A federal judge in California ordered the State Department to keep processing fiscal year 2026 Diversity VisaAn annual program under INA 203(c) that makes up to 55,000 immigrant visas available through a random drawing run by the Department of State, for people from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. Entrants generally need at least a high school education or equivalent, or two years of qualifying work experience. Being selected does not guarantee a visa.See it in the glossary cases for 10 days past the September 30 deadline, finding the agency was slow to follow his earlier order. U.S. District Judge Edward J. Davila, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, a Democrat, issued the order on September 30 in Medani v. Trump, NepYork reported.
The case is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (No. 5:26-cv-06332), according to the court docket. The order does not guarantee that any applicant will receive a visa.
What the Diversity Visa order requires
The State Department must take reasonable, good-faith steps during the extra 10 days to reconsider fiscal year 2026 applications that were refused solely under its Diversity Visa pause or its 75-country pause, and to resume ordinary processing of pending cases. If it needs more time to prepare guidance for consular posts, it must ask the court for a temporary stay.
The department must file status reports by noon Pacific time every Monday, Wednesday and Friday until the extra period ends. A status conference is set for October 15 at 10 a.m.
Why the judge added time
Davila said the department’s compliance with his August 28 preliminary injunction was “less than substantial.” He noted that the department waited 10 days before telling its posts to comply, and that it did not dispute that it had not scheduled or held an interview, or issued a visa, during the first period after the injunction. The department told the court it was developing guidance for posts and attributed slower processing to a new training initiative on the Public chargeA ground of inadmissibility for applicants an officer finds likely at any time to become a public charge. For Form I-485 filings on or after September 18, 2026, USCIS guidance lets officers weigh a wider range of means-tested public benefits, not only cash assistance.See it in the glossary rule.
The court’s figures show the pace. By September 21, the department had processed 836 visas, about 83 a day, compared with roughly 230 a day in September 2025. After a September 21 hearing the pace rose, and by September 28 the department had processed 3,814 visas, about 272 a day.
What the judge declined to do
Plaintiffs had asked the court to reserve all unused fiscal year 2026 Diversity Visas, which they estimated at about 40,000, for issuance after the fiscal year ends. Davila rejected that request as broader than the noncompliance at issue and limited the remedy to 10 days, matching the period of the department’s delay. He based the order on the court’s inherent authority to enforce its own orders, not on a general power to extend the program.
Who is covered and what is not guaranteed
A footnote in the order says the subclasses in the case include all fiscal year 2026 Diversity Visa applicants. The extension is directed at the State Department’s processing and does not expressly address Adjustment of statusThe process of applying for a green card from within the United States, rather than through a consulate abroad. Filed on Form I-485.See it in the glossary through USCIS, which the August 28 injunction covered separately. Applicants must still meet the program’s eligibility requirements and have a visa number available under its rank order.
Where the Diversity Visa case stands
The August 28 injunction temporarily set aside the State Department’s Diversity Visa pause, its 75-country pause and a USCIS hold on pending Diversity Visa adjustment cases. We covered the USCIS side in our earlier report and the deadline in this deadline explainer. A separate court’s 75-country ruling is covered here as well. For how winning the lottery differs from qualifying, see the Visa Library entry.