No Borders NewsOn Aug. 28, 2026, a U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California issued an order in Medani, et al. v. Trump, et al. that temporarily vacated USCIS’s Diversity Visa hold policy (PM-602-0193). The order applies while the case continues in court.
USCIS says it will follow the court’s instructions while the matter may be reviewed further. The court’s directive is aimed at allowing certain pending applications to be processed normally again during the remainder of the Diversity Visa fiscal year.
The court order directs USCIS, “to the extent practicable and in good faith,” to take reasonable steps to resume ordinary adjudication of the plaintiffs’ pending adjustment of status applications without applying PM-602-0193. In other words, USCIS is being told not to use that hold policy for those covered by the order.
The court also granted part of a request to certify a class. For USCIS purposes, the certified subclass includes “all selectees and derivative beneficiaries under the FY-2026 Diversity Visa Program” who are subject to the DV Hold imposed by PM-602-0193.
USCIS notes it strongly disagrees with the order, but it will comply with the terms for now. If you are a Diversity Visa selectee or a derivative beneficiary, you may want to check whether your case falls within the group described in the court’s certified subclass and follow USCIS updates.