How many visas does the Diversity Visa Program award?

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act the program can award up to 55,000 visas a year to people from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States (8 U.S.C. 1151(e) and 1153(c)).

DV-2027 green card lottery: still on hold

Q: Is DV-2027 registration open?

No. The State Department has not opened the DV-2027 entry period. It says it will announce the registration start date as soon as practicable. On 29 October 2026 the Ninth Circuit stayed a district court order that required registration to open by 1 November 2026.

Q: What did the Ninth Circuit decide?

In Red Eagle Law, L.C. v. Rubio (No. 26-6943) the court granted the government's emergency motion to stay the preliminary injunction pending appeal, finding the plaintiff law firm unlikely to be within the statute's zone of interests. It did not endorse the Department's failure to open registration.

Q: What is the DV-2027 visa application period?

The State Department says the application period for people selected for DV-2027 remains 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027. Without a registration period and a selection, no one has been selected yet.

Q: Can a website take my DV-2027 entry now?

No official registration is open, so any site claiming to accept or guarantee DV-2027 entries today should be treated as a likely scam. Entries are only made through the State Department's official E-DV system when a registration period is announced.

The DV-2027 green card lottery is still on hold. The State Department has not opened registration and has given no start date. On 29 October 2026 the Ninth Circuit stayed a court order that would have forced registration to open by 1 November, so the old November and December dates are no longer in force.

If you are weighing other US routes, see our guides on the proposed H-1B 60-day grace period rule and the end of automatic EAD extensions.

TL;DR

Status: DV-2027 registration is not open and the State Department has announced no start date.
Court: on 29 October 2026 the Ninth Circuit stayed the order requiring registration by 1 November 2026 (Red Eagle Law v. Rubio, No. 26-6943).
Application period: unchanged at 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027 for anyone eventually selected.
Program size: up to 55,000 visas a year under the INA.
Scams: no one can take or guarantee a DV-2027 entry today.

What the State Department says

On its DV-2027 entry period page, the State Department says it is implementing certain changes to the Diversity Visa entry process. It will announce the start date of the DV-2027 registration period "as soon as practicable", together with the date selection results may be available through Entry Status Check. The visa application period for people selected for DV-2027 stays 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027.

The court case, in plain terms

The Ninth Circuit order, published on govinfo.gov, sets out the timeline:

Date	What happened (per the Ninth Circuit order)
August 2026	Red Eagle Law, L.C., an immigration law firm, sued, arguing the suspension of DV-2027 was unlawful under the APA
14 October 2026	The district court ordered the Department to announce registration by 29 October, open it by 1 November and notify selectees by 3 December 2026
29 October 2026	The Ninth Circuit granted the government's emergency motion and stayed that order pending appeal

The panel found the government likely to succeed because the law firm had not shown it was within the "zone of interests" of the Diversity Visa statute. The court added that it does "not endorse the Department's failure to open the lottery registration period". In practice the case has not decided whether the suspension itself is lawful, and the appeal continues.

What it means for you

Do not plan around DV-2027. Until the State Department announces a registration period, there is no lottery to enter.
Keep watching official channels. Dates, if any, will be published on travel.state.gov.
Think about parallel routes. Family, employment or investment categories have their own rules, timelines and fees; check them on uscis.gov.
Protect yourself from fraud. No website, agent or app can register you, speed up selection or guarantee a DV visa now.

If you are moving between the US and Europe, our overview of ETIAS and EES for visa-free travel covers the European side.

FAQ

Is DV-2027 registration open? No. The State Department has not announced a start date.

What did the Ninth Circuit decide? It stayed the order that required registration by 1 November 2026, pending the government's appeal.

What is the DV-2027 visa application period? 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027, for anyone eventually selected.

How many visas does the program award? Up to 55,000 a year under the INA.

Can a website take my DV-2027 entry now? No. Treat any such offer as a likely scam.

General information, not legal advice. Check the current position with the U.S. Department of State or a qualified immigration attorney before acting.

Sources

U.S. Department of State: Changes to Entry Period for 2027 Diversity Visa (DV) Program (accessed 12 Nov 2026)
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Red Eagle Law, L.C. v. Rubio, No. 26-6943, order of 29 October 2026 (govinfo) (accessed 12 Nov 2026)
8 U.S.C. 1153 (Office of the Law Revision Counsel) (accessed 12 Nov 2026)
USCIS: Green card eligibility categories (accessed 12 Nov 2026)