A federal judge in California has ordered U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to resume processing pending adjustment of status applications under the Fiscal Year 2026 Diversity Visa Programme. The order temporarily suspends a policy that had halted those cases.
Court Ruling Details
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued the order on August 28, 2026, in the case Medani, et al., v. Trump, et al., case number 26-cv-6332. The ruling temporarily vacated Policy Memorandum PM-602-0193, which USCIS had introduced to ensure that Diversity Visa applicants seeking to adjust their status inside the United States did not pose risks to national security or public safety.
The judge directed USCIS to take all reasonable steps, "to the extent practicable and in good faith," to resume normal adjudication of affected applications for the remainder of the Diversity Visa fiscal year, without applying the suspended memorandum.
Class Certification and Impact
The court also partly granted the plaintiffs' request for class certification. The certified subclass covers "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." This means thousands of Diversity Visa winners and their family members currently inside the United States could benefit from the ruling as litigation continues.
The suspended memorandum had been put in place specifically to subject all Diversity Visa adjustment applicants to additional screening before their cases moved forward, a process the agency framed as a necessary security measure. With the policy now temporarily set aside, USCIS is required to process those applications under the standard adjudication framework that existed before PM-602-0193 was issued.
USCIS Response and Next Steps
USCIS confirmed it will follow the court's terms but made clear it does not accept the decision. The agency said it "strongly disagrees with the Court's order but will follow its terms pending possible further judicial review," signalling that the government may seek to challenge or overturn the ruling at a higher court.
The case remains active, and the court's order applies only for the duration of the current Diversity Visa fiscal year while further litigation proceeds.
