A federal court ruling issued on August 28, 2026, has upended eight months of frozen Diversity Visa processing, ordering U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to immediately resume adjudicating pending adjustment of status applications for thousands of DV-2026 lottery winners.
U.S. District Judge Edward J. Davila of the Northern District of California certified three nationwide subclasses of Diversity Visa selectees and their eligible family members in Medani v. Trump, extending preliminary relief beyond the individual plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit.
USCIS is now ordered "to the extent practicable and in good faith, to take all reasonable steps during the remainder of the Diversity Visa fiscal year to resume ordinary adjudication of plaintiffs' pending adjustment of status applications without applying" PM-602-0193.
The decision marks a critical turning point for DV-2026 selectees whose immigration cases have been in limbo since the administration imposed a blanket hold last winter.
Background: How the Hold Policy Froze DV Processing
On December 19, 2025, USCIS issued Policy Memorandum PM-602-0193, directing officers to place a hold on all pending adjustment of status applications
filed by Diversity Visa selectees.
The agency told adjudicators to place a hold on pending DV lottery adjustment applications and ancillary benefits — including applications for adjustment-based work and travel authorization — while the government conducted an in-depth review of each applicant.
The suspension followed DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's social media posting announcing a pause of the DV program as a result of recent shootings in New England; the alleged perpetrator is thought to have attained U.S. permanent residence through the DV lottery program.
On December 23, 2025, the Department of State paused diversity visa issuance worldwide, with "no exceptions."
The combined effect was devastating: DV-2026 selectees — both those already in the United States pursuing adjustment of status and those abroad seeking consular processing — saw their cases frozen indefinitely, with no timeline for resolution.
The Court's Ruling: Three Policies Vacated
Judge Davila preliminarily enjoined and temporarily vacated three policies halting FY-2026 Diversity Visa adjudication: USCIS Policy Memorandum PM-602-0193 (Dec. 19, 2025), holding all pending DV adjustment of status applications for "comprehensive review"; the DOS "Updated Diversity Visa Guidance" (Dec. 20, 2025), pausing all DV visa issuance; and the DOS "Notice Pausing Visa Approval for 75 Countries" (Feb. 2, 2026, effective Jan. 21, 2026), requiring refusal of immigrant visa applicants from 75 countries pending new public charge guidance.
Davila found that the plaintiffs were likely to prevail on their claim that the policies were arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act.
Davila rejected the government's argument that the policies were not final agency actions, finding that the indefinite holds and blanket moratoria had immediate legal effects by denying applicants the opportunity to have their cases adjudicated.
The court also certified three separate nationwide subclasses.
With respect to USCIS, the Court certified the following subclass: "all selectees and derivative beneficiaries under the FY-2026 Diversity Visa Program who are subject to the USCIS DV Hold imposed by Policy Memorandum PM-602-0193."
Scope and Limits of the Relief
While the ruling represents a significant legal victory, immigration attorneys have cautioned applicants to understand its boundaries.
The order does not require the government to approve every pending Diversity Visa application. Applicants must still meet all statutory and procedural requirements, including medical, security, and admissibility screening. They must also have a visa number available under the program's statutory rank-order system.
The vacatur is temporary and expressly pending further litigation, so it can still be appealed, stayed, or reversed.
Davila instructed both sides to submit a joint status report by September 18 on the status of adjudications and to propose a schedule for continued litigation.
The September 30 Deadline: A Race Against Time
The most pressing concern for affected applicants is the hard statutory deadline looming just weeks away.
All DV-2026 diversity visa program applicants must be found eligible for, and obtain, their visa or adjust status by the end of fiscal year 2026 (September 30, 2026).
The order restored a process, not an outcome, and every unused FY-2026 diversity visa number still disappears on September 30 regardless of who was selected. The court did not change the calendar. Diversity visa numbers and DV-2026 eligibility expire on September 30, 2026, by statute. A district judge cannot manufacture more time.
The case covers 664 families and 1,489 plaintiffs
, but the certified class extends far beyond the named parties.
Secondary reporting citing State Department data has put the figure at roughly 53,939 prospective applicants across 48 African countries, with Kenya, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Ghana the nationalities that coverage has named most often.
Interview availability at posts serving high-volume African markets, document readiness, medical exam scheduling, and any case-specific administrative processing all have to resolve inside the same shrinking window.
USCIS Response: Compliance Under Protest
USCIS confirmed the order in an alert dated September 4, 2026, adding that it "strongly disagrees with the Court's order but will follow its terms pending possible further judicial review."
The agency's statement signals that the government may seek appellate relief — potentially an emergency stay from the Ninth Circuit — which could once again halt processing before the fiscal year closes.
The State Department's updated diversity visa issuance guidance, last revised August 31, 2026, states that as of August 28, 2026, in accordance with the court's order in Medani, the December 2025 pause of diversity visa issuance is no longer in effect.
Practical Steps for Affected Applicants
Immigration attorneys monitoring the case advise DV-2026 participants to submit form DS-260 to the Kentucky Consular Center if they haven't done so already, continuously check application status via the Entrant Status Check system and the CEAC portal, keep police certificates and medical examinations valid, and follow the outcome of the court hearing on September 18, 2026, which will show whether the administration is truly complying with the order.
For DV selectees already in the United States with pending I-485 adjustment of status applications, the ruling means USCIS should now be moving forward with scheduling interviews and issuing final decisions. However, applicants should be prepared for the possibility that not all cases can be physically adjudicated before the September 30 cutoff, given the volume of frozen cases and the compressed timeline.
What Comes Next
The decision is a preliminary ruling, not a final judgment in the lawsuit, and the federal government may continue to litigate or seek appellate review.
The September 18 joint status report will be the next critical milestone, offering the court — and the public — a concrete picture of whether USCIS and the State Department are genuinely resuming processing at scale.
For DV-2026 applicants, the next 20 days represent both a lifeline and a countdown. The legal barrier has been removed, at least temporarily. Whether the bureaucratic machinery can move fast enough to convert court-ordered relief into actual green cards remains the open question.
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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Individuals with pending DV-2026 applications should consult with a qualified immigration attorney about their specific circumstances.