Answer in brief
As of 30 October 2026 nobody can enter the green card lottery 2027: the State Department never opened registration. A San Diego judge ordered it open by 1 November, but on 29 October the Ninth Circuit stayed that order while the government appeals. Rely only on dvprogram.state.gov and travel.state.gov.
What the green card lottery is and who may enter
The green card lottery is the popular name of the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, run by the US State Department. Newsweek describes it as making up to 55,000 visas available each year to people from countries with historically low immigration to the United States. People who search for the green card lottery 2027 are asking about the draw for fiscal year 2027, which began on 1 October 2026. Being picked is not the same as holding a card: a selected entrant still goes through visa processing, with fees paid at a later, consular stage.
The most recent full set of instructions in the Federal Register is the notice for DV-2026, published on 1 October 2024. It says the 55,000 visas are divided among six regions, with no single country receiving more than seven percent. It asks for at least a high school education or its equivalent, or two years of qualifying work in the past five years, and it allows one entry per person. Selectees learn the result only through the Entrant Status Check, not by letter or email. These are the DV-2026 rules; DV-2027 instructions have not been published.
From the notice of November 2025 to a draw without registration
The Federal Register published a rule on 16 September 2025 that added a one-dollar registration fee to the lottery. On 5 November 2025 the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) summarised a State Department announcement of upcoming changes to the DV entry process, with the start of DV-2027 registration to be announced later. Newsweek quotes the department as promising a date “as soon as practicable”. On 23 December 2025, according to Berry Appleman & Leiden, the department announced that it had paused all visa issuances to diversity visa applicants.
Fragomen, a law firm, writes that the December pause also covered the FY 2027 program and visa processing under the 2026 program. Several groups went to court. In one case, Medani v. Trump, filed on 24 June 2026 in the Northern District of California, Fragomen reports that issuance resumed to comply with a court order. Berry Appleman & Leiden says the department stated on 28 August 2026 that the pause was no longer in effect, and that 2026 visas had to be issued by 30 September.
Registration for DV-2027 had still not opened when fiscal year 2027 started on 1 October 2026, Newsweek reports. A check of the Federal Register on 30 October finds no notice titled “Diversity Visa Instructions for DV-2027”. The notices for DV-2026 and DV-2025 appeared on 1 October 2024 and 3 October 2023. This year the entry period, the form and the results date are all still unset.
Red Eagle Law v. Rubio: who sued and what the judge found
Red Eagle Law, L.C., a California immigration firm that represents diversity visa selectees, sued Secretary of State Marco Rubio in August 2026, Bloomberg Law reports. Fragomen gives the filing date as 19 August and the docket number as 3:26-cv-04738 in the US District Court for the Southern District of California. The firm argued that the suspension of the DV-2027 program was arbitrary and capricious. That is the plaintiff’s claim, and the government contested it.
On 14 October 2026 Judge Jinsook Ohta granted a preliminary injunction. According to Newsweek, she found that the delay amounted to an effective cancellation of the lottery, and that the department had not explained why a temporary postponement became an indefinite suspension. She concluded that the firm was likely to succeed and that it would lose clients and revenue that a lawsuit could not recover.
Fragomen lists what the injunction required. By midnight Eastern time on 29 October the department had to publish the registration dates, the registration website and the participation requirements. By midnight on 1 November it had to open registration for 30 days, and by 3 December it had to notify selected entrants. Fragomen adds that a later order extended some of the deadlines.
The Ninth Circuit stay of 29 October and what it left in place
On 19 October 2026 the government filed a notice of appeal and a separate motion asking Judge Ohta to stay the injunction while the appeal went ahead, Newsweek reports. On 22 October a department spokesman declined to comment, citing pending litigation. Bloomberg Law gives the appeals case as No. 26-6943 in the Ninth Circuit and says the order granting the stay is dated 29 October 2026, the day the announcement had been due.
A panel of Judges M. Margaret McKeown, N. Randy Smith and Holly A. Thomas granted the emergency stay. The unsigned opinion says the court does “not endorse the Department’s failure to open the lottery registration period”, yet it found that Red Eagle had not shown a likelihood of success, because the firm is not within the zone of interests of the statute and has no cause of action. Judge Smith added a concurrence arguing that the firm also lacks Article III standing, Bloomberg Law reports.
A stay is not a verdict. Newsweek stresses that it pauses the lower court’s order while the appeal continues and does not decide the appeal; NepYork adds that the clerk was directed to set a briefing schedule and that no operative order now requires registration to open on 1 November. NepYork also quotes Curtis Morrison of Red Eagle Law saying the firm will pursue further litigation with a different plaintiff.
