The Green Card Lottery 2027 registration process has received a court-ordered timeline after a US federal judge directed the State Department to open entry for the Diversity Visa program, which gives eligible applicants from countries with historically low levels of immigration to the United States a chance to apply for permanent residency.
US District Judge Jinsook Ohta issued a preliminary injunction on October 14, 2026, in the Southern District of California in Red Eagle Law, L.C. v. Rubio. The original order required registration to begin by October 18 and remain open for 30 days, with selected entrants due to be notified by November 19.
Those deadlines were subsequently revised. According to an announcement from Red Eagle Law, the judge approved a joint request to extend the registration and notification deadlines by two weeks, moving the registration-opening deadline to November 1 and the selection-notification deadline to December 3.
The ruling requires the State Department to publish the registration dates, official entry website and participation requirements through its official channels. It also directs the department to process selected applicants under the program’s usual procedures and applicable law until the available diversity visas for the fiscal year have been used or September 30, 2027, whichever comes first.
The court’s decision is significant for prospective applicants who have been waiting for the registration schedule. However, an order requiring the government to open the program by a specified date does not mean the entry period is already open. Applicants should check the State Department’s official Diversity Visa website for confirmed dates and instructions before submitting an entry.
The State Department had previously announced that changes to the entry process had delayed the publication of the registration schedule for the 2027 program. The court order establishes a deadline for moving the process forward, but applicants still need to follow the official instructions once registration opens.
The Diversity Visa program is commonly known as the green card lottery because eligible entrants are selected through a random process. Selection does not guarantee a green card. Those selected must still meet the program’s eligibility requirements and complete the required application and screening procedures before a diversity visa can be issued.
The development comes amid other changes affecting people seeking permanent residence in the United States. In a separate policy development reported earlier by Qazinform, US Citizenship and Immigration Services issued guidance requiring most foreign nationals covered by the policy to pursue permanent residence through consular processing outside the country. That issue is separate from the Diversity Visa registration order and should not be confused with the lottery’s entry requirements.
For people planning to enter the 2027 lottery, the immediate priority is to monitor official government announcements, confirm eligibility and use the designated government website when the entry period begins. The revised court-ordered deadline points to November 1, 2026, for registration to open, while the selection-notification deadline has been moved to December 3.
