State Department Instructs U.S. Embassies to Review Halted Immigrant and Diversity Visa Cases After Court Rulings
Exterior of the U.S. Department of State Harry S. Truman Building, Washington, D.C. (Official State Department photo by Linda D. Epstein)
The State Department has instructed U.S. embassies and consulates around the world to resume processing immigrant and diversity visa cases that were previously refused solely under two visa-issuance pauses that have since been vacated by federal courts.
The department’s Sept. 10 cable was formally filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Sept. 11 in Medani v. Trump, a case challenging the administration’s halt on diversity visa processing.
The filing, titled “Defendants’ Notice of Filing the Cable,” was submitted in the San Jose Division of the Northern District of California in case No. 5:26-cv-06332-EJD. It was signed by U.S. Attorney Craig H. Missakian, Civil Division Chief Pamela T. Johann and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nag Young Chu.
The notice fulfills a representation the government made to U.S. District Judge Edward J. Davila on Sept. 10 and provides the court with a copy of the cable, titled “Action Request: Vacatur of Immigrant Visa (IV) and Diversity Visa (DV) Issuance Pauses.” The government said portions of the document were redacted because they contained sensitive information about internal systems.
The cable says the department’s earlier pauses on diversity visa issuance and certain immigrant visa issuance “are no longer in effect.” It rescinds the previous guidance in full and directs consular posts not to refuse applicants under Section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act based on either policy.
The instruction follows separate court rulings that struck down the two pauses. On Aug. 21, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated the immigrant visa pause in Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc. v. Rubio. On Aug. 28, a federal judge in the Northern District of California vacated the diversity visa pause in Medani v. Trump.
What the Cable Orders
The cable directs every diplomatic and consular post to immediately identify immigrant visa and DV-2026 cases that were refused under Section 221(g) solely because of the immigrant visa or diversity visa pauses.
Consular officers are instructed to begin reviewing the affected immigrant visa and DV-2026 cases immediately. They must contact applicants in writing to request missing materials, including updated medical examinations when necessary. They are also directed to continue processing the cases and, when appropriate, require applicants to appear for a new interview.
The department instructed posts to reconsider cases chronologically, beginning with diversity visa cases refused on or after Dec. 20, 2025, and immigrant visa cases refused on or after Jan. 21, 2026.
Before considering any separate, case-specific processing issue, officers must remove the previous Section 221(g) refusal that was based on either of the now-vacated pauses.
The cable emphasizes that lifting the pauses does not mean every previously affected applicant will automatically receive a visa. Consular officers must still determine whether each applicant qualifies under all applicable immigration laws and policies.
Officers may issue a new Section 221(g) refusal for an individualized reason, such as an expired medical examination, pending security vetting or missing information. But any new refusal must clearly state the reason.
The department also instructed consular officers to complete a public-charge worksheet in all immigrant visa cases, including diversity visa cases.
Applicants who are otherwise ineligible under immigration law, including under INA Section 212(f) and Presidential Proclamation 10998, do not require further processing beyond removal of the refusal based on the vacated pauses, according to the cable.
Diversity Visa Applicants Are Prioritized
The Medani order covers a certified subclass consisting of “all selectees and derivative beneficiaries” in the fiscal year 2026 Diversity Visa Program who were affected by either pause, according to the cable.
The court directed the department, “to the extent practicable and in good faith,” to take all reasonable steps during the remainder of the diversity visa fiscal year to reconsider applications refused solely because of the pauses and to resume ordinary adjudication of pending cases.
The State Department specifically instructed posts to prioritize DV-2026 applicants whose interviews had originally been scheduled between Aug. 23 and Sept. 30 but were later rescheduled.
Embassies and consulates must contact those applicants with interview instructions and information about the documents they need to provide.
The timing is significant because diversity visas generally must be issued by the end of the applicable fiscal year. The cable does not guarantee that every affected case will be completed before the deadline. Instead, it follows the court’s requirement that the department act reasonably, in good faith and to the extent practicable during the remaining fiscal year.
In a separate case in the District of Columbia, Ivanov v. Trump, the cable says similar relief applies to the named plaintiffs, consisting of approximately 1,900 DV-2026 selectees and their derivative beneficiaries.
Immigrant Visa Pause Also Rescinded
The now-vacated immigrant visa pause had instructed consular officers, beginning in January, to refuse certain immigrant visa applicants from 75 countries unless another ground of ineligibility applied.
According to the State Department, the countries were Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, The Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, the Kyrgyz Republic, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Pakistan, the Republic of the Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
The policy was based on an assessment that applicants from those countries presented a high risk of becoming a public charge in the United States.
Under the court order in the CLINIC case, refusals based solely on that pause must be reconsidered without applying the policy, the cable says.
The department’s Visa Office will separately identify certain plaintiffs covered by another lawsuit, Storie v. Trump, whose cases must be completed under a court-ordered 30-day timeline.
The cable says consular posts must take the required steps for those plaintiffs by Sept. 24.
What Applicants Should Do
For applicants affected only by one of the two pauses, the cable directs them to wait for contact from the embassy or consulate rather than appear without an appointment.
The department’s prescribed public language says cases refused under the pauses are being reviewed in the order in which they were refused. Consular sections will contact applicants for further processing if the refusal was based solely on the immigrant visa or diversity visa pause.
Applicants should be prepared to provide an updated medical examination, missing civil or financial documents, additional security or background-check information, a new in-person interview or other evidence needed to establish visa eligibility at the time of reconsideration.
The cable also distinguishes the visa-pause litigation from separate disruptions to consular appointments.
It says the department began a worldwide consular training initiative in early August that may require some immigrant visa appointments to be adjusted. Applicants whose appointments were rescheduled are expected to receive an email with a new date and time when appointments become available.
Applicants are instructed not to go to the consular section until they have been directed to do so.
Embassy Websites to Be Updated
The cable requires embassies, consulates and third-party visa processing centers to remove references to the revoked immigrant and diversity visa pauses from their websites and locally produced public messaging.
Consular sections were instructed to confirm by Sept. 11 that their locally managed content had been reviewed and updated to reflect the court orders.
For affected DV-2026 selectees and immigrant visa applicants, the cable represents the State Department’s formal operational response to the court decisions. The previous blanket pauses may no longer serve as the basis for a Section 221(g) refusal, but each applicant must still complete any outstanding requirements and independently establish eligibility for a visa.