Judge Orders State Department to Open 2027 Visa Lottery

A federal judge has ordered the U.S. State Department to open registration for the 2027 Diversity Visa lottery after the program was not launched on schedule. The preliminary injunction, issued by U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta, directs the department to establish a registration period for applicants seeking visas through the program. The precise deadlines reported for the order differ. Accounts describe an opening deadline ranging from October 15 to November 1, 2026, and generally report a registration window of at least 30 days. They also give differing dates for notifying selected applicants. The injunction itself was not included in the reports, so the controlling schedule could not be confirmed. The State Department’s implementation will determine when applicants can enter. The dispute arose after the department did not open registration for the fiscal year 2027 lottery before the preceding fiscal year ended. Red Eagle Law, a Southern California immigration firm, sued Secretary of State Marco Rubio, arguing that the failure to open registration unlawfully blocked the program. The firm had previously sought an emergency order, which Ohta denied before granting the...