U.S. Embassies Schedule Hundreds of Diversity Visa Interviews in Two Days After Court Order
The U.S. government has scheduled interviews for about 45 new Diversity Visa applicants and reinterviews for approximately 864 applicants who had previously been interviewed, over the past two days, according to a status report filed Wednesday in federal court.
The figures cover activity since Sept. 13 and the government’s previous status report, filed Sept. 14, in Medani et al. v. Trump et al., a case challenging the administration’s handling of Diversity Visa processing.
Of the newly scheduled interviews, about six had taken place as of the Sept. 16 filing. About 85 of the scheduled reinterviews had also been completed during the same period.
Most of the newly scheduled interviews and reinterviews are set for future dates, the government said.
The latest numbers show a sharp increase from the government’s first status report, filed Monday after the court ordered the State Department to resume processing Diversity Visa cases affected by the now-vacated visa pauses.
Through Sept. 13, the department had scheduled initial interviews or reinterviews for about 147 Diversity Visa applicants since late August, according to the earlier filing. That total included about 41 initial interviews scheduled from Aug. 29 through Sept. 13 and about 106 reinterviews for applicants who had previously been interviewed but whose cases required another interview.
Only about 11 of those interviews and reinterviews had taken place by the time of the Sept. 14 report. Most were scheduled for future dates, the government said.
Since the Sept. 14 status report, approximately 218 Diversity Visa applications have been refused under the Immigration and Nationality Act, according to the Sept. 16 filing.
During the same period, approximately 28 Diversity Visa applications were approved for issuance.
The government cautioned that some reported refusals may involve applicants who had previously completed interviews but whose refusals had not yet been entered into consular processing systems.
In the earlier reporting period, from Aug. 29 through Sept. 13, the State Department reported that approximately 169 Diversity Visa applications had been refused and that one Diversity Visa application had been approved for issuance.
A refusal under Section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act generally means that a consular officer requires additional documents, administrative processing or other information before reaching a final decision. Under the State Department’s new guidance, a case may not remain refused solely because of either rescinded visa pause; any continued refusal must be based on an individual issue in the applicant’s case.
Visa Pauses No Longer in Effect
The State Department said it has treated the Diversity Visa pause as no longer operative since Aug. 28, when the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted preliminary relief in Medani v. Trump.
The department said it has treated the separate immigrant visa pause as no longer in effect since Aug. 21, following a ruling in Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc. v. Rubio in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The immigrant visa pause had affected citizens of 75 countries, including Nepal. It covered applicants for family-based and employment-based immigrant visas, as well as some fiscal year 2026 Diversity Visa selectees.
In a Sept. 10 cable sent to U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide, the State Department formally rescinded earlier instructions that had paused immigrant and Diversity Visa issuance.
The guidance directed consular posts to identify cases refused under Section 221(g) solely because of either visa pause and review them again. Posts may request missing or updated documents, schedule another interview when necessary, and approve a visa for issuance if the applicant otherwise qualifies under U.S. immigration law.
The rescission does not require automatic visa issuance. Applicants may still be refused for case-specific reasons, including missing documents, expired medical examinations, pending security checks or another legal ground of ineligibility.
The department also said it had updated its websites to reflect that the policies had been vacated. Embassies and consulates were instructed to remove remaining references to the pauses from post-specific and vendor-managed websites and to review locally published online information.
Deadline Nears for DV-2026
The timeline remains urgent for fiscal year 2026 Diversity Visa selectees because federal law generally requires Diversity Visas to be issued by Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.
The court ordered the State Department to make good-faith efforts to reconsider and process affected fiscal year 2026 Diversity Visa applicants and their derivative beneficiaries before that deadline. The department’s guidance directs consular posts to prioritize applicants whose Diversity Visa interviews had been scheduled between Aug. 23 and Sept. 30 but were postponed.
The Sept. 10 directive, identified in the government’s filing as Cable 26 STATE 88862, instructs consular officers to review affected cases chronologically. It covers fiscal year 2026 Diversity Visa cases refused because of the Diversity Visa pause on or after Dec. 20, 2025, and immigrant visa cases refused because of the 75-country pause on or after Jan. 21, 2026.
Before considering any other possible grounds for refusal, consular officers are instructed to remove a prior Section 221(g) refusal if it was based solely on one of the pauses. Officers must then determine whether the applicant otherwise qualifies for a visa.
Posts may contact applicants by email or other written means if they need an updated medical examination, civil or financial documents, additional security-related information or another in-person interview. The government said consular posts began contacting Diversity Visa applicants after receiving the Sept. 10 guidance.
Data Remain Under Review
The State Department does not maintain interview dates and times — or changes to those schedules — in a centralized format that can be automatically collected, according to a footnote in the court filing.
As a result, information on scheduled and completed interviews must be compiled manually from U.S. consular posts around the world and across different time zones.
The government said the figures remain under review and are subject to change. Any necessary corrections or updates will be included in a subsequent status report.
U.S. District Judge Edward J. Davila ordered the government to provide updates three times a week after concerns that Diversity Visa interviews had not resumed and visas had not been issued more than a week after his Aug. 28 ruling.