US Court Sets 3 Dates to Reopen 2027 Green Card Lottery for Foreigners

• A US federal court ordered the Trump administration to reopen the 2027 Diversity Visa Green Card Lottery on October 14, 2026
• The court ruling followed a legal challenge by law firm Red Eagle Law, which argued the State Department's delay effectively cancelled the programme
• The Trump administration has filed an appeal against the ruling, raising questions about whether the three court-ordered deadlines will hold

A US federal court dealt the Trump administration a significant legal setback on October 14, 2026, ordering it to reopen the 2027 Diversity Visa Green Card Lottery, a programme that has long served as one of the most accessible immigration pathways for people from Africa and other under-represented regions.

US District Judge Jinsook Ohta issued a preliminary injunction directing Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the State Department to restore the lottery, which makes approximately 55,000 diversity visas available annually to nationals from countries that historically send few immigrants to the United States.

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How Green Card Lottery was nearly cancelled

The legal battle traces back to November 2025, when the State Department quietly announced it was postponing the registration window for the 2027 lottery cycle with no clear timeline for when it would resume.

Law firm Red Eagle Law, led by attorney Curtis Morrison, brought the challenge to court, arguing that the absence of a registration window rendered the entire 2027 programme non-functional.

"The government's failure to reopen the period resulted in a de facto cancellation of the programme," Morrison argued.

Judge Ohta sided with that position and issued the injunction accordingly.

Under the court order, the State Department must announce registration details by 29 October, open the registration window by November 1, 2026, and notify selected applicants by 3 December.

The final visa processing deadline remains September 30, 2027.

Morrison was firm that securing the registration window alone was not the finish line.

"We're not going to let that happen again with DV-2027," he said, stressing that the court victory must translate into actual visa processing and physical entry into the United States for successful applicants.

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What prospective Green Card applicants must know

Winning a place in the lottery is not a guarantee of permanent residence.

Selected applicants must hold at least a qualifying secondary school certificate or possess relevant work experience, and must meet standard admissibility requirements, which include no prior immigration violations or criminal record. A job offer is not required at the point of application.

The programme was established under the Immigration Act of 1990, signed into law by President George H.W. Bush. Former Representative Bruce Morrison, who helped draft that legislation, once described its underlying purpose:

"There is no better antidote to the challenges of globalisation than to attract the 'self-selected strivers' from every corner of the globe."

The Trump administration has filed an appeal against Judge Ohta's ruling, which could place the three court-ordered deadlines in doubt.

Legal observers, however, note that appealing does not automatically suspend the injunction or guarantee its reversal.

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For now, the 2027 lottery remains open, a development that carries particular weight for African applicants, who have grown into some of the programme's largest beneficiaries over the decades.

US lists 50 countries facing visa bond requirements

Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that the US had published an updated list of 50 countries whose citizens are required to pay a visa bond before they can be granted entry into the country.

The policy requires affected travellers to deposit a sum of money with the US government as a financial guarantee that they will leave the country before their visas expire.

Source: YEN.com.gh