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The Diversity Green Card Lottery in Limbo As The 2027 Registration Window Approaches
Through the last three decades, the last week of September has meant one thing for millions of hopeful immigrants worldwide: the countdown to the Diversity Visa Lottery's annual registration window. The lottery traditionally opens in early October. This year, that countdown has stalled indefinitely. According to Courthouse News Service, the State Department announced last year that the start date for the 2027 diversity visa lottery would come at "some later date." Nearly a year later, no date has been announced, and the fiscal year deadline of September 30 is now bearing down fast.
Here, our EB-1A consultants have discussed in detail the status of the diversity green card lottery as of now and what to expect about lifting of the pause.
How the Pause began to take shape
The Diversity Visa program, created by the Immigration Act of 1990, randomly selects up to 55,000 applicants annually from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. The lottery offers the selected ones a path to a green card. But in December 2025, the program was thrown into crisis after a former DV recipient, Portuguese national Claudio Neves Valente, was identified as the suspect in fatal shootings at Brown University and the killing of an MIT professor.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the pause on social media, writing that Valente "should never have been allowed in our country" and directing USCIS to halt the program "to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program," according to CBS News.
A State Department spokesperson told CNN that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had "indefinitely paused the issuance of diversity visas until we can be sure we know exactly who we are letting into our country."
However, what often remains overlooked, is that the registration freeze actually predates the shooting. As one legal analysis noted, the DV-2027 lottery had already failed to open on schedule back in October 2025, months before the Brown and MIT attacks. In other words, it can be argued that the shooting supplied a public justification for a slowdown that was already quietly underway.
The courtroom battle over the diversity lottery
Red Eagle Law, an immigration firm, filed a lawsuit last month against Secretary Rubio in federal court. They sought to compel the administration to open registration before the fiscal year closes. Firm founder Curtis Morrison has accused the administration of "gaslighting" his firm into believing the program remained on track until the last possible moment, according to Courthouse News. Moreover, they added that the delay has damaged both his clients and his business.
U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta denied Red Eagle Law's request for a temporary restraining order but agreed to weigh a preliminary injunction at a hearing this week. There is a chance that this decision could determine whether a 2027 lottery happens at all. Ohta has reportedly expressed some skepticism about whether the court can act this late in the process.
Former Connecticut congressman Bruce Morrison, a key architect of the 1990 law that created the program, was blunt in his assessment. "This is not a mistake. This is an example of thumbing your nose at the law," he told Courthouse News, adding that "the debate is not whether you like diversity or whether a diversity visa immigrant has done something bad. The debate is if you want to change the law, change the constitutional structure."
The human toll of the uncertainty
Meanwhile, many applicants remain caught in the legal limbo. Kacper Trela, a Polish-born IT professional who has lived in Scotland for 15 years and hoped to relocate to Miami, is one of them. He told Courthouse News he found the situation "a little disappointing and upsetting," and added that "the criteria is very strict. It's not a free-for-all."
Likewise, Daniel Butterworth, a British Army veteran hoping to work in the U.S. defense industry, said he and his wife (who is a forensic science graduate) have skills "your country would love to have." Assil Lounissi, a 24-year-old German studies graduate student and Red Crescent volunteer in Algeria, wrote in an email that "it is not fair when people who are waiting for the diversity visa program do not have a clear registration date."
What diversity visa aspirants should watch out for
Legal uncertainty like this tends to attract opportunists, and the Diversity Visa program has a long, well-documented history of exploitation. The Federal Trade Commission has repeatedly warned that entering the lottery is entirely free and that "there's nothing you can do to increase your chances of winning". In other words, anyone claiming otherwise is, in the FTC's words, a scam artist. The State Department has separately confirmed there is only one official entry portal, dvprogram.state.gov, and that winners are never notified by unsolicited email or letter.
In other words, applicants must check their status directly on that site. U.S. embassies worldwide have flagged recurring scams involving fraudulent emails instructing applicants to wire money via Western Union to supposed embassy officials.
