary channels including the Federal Register. The notice must give the opening and closing dates, the entry website, and the participation requirements.
What DV photo should I prepare?
DV-2027 photo rules are unpublished. DV-2026 instructions require a 600 by 600 JPEG of 240 KB or less, taken within six months, with the head at 50 to 69 percent of the height and no eyeglasses. Use the new notice if it sets different numbers.
What does DV registration cost?
A rule effective September 16, 2025 sets a $1 registration fee on a U.S. government portal. The October 1, 2024 DV-2026 notice says there is no fee to submit an entry. The $1 rule is later. Pay only on the official site.
What this check could not confirm
The live HTML of travel.state.gov, dvprogram.state.gov, and uscis.gov. Each request returned HTTP 403. The text of the October 28 reply. CourtListener’s district docket, which returned HTTP 401. Any district filing that arrived after PACER Monitor’s “12 hours ago” refresh. Whether the court used EST as a precise UTC offset or as a label for the Eastern clock. DV-2027 photo measurements, which are unpublished.
Sources
Checked October 29, 2026, unless the line gives a different time.
- Amended injunction, Dkt. 31, filed October 21, 2026. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.casd.867598/gov.uscourts.casd.867598.31.0.pdf
- Order denying a stay, Dkt. 32, filed October 21, 2026. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.casd.867598/gov.uscourts.casd.867598.32.0.pdf
- Ninth Circuit No. 26-6943. Page header “Oct. 29, 2026, 10:15 a.m.”; a later retrieval at 7:30 p.m. UTC still ended at entry 16. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74994271/red-eagle-law-lc-v-rubio/
- PACER Monitor public docket for No. 3:26-cv-04738, retrieved at 7:28 p.m. UTC. https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/66332735/Red_Eagle_Law,_LC_v_Rubio
- Indexed State Department notice, last updated November 5, 2025, as a web search returned it on October 29, 2026. Direct request: HTTP 403 at 7:30 p.m. UTC. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/changes-to-2027-dv-program-entry-period.html
- Federal Register API, “Diversity Visa” published on or after October 20, 2026, count zero, queried at 7:30 p.m. UTC. https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/documents.json?conditions%5Bterm%5D=%22Diversity%20Visa%22&conditions%5Bpublication_date%5D%5Bgte%5D=2026-10-20
- Federal Register public-inspection API, “diversity visa,” count zero, same time. https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/public-inspection-documents.json?conditions%5Bterm%5D=%22diversity%20visa%22
- Fee rule, effective September 16, 2025, document 2025-17851. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/09/16/2025-17851/schedule-of-fees-for-consular-services-department-of-state-and-overseas-embassies-and
- DV-2026 instructions notice, October 1, 2024, document 2024-22482. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/10/01/2024-22482/diversity-visa-instructions-for-dv-2026
- DV-2026 plain-language instructions PDF. https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Diversity-Visa/DV-Instructions-Translations/DV-2026-Instructions-Translations/DV%202026%20Plain%20Language%20Instructions%20and%20FAQs.pdf
DV Lottery Guide is an independent, unofficial guide and is not affiliated with the U.S. government. A photo made to the written DV requirements is not approved by the State Department. Entering the lottery does not guarantee selection or a visa.