STATE DEPARTMENT PROVIDES UPDATES ON 2020 AND 2021 DIVERSITY VISA EXPIRATION DATES
On June 25, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed the district courts’ decisions in multiple cases, which had ordered the U.S. Department of State (DOS) to reserve and adjudicate diversity visa (DV) cases from the DV-2020 and DV-2021 program years. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found that:
“The district courts had no authority to order the State Department to keep processing applications for diversity visas and issuing the visas beyond the end of the relevant fiscal years. . . Once Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021 ended, the plaintiffs lost their eligibility for diversity visas… Accordingly, we reverse the remedial orders challenged by the government…” Goodluck v. Biden, No. 21-5263 (D.C. Cir. June 25, 2024).”
Therefore, DOS will not process DV cases associated with the above district court decisions from the DV-2020 or DV-2021 program years. Impacted individuals from an eligible country who wish to submit a new DV entry may do so during the registration period for the DV-2026 program year, which will open in October 2024 and close in early November 2024.
For additional details regarding the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s decision, please view the DOS update.
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