The Diversity Visa Program has long been one of the few pathways to a green card without a family or employer sponsor. The DV-2027 edition was supposed to kick off as usual in the fall of 2025, but on November 5, 2025, the State Department announced changes to the application procedure and stated it would provide registration dates “as soon as possible.” Registration never began. Now, the matter has been taken to court.
What the Court Ruled
On October 14, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in the case of Red Eagle Law, L.C. v. Rubio (No. 26-cv-4738) issued a preliminary injunction, and on October 19, it published a written opinion. The court found that the suspension of the program was arbitrary because the State Department provided no justification for either the delay itself or its indefinite nature. It ordered the relaunch of DV-2027, beginning with the registration period. The opinion recalled that the law provides for up to 55,000 diversity visas per fiscal year.
The original schedule from the October 14 order provided for the announcement of rules by October 15, the opening of a 30-day registration period by October 18, and notification of selectees by November 19, 2026. Visas are to be issued until the pool for fiscal year 2027 is exhausted or until September 30, 2027. The court reserved the right to modify the order and set specific deadlines in separate orders (documents Nos. 21 and 23 in the case file).
At the time of this writing, the official lottery website, dvprogram.state.gov, was not accepting entries and contained no information regarding DV-2027.
New Requirements: Passport and $1 Fee
Regardless of the legal dispute, DV-2027 will be the first edition under new regulations. A State Department rule published in the Federal Register on March 11, 2026 (91 FR 11891), effective April 10, 2026, introduces:
- the requirement to provide valid passport details—number, full name, issuing country or authority, and expiration date;
- the requirement to upload a scan of the data and signature page—exclusively in JPEG format, up to 5 MB; PDF files will not be accepted;
- a registration fee of $1, charged upon submitting the entry, with no exemptions.
Exceptions to the passport requirement include stateless persons, among others. The $1 fee was introduced by a separate regulation on September 16, 2025 (90 FR 44524); selected applicants who file a visa application continue to pay $330 as before. The State Department estimates that completing the entry will now take about 90 minutes instead of 30.
What This Means for Polish Citizens
Most importantly, anyone wishing to participate in the lottery or help loved ones in Poland do so should check right now whether they have a valid passport. The registration period lasts only 30 days, and entries cannot be submitted without passport information. It is also a good idea to prepare a scan of the passport page in JPEG format and a photo that meets the lottery requirements.
Entries are submitted exclusively on the official State Department website dvprogram.state.gov. Websites and intermediaries promising “better chances” for a fee have no influence on the drawing. Winning the lottery does not automatically mean a green card—applicants still need to meet the requirements and go through the visa procedure or adjustment of status in the U.S., and do so before the end of the fiscal year. We wrote about how important this deadline is on the occasion of the previous edition, DV-2026.
Sources: court order opinion (10/19/2026), State Department announcement from 11/5/2025, regulation on passport requirements (Federal Register), regulation on the $1 fee (Federal Register).
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The legal status of DV-2027 may change following an announcement by the State Department or a decision by the appellate court.
When questions arise regarding your status after winning the lottery, it is worth consulting with a Polish immigration attorney from the Polish Pages directory.
