US court blocks order to reopen 2027 Green Card Lottery

• A US appeals court has temporarily allowed the Trump administration to keep the 2027 Diversity Visa Lottery, also known as the Green Card Lottery, on hold.

• The ruling suspends an earlier court order requiring the State Department to reopen registration by November 1 while the government's appeal proceeds.

• The decision does not permanently cancel the programme, which offers up to 55,000 immigrant visas annually to eligible applicants from countries with historically low immigration rates to the US.

A US federal appeals court has temporarily allowed the Trump administration to keep the 2027 Diversity Visa Lottery, popularly known as the Green Card Lottery, on hold while it challenges a lower court ruling that ordered the programme to reopen.

On October 29, a three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals granted the government's emergency request to suspend an earlier court order requiring the State Department to open registration for the 2027 programme by November 1.

The decision means the State Department does not have to reopen registration while the government's appeal is being considered. However, it does not represent a final ruling on whether the administration was right to keep the lottery closed.

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The case was brought by Red Eagle Law, a California-based immigration law firm that represents people selected through the Diversity Visa programme. The firm sued US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in August after the State Department failed to announce registration dates for the 2027 lottery.

On October 14, a federal district court had ruled in favour of Red Eagle Law and ordered the State Department to announce the registration period by October 29, begin accepting applications by November 1 and notify successful applicants of their eligibility to apply by December 3.

However, the Trump administration challenged that decision and asked the appeals court to suspend the order.

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In its ruling, the appeals court said it was not endorsing the State Department's failure to open registration. It nevertheless found that Red Eagle Law had not shown that it was likely to win the case because the firm's interest in representing lottery applicants was not sufficiently connected to the purpose of the law establishing the programme.

The court noted that the Diversity Visa programme was created to encourage immigration, not to generate revenue for law firms.

Judge N. Randy Smith separately agreed with the decision and argued that Red Eagle Law also lacked the legal standing required to bring the case.

Following the ruling, Curtis Morrison, owner of Red Eagle Law, told Newsweek that the firm intended to pursue other legal action challenging the State Department's failure to open the lottery.

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He said the firm was also seeking a non-US citizen living in the country on an F-1, H-1B or another non-immigrant visa who would be willing to join a new legal challenge.

The Diversity Visa programme, commonly called the Green Card Lottery, makes up to 55,000 immigrant visas available each year to people from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States.

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The programme was established under the Immigration Act of 1990, signed into law by former US President George H.W. Bush on November 29, 1990.

It provides eligible people with an opportunity to apply for permanent residency in the United States through a random selection process.

The appeals court's latest decision leaves the 2027 registration process on hold while the government's appeal continues. The court said its clerk would issue a schedule for the next stages of the appeal.