- Judge Jinsook Ohta ordered the State Department to open registration by November first, twenty twenty-six.
- The department must publish the dates, official entry website, and eligibility rules by October twenty-ninth.
- Registration must remain open at least thirty days, and selected entrants must be notified by December third.
Judge Jinsook Ohta ordered the State Department to open the DV-2027 Diversity Visa lottery by November 1, 2026, under a revised schedule. The order does not set Thursday as the opening date.
The case, Red Eagle Law, L.C. v. Rubio, No. 3:26-cv-04738-JO-VET, is before Ohta in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. The department had not opened registration on its usual schedule.
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An earlier version of the order called for an announcement by October 15 and an opening by October 18. The parties later jointly sought more time, and the court extended the schedule.
The first new deadline is October 29. By then, the department must publish the registration period, the official entry website and the eligibility requirements.
The revised order gives the department a sequence of deadlines
Registration must begin by November 1 and stay open for at least 30 days. The department must notify selected entrants by December 3, 2026.
The injunction also requires the government to accept eligible entries, run the selection and process selected applicants through September 30, 2027, or until it uses the statutory allocation. Judge Ohta kept authority to oversee whether the government follows the order.
The injunction preserves access to as many as 55,000 diversity immigrant visas. It does not promise a visa to everyone who enters, or even to everyone selected.
A lottery entry still does not secure a visa
Selected applicants must meet the program’s education or qualifying-work-experience rules and the country-of-chargeability requirements. They also must satisfy admissibility and documentation standards, pass security screening and receive a visa number within the applicable limits.
The court characterized the failure to open registration as unlawful agency inaction, describing it as “arbitrary and capricious” and a de facto cancellation of the program. The injunction orders the department to operate the entry process, but selection remains only one part of the visa process.
Applicants will need the official portal and a completed process by September
Once the department publishes its notice, entrants should use its official instructions and electronic portal. Entries must be submitted online; paper entries are not accepted.
Registration is generally free. Be wary of websites or agents that demand payment while claiming they can guarantee selection.
The delayed start leaves less time for selection, immigrant-visa processing, background checks, interviews and issuance before September 30, 2027, the end of fiscal year 2027. A selected entrant may not receive a visa if processing misses that deadline or the annual allocation runs out.
This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Consult a qualified immigration attorney about your specific case.
