Facts checked at 10:10 p.m. Pacific Time, October 24, 2026. This is a developing story. We will update it when the State Department or the courts act.
Registration is not open. Follow the DV-2027 registration status page, and enter only at dvprogram.state.gov after the State Department posts dates on travel.state.gov.
Key facts
- Court order: In Red Eagle Law, L.C. v. Rubio (S.D. Cal. No. 3:26-cv-04738), Judge Jinsook Ohta ordered the State Department to reopen the 2027 Diversity Visa Program, beginning with lottery registration.
- Court-ordered deadlines (all midnight EST): announce registration dates on travel.state.gov by October 29, 2026; open registration by November 1, 2026 for 30 days; notify selectees by December 3, 2026.
- Registration is not open yet. The State Department has not posted DV-2027 entry dates. The November 5, 2025 notice on travel.state.gov is still the entry-period announcement, and dvprogram.state.gov says entries are not being accepted.
- Appeal pending: The government has appealed (Ninth Circuit No. 26-6943) and asked for an emergency stay. On October 23 the Ninth Circuit ordered a response by 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time on Monday, October 26. CourtListener’s docket, which it lists as last updated October 24, 2026, at 10:43 a.m., shows no stay.
- Bill to end the lottery: H.R. 10896, introduced October 22, 2026 by Rep. Keith Self (R-TX). It has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee. Congress.gov lists no cosponsors, and its text page states that as of October 25, 2026, the text has not been received.
- Hard deadline: Every DV-2027 visa must be issued by September 30, 2027. Unused visas do not carry over.
Key dates
These are the dates in the court record. They are not a State Department announcement that registration is open.
- October 26, 2026, 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Response to the Ninth Circuit stay motion is due. The docket checked on the evening of October 24 showed no stay.
- October 29, 2026, midnight EST. Deadline for the State Department to announce registration dates, if the order stands.
- October 30, 2026. Last day, under the amended injunction, for the Department to ask for more time to notify selectees.
- November 1, 2026, midnight EST. Deadline to open registration, for 30 days.
- December 3, 2026, midnight EST. Deadline to notify selectees. The Department may ask by October 30 for more time.
- September 30, 2027. Last day any DV-2027 visa can be issued. Unused visas do not carry over.
What happened
Registration never opened. The DV lottery normally takes entries in October and November, about a year before the visa year starts. On November 5, 2025, the State Department said it was “implementing certain changes” to the DV-2027 entry period and would announce the start date “as soon as practicable.” It also said the DV-2027 visa application period would remain October 1, 2026, to September 30, 2027. No dates followed. This site’s October 2025 article, “DV Lottery 2027: What happened to it? Is it cancelled?”, described that delay. That account is the history of the postponement. This page is the court-order update.
The program changed in the meantime. Two official rules apply to future entries. Longer explainers on this site cover the $1 registration fee and the passport requirement:
- A $1 electronic registration fee, effective September 16, 2025 (Federal Register final rule).
- A rule effective April 10, 2026 that requires entrants to give valid, unexpired passport information and upload a scan of the passport’s biographic and signature page, unless exempt.
Visa issuance was paused, then restored. In December 2025, after the Brown University shooting and the killing of an MIT professor, which officials linked to a man who had entered the U.S. through the DV program, the State Department paused all DV issuance. On August 31, 2026, it announced that, as of August 28 and under a court order in Medani et al. v. Trump et al., that pause “is no longer in effect.” In the Red Eagle case, the government described the issuance pause as separate from the registration delay.
The lawsuit. On August 19, 2026, Red Eagle Law, an immigration law firm that represents DV applicants, sued Secretary of State Marco Rubio under the Administrative Procedure Act. The court denied an emergency restraining order on September 3 and heard the preliminary injunction motion on September 24.
The ruling. On October 14, Judge Ohta granted a preliminary injunction from the bench. Her written order of October 19 found that the State Department had, “almost a year later,” done nothing to open registration, effectively cancelling the program, and had “provided no reason” for that. The court held this was likely arbitrary and capricious. It ordered the Department to “reopen the 2027 Diversity Visa Program, beginning with the lottery registration period.”
The government pushed back. The government appealed on October 19 and asked the district court to stay its order. It argued that it could not test its systems or screen out duplicate and fraudulent entries in time. On October 21, the court denied the stay. It noted that the government had agreed to the December 3 date, and it found that a stay “would effectively cancel” DV-2027 because every step must be finished by September 30, 2027. The same day, the court issued an amended injunction. That order lets the Department ask by October 30 for more time to notify selectees. On October 23, the government asked the Ninth Circuit for an emergency stay and filed its answer to the complaint in the district court.
