- Applicants in Morocco face two overlapping visa pauses blocking final issuance despite ongoing interview scheduling.
- Casablanca continues scheduling March 2026 interviews for cases that were documentarily complete by December 2025.
- A strict September 30, 2026 deadline remains for all DV-2026 selectees to receive their visas.
(MOROCCO) — Moroccan Diversity Visas selectees are moving through parts of the DV-2026 process even as two overlapping Department of State pauses continue to block actual visa issuance for applicants in Morocco.
The result is a split-track system. Casablanca appears to be scheduling immigrant visa interviews for March 2026, and applicants may still file forms and attend appointments, but no Diversity Visas can be printed while the global Diversity Visa issuance pause remains in force, and Moroccan nationals also fall under a separate nationality-based immigrant visa issuance pause that began in January.
That distinction matters for Moroccan DV-2026 applicants who have watched cases advance on paper while the final step stays frozen. Scheduling, interviewing and issuance are no longer moving together.
The Department of State imposed the first pause on December 23, 2025, when it stopped issuing all Diversity Immigrant Visas worldwide “to ensure [the visa] process upholds the highest standards for U.S. national security and public safety.” The department said applicants could still submit DS-260 applications and attend interviews, and posts could continue scheduling appointments, but “no DVs will be issued.”
A second pause took effect on January 21, 2026. That measure halted immigrant visa issuances across immigrant categories for nationals of 75 countries identified as “at high risk of public benefits usage,” including Morocco.
Together, those measures leave Moroccan DV-2026 winners facing cumulative restrictions. Even if the Diversity Visa-specific pause ended first, Moroccan nationals would still remain subject to the separate nationality-based immigrant visa issuance pause unless the department changed that policy as well.
No exceptions were announced in either pause. Current valid visas were not described as revoked because of the measures.
The broader operating climate tightened further on February 28, 2026, when the Department of State issued a Worldwide Caution after U.S. combat operations in Iran. That alert advised Americans to exercise increased vigilance globally and added another layer of pressure on consular work.
Security alerts do not automatically shut consulates, but they can change how posts operate. Staffing postures, public access, crowd-control measures and daily appointment capacity can all tighten, reducing throughput even when scheduling systems remain open.
For Moroccan applicants, that means the bottleneck is not limited to policy language on visa printing. Security-driven operating limits can squeeze interview capacity at the same time issuance remains paused.
Casablanca, however, still appears active on scheduling. The Department of State’s Immigrant Visa Scheduling Status Tool shows current scheduling for Casablanca is active for March 2026, with cases being assigned that were documentarily complete as of December 2025.
That status signals that the post is still moving some cases from document qualification into the interview calendar. It does not mean a visa can be issued immediately after interview.
For applicants who became documentarily complete by December 2025, that movement offers one sign that files are not sitting untouched. Yet it also highlights the mismatch at the center of the current moment: appointments may proceed, but printing a visa remains subject to both pauses.
Morocco has 3,670 DV-2026 selectees, including principal applicants and derivatives, according to the Department of State’s November 2025 Visa Bulletin country breakdown. All of them are working inside a fixed fiscal-year window that runs from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026.
That deadline gives the pauses extra weight. Diversity Visas cannot be issued after September 30, 2026, and the program has no extension or carryover provision for unused DV-2026 cases.
Each week lost to a continued freeze adds pressure on the remaining calendar. Interview slots, document reviews and final adjudications all have to fit inside that same closing window.
The Department of State has been explicit about how it sees the current arrangement. On the Diversity Visa side, the department said, “Effective immediately, the Department of State has paused all visa issuances to diversity immigrant visa applicants.”
“DV applicants may submit visa applications and attend interviews, and the Department will continue to schedule applicants for appointments, but no DVs will be issued.”
That language lays out the department’s present position in direct terms: preparation and interviews may continue, but issuance does not.
The department tied the DV pause to a security-driven review of screening and vetting protocols in the program. That rationale sits alongside the wider security posture reflected in the Worldwide Caution, which can further reduce practical interview capacity at individual posts.
On the nationality-based measure, the department used similarly direct wording. “Immigrant visa applicants who are nationals of affected countries may submit visa applications and attend interviews, and the Department will continue to schedule visa interviews.”
But issuance for listed nationalities is paused, and Morocco is on that list. In practical terms, Moroccan applicants face a separate issuance bar even apart from the global Diversity Visa freeze.
That is why Casablanca’s apparent interview activity matters, but only up to a point. An interview date can still mark progress in a case, especially for applicants who have already completed the long lead-up to scheduling, yet it does not by itself resolve the final obstacle.
Another change has narrowed applicants’ options on where they can process. Effective November 1, 2025, the Department of State required immigrant visa applicants to interview in their country of residence or, if requested, their country of nationality, with limited exceptions.
The department said those changes apply to Diversity Visa applicants beginning with the DV-2026 program year. For Moroccan selectees, that rule largely ties cases to Casablanca unless the applicant lawfully resides elsewhere and the alternate post accepts the case.
That matters because applicants cannot easily shift to what they believe may be a faster post. The interview-where-you-live policy keeps most Moroccan DV-2026 processing anchored in Morocco.
Casablanca’s recent cadence therefore carries more weight than it otherwise might. When the scheduling tool shows the post assigning March 2026 interviews for cases documentarily complete in December 2025, it gives applicants one of the clearest available markers of how far the queue has moved.
That progress remains limited relative to the size of the Moroccan cohort. With 3,670 selectees and a closing date of September 30, 2026, any prolonged pause compresses the remaining time for interviews and any later issuance if the freezes are lifted.
The underlying Diversity Visa process still follows its normal sequence, even under the current disruption. Selected entrants must first confirm selection and submit a DS-260 for each applicant.
After that, applicants wait for the Kentucky Consular Center to process the DS-260. KCC cannot predict interview dates.
Once a case becomes current in the Visa Bulletin and is documentarily qualified, KCC schedules the interview at Casablanca under the residence-based interview rule. The department’s current DV-2026 update and Casablanca scheduling status both point to that pipeline still functioning at least through the appointment stage.
Before interview, applicants still need to complete the medical exam and gather the civil documents and police certificates required for Casablanca. They also need to prepare for fee payment at interview, which remains $330 per applicant, and the fee is non-refundable.
Those steps still matter because the pauses do not suspend case preparation. Applicants who reach the interview stage can still be seen by consular officers, and a fully prepared file avoids another source of delay if issuance later resumes.
The post-specific document list for Casablanca remains part of that preparation. So does the interview itself, even though the final visa decision cannot presently end with printed issuance.
For many Moroccan selectees, the present reality is procedural motion without final resolution. Cases can become current. DS-260s can be processed. Interviews can be scheduled and attended.
What applicants cannot get, for now, is the physical Diversity Visa. The department’s current guidance leaves that step on hold worldwide for DV cases and separately on hold for Moroccan nationals across immigrant visa categories.
A recent petition by Moroccan DV-2026 selectees asking the U.S. Consulate General in Casablanca for clarity on interview scheduling illustrates the volume of people waiting and the strain created by that uncertainty. The official count behind that pressure is 3,670 selectees, including family derivatives.
The remaining months of FY2026 now shape every practical calculation. Casablanca appears to be working through documentarily complete cases for interviews, but the calendar is finite and the barriers to issuance remain in place.
For Moroccan DV-2026 applicants, the Department of State’s message is now clear and narrow at the same time: keep the case moving where possible, keep documents ready, attend the interview if scheduled, and wait for a policy change that would allow the final visa to be issued before September 30, 2026.
