US Court Orders Relief for Diversity Visa Applicants Including Kenyans
Kenyans selected for the US Diversity Visa programme have been handed a potential lifeline after a federal court intervened in Trump administration policies that had disrupted the processing and issuance of immigrant visas.
The ruling, issued on August 28 by the US District Court for the Northern District of California, followed a legal challenge brought by Diversity Visa applicants affected by the administration’s policies.
Judge Edward Davila certified classes of affected Diversity Visa applicants and temporarily vacated three government policies that had disrupted the programme.
One of the measures challenged in court was a December 2025 USCIS policy placing a hold on pending adjustment-of-status applications involving Diversity Visa applicants.
The court also addressed a separate State Department policy that had paused Diversity Visa issuance, as well as another policy affecting immigrant visa applicants from 75 countries.
The ruling provides temporary relief as the wider legal battle over the administration’s immigration policies continues.
Relief for Kenyans chasing the American dream
The decision is particularly significant for Kenyans because Kenya is among the countries whose citizens are eligible to participate in the US Diversity Visa programme, commonly known as the Green Card Lottery.
The programme provides a limited number of permanent-residency visas each year to eligible applicants from countries with historically lower levels of immigration to the United States.
For successful applicants, however, being selected in the lottery is only the beginning of the process.
DV-2026 selectees must complete the required immigration procedures, including submitting the DS-260 immigrant visa application, attending an interview where required and providing supporting documentation and medical examination results.
Race against the September 30 deadline
The court intervention comes at a particularly critical moment for DV-2026 applicants.
Under US immigration law, Diversity Visa selectees can only receive their visas during the fiscal year for which they were selected. For DV-2026, that window closes on September 30, 2026.
That means applicants who have been caught up in processing delays face a race against time.
Even if an applicant has been selected and has completed substantial portions of the immigration process, selection alone does not guarantee a visa.
Visa numbers can also become unavailable before the fiscal year deadline.
For Kenyan applicants whose cases have already progressed through interviews or other stages, the continuing uncertainty could therefore have major consequences.
State Department announces another pause
The legal victory has not, however, brought an immediate end to the uncertainty surrounding the Diversity Visa programme.
The US State Department said the earlier December 2025 pause had ended following the August 28 court order.
However, the department has since announced a separate pause on the issuance of Diversity Visas, saying it wants to review the programme’s screening and vetting procedures.
The State Department linked the review to national security and public safety concerns following a shooting at Brown University and the killing of an MIT professor.
US authorities said the suspect in the incidents had entered the United States through the Diversity Visa programme.
The review is intended to examine potential weaknesses in the programme’s vetting procedures.
Applicants can still attend interviews
Importantly, the latest pause does not necessarily mean that every part of the Diversity Visa application process has stopped.
Applicants may still submit applications and attend scheduled interviews, according to the State Department’s guidance.
However, no Diversity Visas will be issued while the latest issuance pause remains in effect.
That distinction could prove crucial for DV-2026 selectees because completing an interview does not by itself guarantee that a visa will ultimately be issued.
What the court ruling means for Kenyan applicants
For Kenyans selected under DV-2026, the ruling represents a potentially important legal development—but it should not be interpreted as an automatic guarantee of permanent residency.
Applicants must still satisfy all eligibility and admissibility requirements, complete the necessary immigration procedures and have an available visa number.
Most importantly, their cases must be resolved before the September 30, 2026 statutory deadline.
The combination of the court ruling, the State Department’s latest issuance pause and the approaching end of the DV-2026 fiscal year has therefore created an increasingly uncertain situation for thousands of applicants worldwide.
For Kenyan selectees, the coming weeks could prove decisive.
Those affected are likely to be watching closely for further court orders and official announcements from the US government as the September 30 deadline approaches.
For now, the federal court’s intervention represents a significant legal setback for policies that had disrupted Diversity Visa processing, while the State Department’s subsequent issuance pause means that applicants still face uncertainty over whether they will actually receive their visas before the programme year expires.
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