The bill. On October 22, Rep. Keith Self introduced H.R. 10896, “To terminate the diversity immigrant visa program.” In a press release, he said: “We cannot allow activist judges to dictate our immigration policy.” Congress.gov lists no cosponsors, and the bill text has not been received.
Timeline
| Date | Event | Source type |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 16, 2025 | $1 DV registration fee takes effect | Official (Federal Register) |
| Nov 5, 2025 | State postpones DV-2027 entry period, no dates given | Official (State Dept.) |
| Dec 2025 | State pauses all DV issuance | Official (State Dept.) |
| Apr 10, 2026 | Passport-information rule for DV entries takes effect | Official (Federal Register) |
| Aug 19, 2026 | Red Eagle Law files suit in S.D. Cal. | Court record |
| Aug 28, 2026 | Issuance pause lifted under Medani court order | Official (State Dept.) |
| Oct 1, 2026 | Fiscal year 2027 begins with no DV-2027 lottery held | Court record |
| Oct 14, 2026 | Preliminary injunction granted; deadlines moved by agreement | Court record |
| Oct 19, 2026 | Written opinion; government appeals and seeks a stay | Court record |
| Oct 21, 2026 | Stay denied; amended injunction issued | Court record |
| Oct 22, 2026 | H.R. 10896 introduced | Official (Congress) |
| Oct 23, 2026 | Government answers the complaint; emergency stay motion filed at the Ninth Circuit | Court record |
| Oct 26, 2026 | Response to the stay motion due by 5:00 p.m. PT | Court record |
| Oct 29, 2026 | Deadline for State to announce registration dates | Court order |
| Nov 1, 2026 | Deadline to open 30-day registration | Court order |
| Dec 3, 2026 | Deadline to notify selectees (extension possible) | Court order |
| Sep 30, 2027 | Last day any DV-2027 visa can be issued | Law and regulation |
What this means for you
Nothing to submit yet. Registration is not open. The only legitimate place to enter is the official E-DV website, dvprogram.state.gov, once the State Department announces dates. Anyone claiming to accept DV-2027 entries now is not the U.S. government. The DV-2027 registration status page is the short version of where that notice stands.
Watch two dates. If no appeals court intervenes, the State Department must post dates by October 29 and open entries by November 1. If the Ninth Circuit grants a stay, the schedule could stop, and the district court has said a stay would effectively end DV-2027.
Expect a short window. The order calls for a 30-day registration period. The usual rules still apply: one entry per person, since more than one disqualifies all of your entries; keep your confirmation number; and follow the official instructions when they are published. Under the 2025 and 2026 rules, expect a $1 registration fee and a passport requirement unless you are exempt. Check the official DV-2027 instructions before you enter, because the government has not yet published them.
Being selected is not a visa. In recent years the State Department has selected about 100,000 people for up to 55,000 visas. Selectees must still apply, qualify, and receive a visa or adjust status by September 30, 2027. With a compressed schedule, timing will be tight.
The bill does not change anything today. H.R. 10896 is a newly introduced bill sitting in committee. It would have to pass both the House and Senate and be signed into law. Similar bills have been introduced before without becoming law, including H.R. 1241 (2025) and S. 859 (2021). We cannot say whether H.R. 10896 would affect people already selected until its text is released.
Get advice for your own situation. This article is general information, not legal advice. If you have a pending DV case or questions about your eligibility, consult a qualified immigration attorney.
Prepare a photo while you wait
DV-2027 entry instructions are not published, so they do not yet include a photo rule for this year. Until they do, the photo pages on this site follow the DV-2026 instructions: a 600×600 JPEG, 240 KB or smaller, with no eyeglasses.
You can read the size, file size, and examples pages, or make a DV photo. The photo tool does not submit an entry. It is separate from the $1 registration fee on dvprogram.state.gov.
Questions
Is DV-2027 registration open?
No. The State Department has not posted DV-2027 entry dates. The November 5, 2025 notice on travel.state.gov is still the entry-period announcement, and dvprogram.state.gov says entries are not being accepted.
When does the court order say registration must open?
