With deadline near, diversity visa applicants ask judge for extended relief

A Sept. 30 deadline could leave many 2026 diversity visa applicants without a pathway to immigration.SAN JOSE, Calif. (CN) — A group of diversity visa applicants asked a federal judge during a hearing Tuesday to extend the government’s deadline for processing applications.Senior U.S. District Judge Edward Davila previously issued a preliminary injunction to temporarily force the State Department to restart processing the applications after the applicants challenged two government policies that had placed indefinite holds on green card applications and adjustment of diversity visa status. He also granted in part class certification of subclasses for individuals whose diversity visas were on hold.But on Tuesday, Davila wondered how he could order the government to continue processing diversity visas after Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, and also generally the end of the government’s obligation to process diversity visas for 2026 under the Immigration and Nationality Act.“Tell me the legal basis to extend the relief you are asking for,” he told plaintiffs’ attorney Curtis Morrison.Morrison asked Davila for emergency supplemental relief for thousands of diversity visa applicants, and for U.S. consulates around the world to continue to adjudicate and issue up to 40,000 unused diversity visas. He argued Davila could find the government in contempt of court for not complying with his preliminary injunction.“There has not been resumption of ordinary visa adjudications,” Morrison said. “It’s a Catch-22, if they are not invited to an interview they can’t attend an interview, so that is very frustrating for the plaintiffs.”Morrison noted that while many of his thousands of plaintiffs have received relief, either in the form of rescheduled interviews, visa adjudications or issued visas, class members who had their visas on indefinite hold, or had their interviews canceled, had yet to see relief.“The audacity of defendants to not schedule new interviews at all,” said Morrison to the court. “And I thought what is causing that? The defendants have interpreted the court’s order as applications to those who already had interviews scheduled.”Davila said he was disappointed the government failed to follow the court’s order diligently, saying it frustrated the process by delaying adjudications due to retraining and sending cables to consulates about the new directives several days after the court’s order.The judge said he felt giving the government a quota to fulfill would expand the court’s order beyond his legal authority to do so. But he asked if extending the diversity visa application processing period for the next 11 days — approximately the amount of time the government delayed restarting processing applications — was a measurable and appropriate action.Department of Justice attorney Nag Young Chu said that Davila’s suggested remedy was likely against statutory law and that the government “substantially” complied with the court’s order.“Because this such relief, it’s never been done before, I don’t logistically know how it would happen at the agency,” Chu said.Furthermore, the attorney said, consulars stop processing new applications before the fiscal deadline and prioritize “security checks to explain certain deficiencies," adding that each consulate allocates its resources differently.According to Davila, based on status reports supplied by the government three days a week since his Aug. 28 preliminary injunction, 3,814 visas have been processed.Under the diversity immigrant visa program, the Department of State holds a lottery in which it randomly selects noncitizens from countries with historically low rates of U.S. immigration for the opportunity to apply for a green card. If an applicant is in the U.S. under a different visa at the time of selection, they must a submit form with Immigration Services to adjust their status to permanent resident.Selection to the program does not guarantee a visa, just the ability to apply for one. Generally, the Department of State selects up to 55,000 immigrants to start the application process for each fiscal year.In December 2025, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the State Department issued the two policies that placed indefinite holds on green card applications and adjustment of diversity visa status.And in February, the State Department issued a notice indefinitely pausing visa approval for 75 countries, requiring consular officers to refuse all immigrant visa applicants until the agency develops new guidance for them to assess if an applicant might become dependent on public assistance once in the U.S.Davila said he would take the plaintiffs’ motion for supplemental relief under submission but did not indicate if he would publish an order before Sept. 30.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads