A federal court found the U.S. Department of State illegally froze thousands of green card applications from 2020 Diversity Visa Lottery winners. The government is appealing the ruling. Initially, the applications were frozen due to the ongoing Covid travel bans. Both the Trump and Biden administrations delayed diversity visa applications from individuals who were not allowed entry to the U.S. due to Covid. Three other similar cases have been appealed by the Biden administration, pushing all the cases to be heard by the circuit court.

The finding, from October 13, 2021, ruled the State Department illegally used the travel ban as means to stop issuing visas. In addition, that court reprimanded the department for refusing to make processing diversity visas a prioritized task. The travel ban, enacted early in the Covid pandemic, temporarily barred noncitizens from immigrating to the U.S. on new green cards. Subsequently, several legal challenges from green card holders, U.S. businesses, and visa applicants were filed, claiming the State Department froze visa applications from specific individuals.

Since then, diversity visa winners have seen success in several cases. A total of 9,095 diversity visas were saved from expiring by a federal court as litigation continued. The visas were released in August 2021. Subsequently, the court ruled the State Department was faulted for using the travel ban as a basis for not issuing visas. The Department was instructed to complete the issuance of these visas by September 2022.

The latest use of travel bans is from South Africa after the discovery of the Omicron variant o Covid. The basis for all travel bans enacted due to Covid is section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. This is the area of focus for all travel bans and resulting lack of visa issuance.

If you have questions about your diversity visa or any immigration-related issue, contact us at ILBSG. We continue to monitor ongoing court reviews, findings, and resulting changes to ensure our clients get the right advice.

Diversity Visa Travel ban