USCIS has confirmed it will resume adjudicating adjustment of status applications for Diversity Visa selectees after a federal court vacated the policy that had frozen them. The agency posted the notice on September 4, 2026, following an August 28 order from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Medani, et al., v. Trump, et al., No. 26-cv-6332.
At issue was Policy Memorandum PM-602-0193, which USCIS had used to place a hold on DV-based adjustment applications. The agency’s stated rationale was screening — ensuring that diversity visa applicants adjusting status inside the United States did not present national security or public safety risks. The practical effect was that selectees who had already won the lottery and filed Form I-485 saw their cases stop moving.
The court certified a subclass covering “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,” vacated the memo, and ordered USCIS to “take all reasonable steps during the remainder of the Diversity Visa fiscal year to resume ordinary adjudication” of those pending applications, to the extent practicable and in good faith, without applying the vacated policy.
The timing is the hard part. Diversity Visa eligibility is bounded by the fiscal year: a DV-2026 selectee must have their case completed by September 30, 2026, and visas not issued by that date are lost permanently, with no carryover and no extension. The court’s order reaches only “the remainder of the Diversity Visa fiscal year,” which now amounts to under three weeks. Selectees whose applications sat on hold for months are being returned to the queue with very little runway.
USCIS made clear it is complying under protest, stating that it “strongly disagrees with the Court’s order but will follow its terms pending possible further judicial review.” That leaves open the possibility of an appeal or a stay, which would reintroduce uncertainty for the same class of applicants.
For DV-2026 selectees with a pending I-485, the practical steps are immediate: confirm the case is actually moving, respond to any request for evidence without delay, and make sure USCIS has current contact and address information. Applicants who have been waiting on a hold should be aware that the statutory September 30 cutoff is not something a court order or an agency backlog can waive.
Need help with your immigration petition? Visit QuickFiling.us for AI-guided NIW and EB-1A petition preparation.
Source: USCIS Newsroom Alert (orchestrator-resolved; not surfaced by phone sources)