US green card lottery has no winners for first time in its history

The State Department never opened registration for DV-2027, leaving the green card lottery without winners or selectees for the first time since Congress created the program in 1990

The US State Department never opened registration for the DV-2027 Diversity Visa lottery, and the fiscal year for those visas began on October 1, 2026, without a single selectee, Newsweek reported on October 5, 2026. The Diversity Visa Program, commonly known as the green card lottery, makes up to approximately 55,000 permanent residencies available each year to people from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. Congress created the program through the Immigration Act of 1990.

Before this disruption, the US State Department opened a registration period each year, typically in October or November, lasting approximately 30 days. Winners were chosen at random from among eligible registrants. For the DV-2026 cycle, registration ran from October 2 to November 7, 2024. For DV-2027, no equivalent window was ever announced or opened.

The absence of registration means no lottery drawing took place and no selectees were identified. The DV-2027 visa year, which runs from October 1, 2026, through September 30, 2027, began without a list of people eligible to apply for diversity visas.

What is the Diversity Visa lottery and who is eligible?

The Diversity Visa Program distributes up to approximately 55,000 immigrant visas each year to nationals of countries that have sent relatively few immigrants to the United States over the preceding five years. Winners are selected at random from all qualified entries submitted during the registration period.

Eligibility requires applicants to have been born in a qualifying country and to meet a minimum level of education (a high school diploma or equivalent) or qualifying work experience (two years of experience in a job that requires at least two years of training). Registration is free and is conducted exclusively through the official US State Department website at dvprogram.state.gov.

The program is separate from other US visa categories. Winning the lottery does not grant immediate permanent residency. Selectees must still complete an immigration application, attend a consular interview, and meet all admissibility requirements.

Why was DV-2027 registration never opened?

The disruption traces to a sequence of events beginning in November 2025, when the US State Department announced that it was “implementing certain changes in the lottery registration process” and would announce the DV-2027 opening date “as soon as practicable.” The registration window was never announced.

Separately, the US State Department paused all diversity visa issuance in December 2025 while it reviewed screening and vetting procedures, citing national security concerns. That issuance pause was lifted by a federal court order in August 2026 in a separate case (Sangster v. Rubio), allowing DV-2026 selectees to resume processing.

The registration pause for DV-2027, however, was never lifted. Fiscal year 2026 ended on September 30, 2026, without registration having opened. Because federal regulations require the US State Department to establish a registration period of at least 30 days during the fiscal year preceding the visa year, the government now argues that the window for DV-2027 registration has passed.

What is happening in the DV-2027 court case?

The California immigration law firm Red Eagle Law, L.C., based in Bonsall, California, filed a lawsuit against Secretary of State Marco Rubio on August 19, 2026, in the US District Court for the Southern District of California (case no. 3:26-cv-04738). The firm argues that the US State Department has a mandatory legal obligation to administer the Diversity Visa Program and establish a registration period, and that failing to do so violates the Administrative Procedure Act.

Judge Jinsook Ohta denied an emergency request for a temporary restraining order on September 3, 2026, stating that given the timing, “most of the ship had already sailed.” A request for a preliminary injunction remained pending. At a hearing on September 24, Justice Department attorney Ian Pike argued that compliance had become a “literal impossibility” under the applicable deadlines.

Red Eagle Law founder Curtis Morrison countered that the administration should not be permitted to delay the program until the deadline passed and then rely on that deadline as the reason registration cannot proceed. Morrison described the failure to open DV-2027 as a “de facto cancellation” of the program.

Judge Ohta indicated at the September hearing that she had become “more skeptical of the government’s position” than she had been earlier in the case. The judge is expected to announce a decision by October 14, 2026, with an oral ruling scheduled for 9:30 AM that day. Ohta acknowledged the significance of the ruling, stating: “It’s this order that is going to bear the weight of this entire case, because of the time frames and what is at stake.”

When will the DV-2028 lottery registration open?

The US State Department has not announced registration dates for DV-2028. During the court proceedings over DV-2027, the government raised the possibility that the administration would move directly to DV-2028, skipping the DV-2027 cycle entirely. The government has not confirmed this approach.

The outcome of Judge Ohta’s October 14 ruling may clarify whether the US State Department will be ordered to open a DV-2027 registration period or whether that cycle will pass without one. A ruling in favor of the government could leave DV-2027 without any registration or selectees, which immigration attorneys argue would constitute the first effective cancellation in the program’s history.

Potential applicants should monitor the official US State Department website at dvprogram.state.gov for any announcements. The State Department has warned that only its official website should be used for registration and that third-party websites or intermediaries claiming to offer early registration or guaranteed results should not be trusted.