Appeals Court Keeps the 2027 Diversity Visa Lottery on Ice

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The 2027 diversity visa lottery will stay closed for now. On Thursday, October 29, 2026, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals paused a lower-court order that would have forced the State Department to open registration. The injunction had also required the agency to implement the program on a set timeline. The ruling came on the day the department had to announce its registration period, and days before the 55,000-visa lottery was due to open. Here our EB-1A consultants have dived into the current state of the diversity visa lottery.

What the Ninth Circuit did

The State Department appealed quickly, and the court’s emergency stay means the FY 2027 program can stay halted while litigation continues. The decision does not resolve the case. It pauses the duty to run the program while the case proceeds.

A three-judge panel of Judges McKeown, N. Randy Smith and H.A. Thomas issued the order. It rests on a narrow procedural question, not on whether the shutdown was lawful. The court found the plaintiff, Red Eagle Law, unlikely to win because its economic interests are not protected by the statute governing the lottery.

The court was careful about what it was not saying. The panel wrote in a per curiam opinion: “We do not endorse the Department’s failure to open the lottery registration period.” It also said the agency was “effectively canceling” the program by leaving registration unopened.

How the Program got here

The diversity lottery awards visas to people from countries with low U.S. immigration rates. The Trump administration suspended it in December 2025, after a Portuguese national who entered through the program was suspected of killing several people in shootings in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Red Eagle Law sued Secretary of State Marco Rubio on August 19, 2026. It argued that the failure to set a registration period was “arbitrary, capricious, and not in accordance with law.” The firm said it had suffered economic harm because much of its practice involves diversity visa applicants and selectees. On September 3, Judge Jinsook Ohta denied its request for a temporary restraining order without prejudice.

The government argued that the relevant deadline had passed, since registration did not open before fiscal year 2026 ended on September 30. A government lawyer also argued the firm had “no federally protected right to bill clients” under the immigration statute.

The District Court’s order

On October 14, Judge Ohta granted a preliminary injunction in Red Eagle Law, L.C. v. Rubio. It required the department to publish registration details by October 29 and open registration by November 1 for 30 days. It also required notice to selected applicants by December 3 and normal processing of any resulting visa applications. The judge found the firm would lose clients and revenue if the program stayed suspended, and could not recover those losses through its lawsuit. The government appealed on October 20.

The Court’s reasoning

The panel relied on the “zone of interests” test. Under the Administrative Procedure Act, a plaintiff must fall within the class of interests the statute protects. The panel found a law firm’s interest in representing future selectees was “not more than marginally related” to the program’s purpose. The court distinguished a case in which nonprofits fell within the asylum statute’s zone of interests. Congress had expressly contemplated legal services in the asylum provisions but included no similar language for diversity visas.

Judge Smith wrote separately to say the firm also lacks Article III standing. He traced a long chain of third-party choices that would have to occur before the firm lost any revenue. Someone must enter, be selected, apply, pass an interview and then hire the firm. The panel warned that accepting the theory would let lawyers “roam the country in search of governmental wrongdoing.”

What the Ruling does not do

The order does not abolish the Diversity Visa program. It also does not say the State Department acted lawfully. If the appeal later succeeds on the plaintiff-identity ground, the case could end without any court deciding whether the December 2025 pause was lawful. That would leave the program’s fate with the executive branch.

The practical result is that the November 1 opening will not happen. No registration start date has been confirmed. One immigration site described the lottery as suspended until the Ninth Circuit issues a further ruling. The State Department announced another suspension of diversity visa issuance on August 31, 2026, after a court order had lifted the earlier pause.

What Applicants should watch

Time is the central pressure. The statutory window for issuing FY 2027 visas closes on September 30, 2027. Every week of delay leaves less time for selection, processing and interviews.

Entries will also face new requirements whenever registration opens. Applicants must upload a valid passport scan and pay a non-waivable $1 fee. Anyone planning to enter should check that their passport is current.

The next signals will be the appeal’s briefing schedule and any voluntary move by the State Department. A different plaintiff, such as a prospective entrant, might also fare better than a law firm.

At GCEB1, our EB-1A experts regularly publish detailed guidance and analysis on the US immigration landscape. Get in touch with us if you are looking for personalized mentorship into merit based immigration pathways in the US.