A federal court has ordered renewed processing of covered Diversity Visa applications, but the fiscal-year deadline remains a separate obstacle. For DV-2026 applicants, a favorable procedural ruling is not the same thing as an approved visa.
What the court ordered
In its August 28 court order, the Northern District of California granted preliminary relief in Medani v. Trump. Judge Edward J. Davila temporarily vacated three challenged hold policies for certified subclasses of FY-2026 Diversity Visa selectees and derivative beneficiaries.
The order directs the State Department, to the extent practicable and in good faith, to reconsider applications refused solely under the challenged visa pauses and resume ordinary adjudication of pending applications. It similarly directs USCIS to resume ordinary adjudication of covered pending adjustment applications without applying the USCIS pause.
The parties must submit a joint status report by September 18. This is preliminary relief while litigation continues, not a final judgment granting every applicant permanent residence. This article describes the court’s directives, not confirmation that every affected case has restarted.
The deadline remains September 30
The State Department’s September bulletin states that DV-2026 eligibility ends September 30, 2026. It says visas cannot be issued to DV-2026 applicants after that date. Accompanying or following-to-join spouses and children face the same end date for derivative DV status.
The bulletin also warns that numbers could run out before September 30. The calendar deadline therefore should not be understood as a promise that visa numbers will remain available until the final day.
Case numbers still matter
For September, the bulletin lists regional cutoffs of 101,250 for Africa, 40,000 for Asia, 47,500 for Europe, 3,000 for Oceania, and 4,750 for South America and the Caribbean. The Bahamas is current. Separate cutoffs apply to Algeria, Egypt, and Nepal. Where a cutoff appears, the applicant’s regional lottery rank number must be below it.
How to read the development
Our assessment is straightforward: read the ruling and the bulletin together. One addresses the challenged processing barriers; the other explains visa-number availability and the fiscal-year limit. Neither should be read as an individual approval notice. Applicants seeking case-specific action should discuss the order’s coverage and their remaining processing requirements with qualified immigration counsel.
