Won the FY 2026 diversity visa lottery, living in the United States, watching a filed Form I-485 sit untouched for months? A federal judge has ordered USCIS to start working on it again. The order came August 28, 2026. The diversity visa fiscal year ends September 30, 2026. That is the whole story: a remedy arrived, and the clock it has to beat is very short.
What USCIS announced
On September 4, 2026, USCIS posted an alert titled Court Order on Diversity Immigrant Visa Program Hold Policy. On August 28, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued an order in Medani, et al. v. Trump, et al., No. 26-cv-6332, temporarily vacating Policy Memorandum PM-602-0193 pending further litigation.
USCIS quotes the command itself. The agency must, “to the extent practicable and in good faith, ... 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 agency also says it “strongly disagrees with the Court’s order but will follow its terms pending possible further judicial review.” Hold onto that last clause.
What was on hold, and why
USCIS describes PM-602-0193 as a memorandum issued “to ensure that all aliens applying for adjustment of status under the DV Program in the United States do not pose a threat to national security or public safety.”
Applicants and their lawyers experienced it differently: as a hold. Cases that were otherwise ready to be decided simply were not decided.
This is the second such policy knocked back in recent weeks. In late August a separate court order reached PM-602-0192 and PM-602-0194, the broader adjudication holds — we covered that in A Court Has Ordered USCIS to Restart the Applications It Put on Hold. The diversity visa hold was its own memorandum aimed at its own population, and it survived that first order. This one reaches it.
Who the court’s class covers
Class certification was granted in part. As to USCIS, the court certified this 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.”
Read that definition slowly. It covers derivative beneficiaries, not just principal selectees — a spouse and children filing alongside the winner are inside it. And it is limited to FY 2026 selectees who were actually subject to the hold. Never held under PM-602-0193, or selected for a different program year? This order is not about you.
Why September 30 is a wall, not a target
The diversity visa program comes from INA section 203(c), 8 U.S.C. 1153(c), and makes up to 50,000 immigrant visas available a year to people from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Most winners live abroad and process at a consulate. A smaller group is already here in a nonimmigrant or other lawful status and adjusts through USCIS.
The deadline is statutory. Under INA section 204(a)(1)(I)(ii)(II), 8 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)(I)(ii)(II), lottery selectees “shall remain eligible to receive such visa only through the end of the specific fiscal year for which they were selected.” USCIS says the same thing in plainer words: the adjustment process must be completed by September 30 of the fiscal year the lottery pertains to, and visas cannot be carried over.
No agency can extend that for good behavior. No court gives it back easily. When September 30 passes, an unadjudicated FY 2026 diversity visa case does not roll forward — which is exactly why the order speaks of the “remainder of the Diversity Visa fiscal year.”
What the order does and does not promise
Look at the words again: “to the extent practicable and in good faith,” “all reasonable steps.” That is a standard of effort, not a guarantee of outcome. It requires USCIS to resume ordinary adjudication without applying the hold memo. It does not order approvals, and it suspends nothing else.
Every ordinary requirement still applies. Under the USCIS eligibility criteria, an adjustment applicant must have been selected by the State Department’s lottery, must have an immigrant visa immediately available when the Form I-485 is filed, and must be admissible. Lifting a hold does not cure an inadmissibility ground, produce a missing medical exam, or conjure a visa number that is not there.
How diversity visa numbers actually become available
Availability runs through the monthly Visa Bulletin. Section B shows the current month’s diversity immigrant rank cut-offs by geographic area. Section C shows next month’s, as advance notification. USCIS explains that once a bulletin is published, anyone with a rank number below the Section C cut-off may file — roughly six or seven weeks before a number can actually be allocated. That head start exists precisely so USCIS can finish the case before the year closes.
The flip side is the part applicants hate. A diversity-based application cannot be adjudicated until a number can be allocated for that month’s rank cut-offs, no matter how long the file has been sitting.
What to do now
Confirm your file is complete today, not after USCIS asks. The supporting evidence USCIS lists for a diversity-based Form I-485: two passport-style photos, a copy of the birth certificate, Form I-693 medical examination and vaccination record, copies of the passport page with your nonimmigrant visa and your admission or parole stamp, Form I-94, certified copies of court records for any arrest, a copy of the principal applicant’s DOS selection letter, a copy of the DOS receipt for the diversity visa lottery processing fee, Form I-601 if a waiver is needed, and the applicable fees. A request for evidence issued in mid-September is a request you may not have time to answer.
Check your rank number against the current Visa Bulletin. If your number is not current, the hold was not what was stopping your case, and the fix is a different one.
Make sure USCIS can reach you. Address of record, online account, both current. A notice sent to the wrong address in September is functionally a denial.
Do not assume the class covers you. It reaches FY 2026 selectees and derivatives actually subject to the PM-602-0193 hold. Outside that definition, you may still have options — different ones.
Watch for an appeal. USCIS said it disagrees and is complying “pending possible further judicial review.” A stay or reversal would change the picture fast, and with this little time left, even a few weeks of pause is consequential.
A word about scams
USCIS warns that fraudsters send emails claiming the recipient has won the diversity visa lottery, and says never to send money to anyone making that claim by letter or email. Court orders in the news reliably produce a second wave, usually offering to “expedite” a held case for a fee. Nothing in this order creates a paid fast lane.
The larger pattern
Inside of about two weeks, federal courts have set aside three USCIS hold memoranda — PM-602-0192 and PM-602-0194 in one case, PM-602-0193 in this one. The practical lesson for applicants: a case can be paused by a policy that was never published as a regulation and never opened for comment, and unwinding that pause takes litigation and time. Where a statutory deadline is running, the time does not come back.
If you are an FY 2026 selectee with a pending adjustment application, the next three weeks are the whole game. At Parikh & Prasad, PC, our attorneys can assess whether you fall within the certified subclass, whether your file is complete and your number current, and what can still be done before the fiscal year closes. Contact us to schedule a consultation.
This post is attorney advertising and is provided for general information only. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Immigration law changes rapidly; consult a qualified immigration attorney about your specific situation.
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