A federal court mandated the U.S. State Department must move forward with processing diversity visa (DV) applications for a specific group of individuals who were previously blocked by a presidential entry ban. The court concluded that the government’s actions likely violated immigration law. The ruling applies strictly to the eighty-four named plaintiffs and doesn’t extend to other affected individuals.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted a preliminary injunction requiring the State Department to resume processing the DV applications for the plaintiffs. These applicants come from countries affected by Proclamation 10949, an executive order prohibiting travel from countries such as Afghanistan, Myanmar, Iran, and Haiti. The executive order was issued on June 4, 2025, well after the 2025 DV lottery ended. Prior to the ruling, the State Department used Proclamation 10949 as justification to delay the processing of lottery winners.

The injunction compels the State Department to complete the visa adjudication process for the plaintiffs while their cases are still pending at U.S. consulates abroad. The department doesn’t have to issue the visas, it must continue evaluating them. The department must also reach a decision on all eighty-four visa applications by October 1, 2025.

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