State Department Resumes Diversity Visa Issuance Following Federal Court Order

When the executive branch halted immigrant visa processing in 2020 under pandemic emergency powers, the freeze lasted for months and effectively erased that year's diversity visa lottery. The current suspension of the program, initiated to review screening and vetting procedures across 75 countries, has met a different fate: a federal court has forced the State Department to resume processing immediately.[7][8]

The State Department officially published its "Diversity Visa Issuance Updated Guidance" on September 2, 2026, confirming that consular officers will once again adjudicate and issue the visas. The reversal lifts a blanket pause that had halted the program globally, allowing embassies to process the backlog of lottery winners who have been waiting for their final interviews.[1][5]

The resumption triggers an immediate race against the calendar. Under federal law, Diversity Visas for a given fiscal year must be issued by September 30. Any applicant who does not receive their visa by midnight on that date forfeits their winning lottery slot entirely, with no option to roll the application over to the following year.[2][3]

The policy reversal stems directly from the federal court ruling in Medani v. Trump, which declared that the "75-Country Immigrant Visa Pause Is No Longer in Effect," according to legal alerts from Arias Villa. Plaintiffs argued that the statutory mandate to issue up to 55,000 diversity visas annually supersedes executive branch reviews of vetting procedures, prompting a federal judge to lift the pause while the broader legal merits of the screening review are litigated.[7][8]

The administration had originally halted the issuances to conduct a comprehensive review of security screening protocols, citing concerns over document verification and background checks in the 75 participating nations. That review remains ongoing, but the court order severs the visa freeze from the administrative audit, compelling the government to process applicants under existing security frameworks.[4][6]

Immigration law firms and advocacy groups are now advising clients to contact their respective embassies immediately. Because consular resources were reallocated during the pause, diplomatic posts face a severe logistical bottleneck in scheduling medical exams and final interviews for thousands of applicants within a 28-day window.[4][5]

The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, established in 1990, allocates visas to individuals from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. It has been a persistent target for the current administration, which has repeatedly sought to transition the U.S. immigration system toward a merit-based framework and away from randomized lotteries.[2]

The State Department has indicated it will comply with the court order and prioritize DV-2026 cases where possible, but has not guaranteed that all eligible applicants will receive interview slots before the September 30 statutory deadline. The Justice Department is expected to appeal the Medani ruling, though any appellate intervention is unlikely to alter the immediate processing sprint before the fiscal year closes.[1][6]