An order to process over 10,000 diversity visas is being appealed by the Federal government. The diversity visas have been on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Winners from the 2020 and 2021 diversity visa lotteries brought various legal actions to protect the processing of their visas from expiration. Two D.C. judges found in favor of the diversity visa winners.

The Federal government is appealing the court’s decision that enacted diversity visa orders processing by the end of September 2022. In their appeal, the government states they believe the appeals court will likely overturn the orders. As such, the requirement to process should be put on hold, pending the circuit court findings.

The government claims that allowing the lower court findings to proceed limits their ability to manage their resources as they face an unprecedented backlog of immigration visa filings. To meet the September 2022 date, the U.S. Department of State would need to reassign resources from normal processes. As such, other individuals in the immigration filing system will be harmed.

Diversity visas allow up to 50,000 qualifying individuals selected in a lottery to be eligible for a green card. To qualify, individuals must be coming from countries that are underrepresented and have proof of either education completion or work experience.

From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, several travel bans were enacted. In addition, consulates and embassies were closed for an extended period of time or had very limited capability to process immigration requests. These actions drove the historic backlog in visa processing, across all types of applications. However, individuals filing legal action to protect their diversity visas were largely successful. Judges found that the State Department could not freeze visa applications while travel bans were active. The judges went further to hold thousands of green cards in reserve. Those green cards were released after final judgments in September and October of 2021.

The Biden administration argues that the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) requires the consular office to reject visa applications from individuals who are included in COVID bans. As a result, the denial is following the law. Further, they state that allowing the diversity visas to remain available after their stated expiration date is not in compliance with the law. Diversity visa winners must complete processing within the year it is won.

ILBSG continues to monitor ongoing legal actions and policy changes. If you have questions about the diversity visa orders or any other immigration-related issue, contact us at ILBSG.

Diversity Visa