Green Card Lottery Stays Closed as Appeals Court Freezes Order

By Priya Raman

A federal appeals court has frozen an order that would have forced the State Department to reopen Diversity Visa lottery registration by November 1. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the government's emergency stay on October 29. The green card lottery stays paused while the underlying appeal proceeds.

What did the court decide?

A three-judge panel — Circuit Judges M. Margaret McKeown, N. Randy Smith and Holly A. Thomas — put a lower court's preliminary injunction on hold. That injunction, issued October 14, had ordered the State Department to announce the registration period by October 29, begin accepting registrations by November 1, and notify selectees of their eligibility by December 3. None of those deadlines now bind the department while the appeal moves forward.

The panel found the government likely to prevail. It questioned whether the plaintiff, California immigration firm Red Eagle Law, could sue at all. "Red Eagle has not shown a likelihood of success on the merits because it is not within the zone of interests of the statute and does not have a cause of action," the court wrote. Judge Smith concurred separately, arguing the firm also lacked constitutional standing.

Takeaway: the program remains closed, and no DV-2027 registration dates exist for now.

Who is fighting this, and how?

Red Eagle Law, which represents Diversity Visa selectees, sued Secretary of State Marco Rubio in August. The suit targeted the department's failure to open registration for the fiscal year 2027 program. The department had not opened the window by the statutory point, which the appeals court itself acknowledged "effectively canceling" the program without explanation.

Curtis Morrison, owner of Red Eagle, told Newsweek: "Red Eagle will be moving forward quickly with other litigation to challenge the State Department's failure to carry out the DV program." His firm is searching for a new plaintiff — a noncitizen in the United States on an F-1, H-1B or other nonimmigrant visa who will challenge the administration and is not fearful of potential retaliation. The Ninth Circuit's clerk will issue a briefing schedule for the appeal.

Takeaway: practitioners should watch for a follow-on suit built around an individual plaintiff with direct standing.

Why the lottery matters

The Diversity Visa Program makes available up to 55,000 visas annually to people from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Congress created the permanent program through the Immigration Act of 1990, signed by President George H.W. Bush on November 29, 1990. It grew out of 1980s efforts to open immigration channels for underrepresented countries.

The paused registration window affects thousands of prospective applicants worldwide. For eligible people, the closure denies a chance at permanent residency through the lottery route — a category with no alternative application pathway.

Takeaway: unless the courts order otherwise, fiscal 2027 lottery hopefuls have no filing option.

The wider policy picture

The pause fits a broader tightening of legal immigration under the Trump administration. The government has expanded scrutiny of green card applicants under the "public charge" test, imposed new or higher fees for asylum, work permits, parole and other benefits, and pursued restrictions on the H-1B skilled-worker program. It has sharply limited the broader refugee program while giving priority to Afrikaners and other racial minorities from South Africa.

For immigration practitioners, the DV stay signals a pattern: injunctive relief at the district court level may not survive appeal in this circuit. Newsweek has contacted the State Department for comment and is awaiting a response. The Ninth Circuit will next set the appeal's briefing schedule.

Takeaway: advise clients to track the appeal, not the old November 1 deadline.