Appeals court pauses reopening of 2027 Diversity Visa Lottery

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit temporarily stayed an order requiring registration for the DV-2027 Diversity Visa Lottery to reopen. The decision allows the State Department to keep registration closed while the Donald Trump administration’s appeal proceeds. Issued on October 29, it temporarily halted deadlines set by U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta and left applicants without a date to submit entries.

Ohta had ordered the program reopened on October 14. Her timetable required registration to begin no later than November 1, 2026, and remain open for at least 30 days. It also set December 3 as the deadline to notify selected people. The appellate stay halts those deadlines, so the originally planned schedule is no longer in effect.

The dispute reached the courts after Red Eagle Law and its founder, attorney Curtis Morrison, sued Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The plaintiffs argued that interruption of the program lacked legal support. The lottery, created by the Immigration Act of 1990, allocates up to 55,000 visas annually to people from countries with historically low immigration rates to the United States.

The pause also leaves interested Cubans in uncertainty. Registration is not open, and there is no updated application schedule. Eligibility for people born in Cuba has also not been clarified in the proceedings surrounding this edition of the program. The situation matters to those expecting to participate, but the judicial stay does not itself establish who may apply once registration’s future is determined.

The appellate order is temporary and keeps registration closed while the legal process continues. For now, deadlines in Ohta’s decision cannot serve as a reference for applications or notifications. The program offers a maximum of 55,000 visas annually, but selection in the lottery does not guarantee a visa. An opening date will depend on how the case proceeds.