Court Halts Reopening of Green Card Lottery Registration

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals paused a lower-court order that would have required the State Department to open registration for the diversity visa lottery for fiscal 2027. The ruling lets the department keep the program closed while the appeal proceeds.

The program, officially called the Diversity Visa, provides up to 55,000 visas each year to applicants from countries with historically low levels of U.S. immigration. For many, winning a slot in the drawing is a path to permanent residency.

The dispute began in August, when the immigration law firm Red Eagle Law sued Secretary of State Marco Rubio over the failure to open the 2027 registration. On Oct. 14, a federal judge issued a preliminary order directing the government to announce signup dates by Oct. 29 and to open registration by Nov. 1.

The Trump administration appealed and asked for the order to be frozen. The Ninth Circuit granted the request, reasoning that the government was likely to prevail on its argument that Red Eagle Law lacked standing to bring the case. The panel added that it was not endorsing the State Department's decision to keep registration closed, but found that the firm had not shown sufficient grounds to continue the litigation on those terms.

The pause on the lottery dates to last December, when the Trump administration suspended it after a Portuguese citizen who had obtained a visa through the program was named as a suspect in shootings in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. That man was later found dead in an apparent suicide.

Curtis Morrison, who owns Red Eagle Law, said he would pursue other legal avenues to challenge the suspension. The litigation remains open, and the court's decision does not end the lottery program, which stays dormant for now.