The $1 fee and the passport rule in the Federal Register
The fee rule appeared in the Federal Register on 16 September 2025, at 90 FR 44524, and took effect the same day. Its abstract says it adds a $1 electronic registration fee so that all registrants, rather than only the few who are selected, help cover the cost of running the lottery, and it notes that the fee is collected at registration. Entry had been free under the DV-2026 notice.
The passport rule was published on 11 March 2026, at 91 FR 11891, and takes effect on 10 April 2026 for the DV-2027 program. The State Department says it wants to identify duplicate entries and cites more than 2.5 million disqualified duplicates in fiscal year 2025, against 760,079 in fiscal year 2022 when a similar requirement applied. An entrant must give the number of a valid, unexpired passport and upload a scan of its biographic and signature page as a JPEG of no more than 5 MB. The rule exempts stateless petitioners and a few other narrow groups; whether you belong to one is a question for a specialist.
What a would-be entrant can and cannot do on 30 October
Tengrinews reports as of 30 October that registration has not opened and that no new date has been announced. Because registration has not opened, there is no entry form to fill in, and the court order that would have forced it open by 1 November is on hold. What a reader can do is limited to preparation: find out whether your passport is valid and unexpired, since the rule published for DV-2027 asks for its number and a scan.
On eligibility, the DV-2026 notice lists countries whose natives could not enter, among them Brazil, Canada, India, Mexico and the Philippines. Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Spain and France were not on that list. The list is set again for each year, so it cannot be assumed to carry over to DV-2027, and no instructions have been published yet. The same goes for DV-2028: the Federal Register shows no notice with dates for it, and a forecast from a blog is not an announcement.
How to recognise a fake green card lottery offer
The DV-2026 notice in the Federal Register says that the E-DV entry form and the Entrant Status Check are at dvprogram.state.gov. It adds that only internet sites ending in the .gov suffix are official US government websites. The same notice warns against third-party visa consultants and websites that charge fees for DV services, and says the department never asks entrants to send money by mail.
Registration is closed, according to the reports above, so a message that offers to enter you in the green card lottery 2027 today, or to guarantee a selection for a payment, does not describe the official program. The only fee in the published rule is the $1 collected at registration. Check the address of every page before typing a passport number into it. The department does not notify winners by email, so a letter or message saying you won is a warning sign, not good news.
Dates to watch and the official pages for updates
Three things can change the picture. The first is an announcement from the State Department with registration dates, which would appear on dvprogram.state.gov and travel.state.gov. The second is the appeal in Red Eagle Law v. Rubio, where the briefing schedule will show how long the stay may last. The third is new litigation by Red Eagle Law.
None of this is legal advice. A reader whose plans depend on the draw should rely on the two official addresses, treat law-firm summaries and news reports as secondary, and put questions about a personal situation to an accredited immigration attorney. Dates in court cases move often, so a date given here is correct as of 30 October 2026 and nothing more.
Practical checklist
- Bookmark dvprogram.state.gov and travel.state.gov and check them yourself, not through a forwarded message.
- Check whether your passport is valid and unexpired, since the DV-2027 rule asks for its number and a JPEG scan.
- Ignore anyone who offers to enter you now or to guarantee a selection for money.
- Note the appeal, No. 26-6943 in the Ninth Circuit, and read its briefing schedule when it appears.
- Take questions about your own eligibility to an accredited immigration attorney.
Questions and answers
Is registration for the green card lottery 2027 open now?
No. Tengrinews reported on 30 October 2026 that registration had not opened and no new date had been announced. A court ordered it open by 1 November, but the Ninth Circuit stayed that order on 29 October.
Does the Ninth Circuit stay of 29 October cancel the lottery?
Neither. The stay only suspends the district court’s injunction while the government’s appeal is heard. The panel said it did not endorse the failure to open registration, but it did not order the lottery to proceed.
Do I have to pay to enter the diversity visa lottery?
The Federal Register rule of 16 September 2025 sets a $1 electronic registration fee collected at registration. Entry was free under the DV-2026 notice. The notice also warns against sites that charge fees for DV services.
Do residents of Russia, Ukraine or Kazakhstan qualify?
None of those countries was on the ineligible list in the DV-2026 notice, nor were Belarus, Spain or France. The list is reissued each cycle, so wait for the DV-2027 instructions and ask a specialist about your case.
Where will the State Department publish any news about a new date?
On its own sites: dvprogram.state.gov and travel.state.gov. The Federal Register has also carried the lottery’s instructions in earlier years. Court dates appear on the docket of the Ninth Circuit, No. 26-6943.