If no appeals court intervenes, the State Department must announce registration dates on travel.state.gov by October 29, 2026, and open registration by November 1, 2026, for 30 days. It must notify selectees by December 3, 2026. Those deadlines are midnight EST. The Department may ask by October 30, 2026, for more time to notify selectees.
Does H.R. 10896 end the diversity visa lottery?
No. H.R. 10896 was introduced on October 22, 2026, by Rep. Keith Self and referred to the House Judiciary Committee. Congress.gov lists no cosponsors, and as of October 25, 2026, the text has not been received. It would have to pass the House and the Senate and be signed into law.
Where should I submit a DV-2027 entry?
Only on the official E-DV website, dvprogram.state.gov, after the State Department announces dates. Anyone claiming to accept DV-2027 entries now is not the U.S. government.
What is the last day a DV-2027 visa can be issued?
Every DV-2027 visa must be issued by September 30, 2027. Unused visas do not carry over.
What we do not know yet
- Whether the Ninth Circuit will stay the injunction. A response is due by 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time on October 26, and no stay appears on the docket checked the evening of October 24.
- Whether the State Department will meet the October 29 and November 1 deadlines, or ask by October 30 for more time to notify selectees.
- The exact DV-2027 entry rules, which have not yet been published.
- The text and scope of H.R. 10896.
Sources
Facts in the news sections were checked the evening of October 24, 2026 (Pacific Time). CourtListener listed both dockets as last updated October 24, 2026, at 10:43 a.m. Congress.gov’s text page is dated October 25, 2026. How this site labels official and reported material is in the editorial policy.
- Order Granting Motion for Preliminary Injunction (written opinion), Red Eagle Law v. Rubio, Dkt. 24, Oct. 19, 2026 (court record). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-casd-3_26-cv-04738/pdf/USCOURTS-casd-3_26-cv-04738-0.pdf
- Amended Order Granting Preliminary Injunction, Dkt. 31, Oct. 21, 2026 (court record). https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.casd.867598/gov.uscourts.casd.867598.31.0.pdf
- Order Denying Motion to Stay, Dkt. 32, Oct. 21, 2026 (court record). https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.casd.867598/gov.uscourts.casd.867598.32.0.pdf
- District court docket, S.D. Cal. 3:26-cv-04738 (CourtListener). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74670403/red-eagle-law-lc-v-rubio/
- Ninth Circuit docket, No. 26-6943 (CourtListener). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74994271/red-eagle-law-lc-v-rubio/
- U.S. Department of State, “Changes to Entry Period for 2027 DV Program,” Nov. 5, 2025. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/changes-to-2027-dv-program-entry-period.html
- U.S. Department of State, “Diversity Visa Issuance Updated Guidance,” Aug. 31, 2026. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/diversity-visa-issuance-updated-guidance.html
- U.S. Department of State, “Diversity Visa Issuance Updated Guidance,” Dec. 23, 2025 (archived copy). https://iptp-production.s3.amazonaws.com/media/documents/2025.12.23_DOS_-_Diversity_Visa_Issuance_Updated_Guidance.pdf
- Federal Register, $1 DV registration fee final rule, Sept. 16, 2025. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/09/16/2025-17851/schedule-of-fees-for-consular-services-department-of-state-and-overseas-embassies-and
- Federal Register, “Visas: Enhancing Vetting and Combatting Fraud in the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program,” Mar. 11, 2026. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/03/11/2026-04737/visas-enhancing-vetting-and-combatting-fraud-in-the-diversity-immigrant-visa-program
- H.R. 10896, 119th Congress, bill status (Congress.gov / GovInfo). https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/10896
- Rep. Keith Self press release, Oct. 22, 2026 (via Capitol Releases). https://capitolreleases.com/releases/b400c240-46ba-4e53-bfc3-7433e92244b7
- H.R. 1241 (119th) and S. 859 (117th) bill status (GovInfo). https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/119/hr/BILLSTATUS-119hr1241.xml and https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/117/s/BILLSTATUS-117s859.xml
- CNN, “Why the US is targeting the diversity visa lottery and what it means for applicants,” Dec. 19, 2025 (news report). https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/19/politics/diversity-visa-lottery-green-card-trump-brown-suspect
- U.S. Department of State, Diversity Visa Program entry page. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/diversity-visa-program-entry.html
- Electronic Diversity Visa entry site. https://dvprogram.state.gov/
- U.S. Department of State, DV-2026 plain-language instructions (photo rules used on this site until DV-2027 instructions are published). 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. Entering the DV lottery does not guarantee selection or a visa.