🆘 Urgent: Tbilisi DV-2026 — CEAC showed “Issued,” but passports were returned without visas. What is happening?
I’m a DV-2026 applicant interviewed at the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi.
My case went through a second interview, and afterward my passport was kept. CEAC later changed to “Issued,” and I was told that my visa had been issued/printed.
Today, October 1, the embassy sent a message to applicants saying to collect their passports “without visas” and that applicants would be notified when a decision is made.
I collected my passport, and there is no visa inside, even though my CEAC status still shows “Issued.”
Other Tbilisi applicants are reporting the same situation. There are also reports of applicants who apparently had visas being unable to travel.
I’m very confused because the Medani court order provides an additional period for DOS to take action on affected DV-2026 cases, and NILC/CLINIC’s guidance says applicants should preserve evidence when a visa was approved but later reopened/put into 221(g).
Can anyone with knowledge of Medani/CLINIC/Ivanov or immigration law explain what this means for cases like ours?
Specifically:
Does CEAC “Issued” still mean the visa was actually issued if the passport was returned without the visa?
Can DOS/State Department reopen or cancel a visa after CEAC shows “Issued” but before the passport leaves the consulate?
Does the court’s additional 10-day period provide a mechanism to correct these cases?
Should affected applicants immediately send their CEAC screenshots, passport evidence, and embassy emails to the attorneys involved in Medani/CLINIC?
Has anyone received an explanation from Tbilisi about why passports are being returned without the visas?