- USCIS placed DV adjustment cases under PM-602-0193 hold, blocking final approvals for domestic applicants.
- The USCIS DV Hold affected Form I-485 filings inside the United States, not overseas interviews.
- USCIS reaffirmed the review on March 30, 2026, while eligibility expires September 30, 2026.
USCIS placed pending domestic adjustment applications filed by Diversity Visa selectees under a hold, blocking final approvals while the agency reviewed the cases. The action came through PM-602-0193, a policy memorandum issued on December 19, 2025.
The memo froze adjudication at the final stage. Applicants could still see their cases in the system, but the cases could not reach approval while the hold remained active.
The measure became known as the USCIS DV Hold. It affected people seeking adjustment inside the United States, not Diversity Visa applicants waiting for overseas interviews through the Department of State.
The distinction is procedural. The hold applied to domestic adjustment-of-status cases filed through Form I-485. It did not stop the department’s overseas interview processing.
The review stopped the final step, not the existence of the cases
Free toolDS-160 Form Filling Online Helper ToolApplicants could continue to have pending cases, but USCIS stopped normal final adjudication. That left DV selectees inside the country unable to complete green card approval through the agency during the hold period.
The freeze also reached related benefits. Work and travel benefits tied to the pending adjustment cases were reported as frozen alongside the applications.
A backlog formed. Applicants were left waiting for USCIS to resume adjudications at its discretion.
The memo’s title described the policy as “Hold and Review of Pending USCIS Adjustment of Status Applications Filed by Aliens Under the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program.” The language identified both the affected population and the agency’s stated approach: pause decisions while reviewing the cases.
USCIS reaffirmed the hold as the fiscal-year deadline neared
USCIS reaffirmed the policy in a March 30, 2026 alert titled “Update on USCIS’ Strengthened Screening and Vetting.” The agency said the review was intended to determine whether applicants posed national security or public safety concerns.
The review therefore continued after the original December memorandum. It also ran against a fixed program deadline.
Eligibility for fiscal year 2026 Diversity Visa selectees expires on September 30, 2026. That date limits how long a pending case can remain unresolved while preserving the possibility of adjustment.
The DV program leaves little room after a delayed decision
Diversity Visa cases differ from many other adjustment categories because eligibility is tied to a fiscal year. USCIS must approve the adjustment before that period ends.
If approval does not arrive before the deadline, the applicant can lose the opportunity to adjust even when the case would otherwise be approvable. A pending case alone does not complete the green card process.
That deadline turned the hold into more than a routine processing delay. Each case remained in limbo while the agency’s review continued, and the available window for approval continued to close.
The memo established the policy on December 19, 2025. USCIS later reaffirmed it on March 30, 2026, leaving the September deadline as the next fixed date for fiscal year 2026 selectees.
