Washington, Oct 1 (IANS): A US federal judge ordered the State Department to continue processing specified diversity-visa applications for 10 days beyond the fiscal-year deadline, finding that the department had delayed complying with an earlier court order.
US District Judge Edward Davila in California on Wednesday (local time) granted part of an emergency request by applicants.
The order requires the department to make reasonable, good-faith efforts to reconsider applications refused solely under two suspended visa policies and resume ordinary processing of pending applications.
It does not guarantee applicants a visa. Davila also rejected a broader request to reserve approximately 40,000 unused diversity visas for issuance beyond the fiscal year.
“The Court finds DOS’s compliance with the PI has been less than substantial, and its lack of diligence from the time it received the Court’s order to the time it implemented the order is of exceptional significance,” Davila wrote.
The preliminary injunction, issued August 28, had temporarily set aside policies identified in the ruling as the State Department’s diversity-visa pause and its 75-country pause.
It directed the department to reconsider affected applications and resume processing during the remaining weeks of the fiscal year.
According to Wednesday’s ruling, the department attributed its initial delay to preparing guidance for diplomatic and consular posts. Davila said it should have sought a temporary stay, requested other relief or informed the court of the delay.
Instead, the department waited until applicants raised its noncompliance before sending instructions to overseas posts, the judge found.
Processing remained slow after those instructions went out. The ruling said the department adjudicated approximately 83 diversity visas a day worldwide between September 10 and September 21, compared with roughly 230 a day in September 2025.
The department attributed the slower pace to required training concerning public-charge inadmissibility, according to the order. Posts that had not completed the training generally could not resume immigrant-visa processing, subject to exceptions.
Davila said the department had again failed to promptly inform the court how that requirement affected compliance.
Processing accelerated after a September 21 hearing. By September 28, the department had processed 3,814 visas, averaging approximately 272 a day during the period covered by the court’s calculation.
