A group of FY 2020 diversity visa lottery winners requests The Washington D.C. federal court to order the immediate processing of their green cards. More than 1,000 families selected for the diversity visa in FY2020 are still waiting for their green cards to be processed. Orders requiring the quick processing of these visas were issued over two years ago. However, due to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the previous administration’s visa ban, lottery winners’ visas are still not processed.

As a result, the Biden administration asked to delay the required effective date of issuance of these visas. The administration cited the increased visa backlog due to the pandemic as the reason for their requested delay. Diversity visa lottery winners typically have one year to receive their visas. The FY2020 diversity visa winners are now requesting immediate processing. The group argues that the U.S. Department of State’s visa processing abilities have recovered, with 10.4 million nonimmigrant visas and 563,000 immigration visas issues in FY 2023.

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