Judge Weighs Reopening of 2027 Green Card Lottery
Summary
A federal judge is deciding whether the U.S. government must still hold the 2027 Diversity Visa (green card) lottery after the registration period was missed. The Trump administration says the deadline has passed and it is not possible to reopen the lottery for fiscal year 2027, but the immigration law firm Red Eagle Law is suing to make the government run the lottery as required by law.Key Facts
- The Diversity Visa Program offers up to 55,000 green cards each year to people from countries with low immigration to the U.S.
- Congress created the program in 1990 and requires a registration period of at least 30 days each year.
- The State Department delayed announcing the registration start date for DV-2027 and it never opened before the fiscal year 2026 ended on September 30, 2026.
- Red Eagle Law sued the State Department and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in August 2026, asking the court to force the government to open the DV-2027 lottery registration.
- The government says it cannot hold the 2027 lottery registration now because the required 30-day registration period must happen before the fiscal year the visas are issued, which would be fiscal year 2026 for DV-2027.
- The judge, Jinsook Ohta, is expected to decide by October 14, 2026, whether the lottery must be reopened or if the 2027 program will be skipped.
- The firm argues the government has a legal duty to run the lottery even after the deadline and that failing to do so breaks the Administrative Procedure Act.
- The government states that complying with the request now is impossible due to strict statutory deadlines.
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