The DV-2027 Green Card Lottery has moved a step closer to opening after a US federal court ordered the State Department to begin registration by November 1, 2026. The revised timetable also requires an announcement by October 29 and a 30-day entry window, according to Fragomen’s October 16 legal update. These are court-ordered deadlines; applicants should wait for the official registration notice before attempting to enter.
The court decision
The Times of India reports that Judge Jinsook Ohta issued a preliminary injunction on October 14 in Red Eagle Law, L.C. v. Rubio, a case brought over the failure to launch the lottery. The original timetable called for registration to open by October 18, but the court approved an extension requested by the parties. This explains why some earlier reports carry different dates.
Key registration dates
| Stage | Revised deadline or period |
| Public announcement | By October 29, 2026 |
| Registration opening | By November 1, 2026 |
| Entry window | 30 days |
| Selection notification | By December 3, 2026 |
Fragomen reports midnight Eastern Time deadlines for the announcement, opening and selection notification. The official notice must specify the actual opening and closing dates, entry website and participation requirements. A possible appeal and any resulting stay or reversal could change implementation.
Why it matters
The State Department said on November 5, 2025 that it was changing the DV entry process and would announce registration and results dates later. That official notice still identifies October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027 as the visa application period for DV-2027 selectees. Delayed registration therefore leaves less time within that period for the subsequent process.
The November deadline concerns entry into the lottery. It is not a deadline to receive a green card, and selection does not guarantee visa approval. Selected applicants must still meet the requirements and complete immigration processing.
Who can qualify?
The Diversity Visa programme provides an immigration route for people from countries with comparatively low levels of immigration to the United States, with up to 55,000 places annually under the programme’s general framework. Readers should check the DV-2027 instructions for the applicable country rules rather than treating a previous year’s guidance as current. The official instructions page reviewed for this article still displayed DV-2026 instructions.
The principal applicant must also meet the education or work-experience requirement. State Department guidance requires a high school education equivalent to a formal 12-year US course, or two years of qualifying work experience within the previous five years.
Work experience does not qualify automatically: the occupation must meet the programme’s specified training and classification standards. The principal applicant’s spouse and children do not have to meet this education or work requirement themselves.
Fees and passports
Immigration expert Umer Rasib expects the forthcoming instructions to include a new $1 registration fee and valid-passport requirement. Applicants should confirm the details in the cycle-specific official instructions when published, including any exceptions and payment arrangements.
Some general State Department pages still describe registration as free. Because those pages also contain older-cycle information, readers should not treat them as confirmation of the DV-2027 fee.
How to enter
Under the State Department’s general entry procedure, applications are submitted electronically through the official E-DV website during the announced window. Paper and late entries are not accepted, and submitting more than one entry for the same person during a registration period leads to disqualification.
After submitting a complete entry, keep the confirmation page and unique confirmation number. That number is needed to check the entry’s status and access further instructions. If another person helps prepare an entry, the applicant should remain present and retain those records.
For now, monitor the official announcement and verify the applicable country, document, and photograph requirements before submission. Do not assume that a court deadline means the entry form is already available.