If your immigrant visa or Diversity Visa was refused sometime in the last year, there is important news.
Two federal court orders have struck down the policies that caused those refusals.
The government is now required to go back and review those cases.
Here is what happened, who it affects, and what you should do next.
What Happened
Starting in December 2025, the U.S. government paused visa approvals for Diversity Visa lottery winners.
It cited concerns about applicant vetting and identity verification.
In January 2026, it expanded that approach with a second, much broader pause.
This one covered immigrant visa applicants, family and employment based alike, from 75 specific countries the government said were at high risk of applicants becoming a public charge.
Both pauses worked the same way. Instead of reviewing each applicant’s case on its own, consular officers were told to refuse anyone caught by the pause using a general hold code, whether or not there was anything actually wrong with that person’s application.
In August 2026, two federal courts stepped in.
A court in New York struck down the 75 country pause on August 21, in a case called CLINIC v. Rubio. U.S. District Judge Jeannette A. Vargas of the Southern District of New York issued that ruling.
A court in California struck down the Diversity Visa pause on August 28, in a case called Medani v. Trump. U.S. District Judge Edward J. Davila of the Northern District of California, San Jose Division, issued that order.
Courts in Washington, D.C. issued similar relief for specific named applicants in two more cases, Ivanov v. Trump and Storie v. Trump.
As of these rulings, both pauses are no longer in effect anywhere in the world.
The State Department has confirmed this in writing to every embassy and consulate.
One thing these rulings did not change: the State Department is still adjusting immigrant visa appointments worldwide while consular officers complete new training, and it has not given an end date. We covered that separate pause in State Department Pauses Immigrant Visa Appointments Worldwide, and the August 21 ruling in Judge Strikes Down 75-Country Immigrant Visa Ban.
Which 75 Countries Were Affected
If you hold citizenship from one of the countries below, and your immigrant visa application was pending or refused between January 21, 2026 and August 21, 2026, this directly applies to you:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, 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, Kyrgyz Republic, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Pakistan, 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.
A few things worth knowing about this list:
- It applied to immigrant visas only. Tourist, student, and other temporary visas were not affected by this particular pause.
- It covered every immigrant visa category, including family sponsored green cards and employment based green cards like the EB-3.
- Dual nationals were generally exempt if they applied using a passport from a country not on the list.
- Several of these countries already had other travel restrictions in place, so for some applicants this pause added a second layer on top of an existing one, rather than being the only barrier.
If your country is on this list, that alone was never a permanent bar.
It was the basis for a pause the courts have now vacated.
Your case moves forward from here based on your own facts, not your nationality.
Why Your Visa Was Paused
If you were refused, your paperwork likely showed a code called 221(g).
This is a general hold code under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
It usually means a consular officer needs more information, or more time, before deciding a case.
Normally it gets used one case at a time.
During the pause, the government used this same code to refuse large groups of applicants automatically.
Cases were not reviewed individually.
That is exactly what the courts objected to.
The rulings do not say every applicant will get a visa.
They say the government cannot keep refusing people simply because they fell into one of these two blanket categories.
What Changes Now
The State Department has ordered every embassy and consulate worldwide to stop citing either pause as a reason for refusal.
When a consular officer reopens a case that was refused under the pause, they are required to write a specific note in the file.
For the 75 country pause, the note states that as of August 21, 2026, the pause no longer applies.
For the Diversity Visa pause, the note states that as of August 28, 2026, that pause no longer applies, or August 25, 2026 specifically for named plaintiffs in the Ivanov case.
Posts are now required to go back through the cases they refused, starting with the earliest ones first.
Each case gets reviewed individually.
For Diversity Visa cases, that means starting with refusals from December 20, 2025.
For the 75 country pause, that means starting with refusals from January 21, 2026.
Posts are working through these in chronological order, moving forward toward more recent refusals.
This does not erase any other requirement. If your medical exam expired, you will likely need a new one.
If you still need standard security or background checks completed, those still apply.
Consular officers are allowed to reopen a case with a new, specific reason for a hold if one exists.
What they cannot do anymore is cite the pause itself.
Officers may also ask you to come back in for a new interview if enough time has passed since your last one.
Learn more about how each of these steps fits into the bigger picture in the EB-3 visa process.
What You Should Do
- Do not travel to your consulate without a confirmed appointment. Posts will contact you directly if they need you to come in, and showing up without a scheduled appointment will not speed things up.
- Watch your email closely, including your spam folder, for a message about a new appointment or a document request.
- Get your documents ready now. If your medical exam has expired, plan on getting an updated one so you are not delayed once your case comes up for review.
- Confirm your mailing and email address are current with the consulate or your attorney, so you do not miss a notice.
- Keep copies of everything related to your original refusal, including the refusal notice itself. If you need to follow up, having your case number and the date of your original refusal on hand will make that conversation faster.
How Long Will This Take
This will not happen overnight.
Consular posts are working through refusals in chronological order.
That means people refused earlier in the pause will generally be reviewed before people refused more recently.
If you were refused near the start of either pause, in December 2025 or January 2026, you may hear something sooner than someone refused in the summer of 2026.
Diversity Visa cases carry an extra deadline that immigrant visa cases in general do not.
By law, Diversity Visa green cards must be issued before the government’s fiscal year ends on September 30.
Because of that hard cutoff, posts have been told to prioritize scheduling interviews for Diversity Visa applicants whose appointments were originally set between August 23 and September 30, 2026, but got pushed back.
If that describes your situation, you should expect to be contacted directly about rescheduling.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this mean my visa is approved now?
No. It means the government can no longer refuse your case simply because of the pause. Your case still has to go through a normal review, and you still need to be otherwise eligible for the visa.
What if I never got a clear reason for my refusal?
That is common with a 221(g) refusal, since it is a general hold code rather than a specific denial. If your case falls in the affected time window, it should be picked up as part of this review, even without a new request from you.
Can I still get my green card if I am from one of the 75 affected countries?
Yes. Nationality alone was the basis for the now vacated pause, not a permanent bar. Your case will be reviewed on its own facts going forward, the same as anyone else’s.
I am a dual national. Does this affect me?
If you applied using a passport from a country not on the list, you were generally exempt from this particular pause in the first place. If you applied using a passport from one of the 75 countries, the pause applied to you regardless of any other citizenship you hold.
Who do I contact if I have not heard anything?
Reach out to your attorney or the consulate handling your case to confirm your case is in the queue. Since posts are working through cases in order starting from the earliest refusals, waiting is expected. A check-in never hurts if it has been several weeks with no update.