Given the current limbo, our EB-1A attorney friends caution prospective applicants to be especially wary of any third party which promises guaranteed entry, or "early access" once the window does open. There is no legitimate channel that exists outside the official government site.
At GCEB1, our EB-1A experts are continuously tracking all the developments of the diversity green card lottery and keeping abreast of the updates. Stay tuned to us to read the latest analysis and insights on the U.S. immigration landscape. We wish you a safe and stress free immigration journey ahead.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Has the 2027 Diversity Visa Lottery registration period officially opened?
No. As of this writing, no registration date has been announced, even though registration has historically opened in early October each year.
2. Why was the program paused in the first place?
The administration publicly cited the Brown University and MIT shootings, carried out by a former Diversity Visa recipient, though records show the 2027 registration had already failed to open months before that incident occurred.
3. Does the President have the authority to cancel the Diversity Visa program on his own?
That's part of what's being litigated. Critics, including the law's original co-author, argue that only Congress can change or end a program it created by statute, while the administration maintains it has discretion over how and when the program operates.
4. Is there any cost to enter the Diversity Visa Lottery?
Entry is free aside from a nominal $1 processing fee introduced for recent cycles; larger fees only apply later, and only for applicants who are actually selected and proceed to a consular interview.
5. How will I know if I've been selected, once registration reopens?
Only by checking your status directly on the official government site, dvprogram.state.gov. The government does not send winner notifications by email or postal mail.
6. What should I do if I receive an email claiming I've won the lottery?
Treat it as fraudulent. The State Department has repeatedly warned that legitimate winner notifications are never sent unsolicited, and any request for advance payment is a scam.
7. Is there a lawsuit that could force the registration window to open?
Yes. Red Eagle Law's case before Judge Jinsook Ohta in the Southern District of California is seeking a court order compelling the government to open registration before the fiscal year ends on September 30.
8. Are there other lawsuits affecting Diversity Visa applicants?
Yes. A separate case, Medani v. Trump, is challenging indefinite holds placed on already-submitted diversity visa applications; a judge in that case has ordered the government to resume processing before the fiscal year's end.
9. What can prospective applicants do while they wait?
Monitor official channels only, primarily travel.state.gov and dvprogram.state.gov, and avoid any third-party service promising guaranteed entry, priority access, or advance notice of a registration date, since no such service is legitimate.
Sources & further readings
- Boundless Immigration. "Trump Suspends Green Card Lottery After Mass Shootings." Boundless.com, December 18, 2025. https://www.boundless.com/blog/trump-suspends-diversity-visa-lottery.
- Federal Trade Commission. "Diversity Visa Lottery Scams." Consumer Advice, FTC. Accessed September 23, 2026. https://consumer.ftc.gov/media/79859.
- Gershman, Jacob, et al. "Noem Says Brown Shooting Suspect Got U.S. Visa Through Diversity Lottery, Announces Pause to Program." CBS News. Accessed September 23, 2026. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/noem-alleged-brown-shooter-diversity-visa-lottery.
- NPR. "Trump Suspends U.S. Green Card Lottery After Brown University and MIT Shootings." NPR, December 19, 2025. https://www.npr.org/2025/12/19/nx-s1-5649339/trump-suspends-u-s-green-card-lottery-after-brown-university-and-mit-shootings.
- U.S. Department of State. "Diversity Visa Program Fraud Warning." Travel.state.gov. Accessed September 23, 2026. https://travel.state.gov/dvfraud.
- Wagner, Meg, et al. "Why the US Is Targeting the Diversity Visa Lottery and What It Means for Applicants." CNN Politics. Accessed September 23, 2026. https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/19/politics/diversity-visa-lottery-green-card-trump-brown-suspect.
- Welsch, Quinn. "Green Card Lottery Hangs in Limbo as 2027 Registration Window Shrinks." Courthouse News Service, September 23, 2026. https://www.courthousenews.com/green-card-lottery-hangs-in-limbo-as-2027-registration-window-shrinks.
