United States | Diversity visa ruling allows certain travel banned DV lottery winners to proceed with final adjudication

On Aug. 21, a federal judge ruled that the State Department cannot use the Trump administration’s travel ban to refuse the final processing of visa applications for a group of 84 Diversity Visa (DV) lottery winners.

Key Points:

• On Aug. 21, Federal Judge Sparkle Sookanan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a preliminary injunction requiring that a group of 84 DV lottery winners for fiscal year 2025, subject to the Trump administration’s travel ban on 19 countries, whose applications are pending administration processing at overseas consulates, receive final adjudications on their visa applications before an Oct. 1, 2025, deadline.
• The order further requires that those adjudications do not rely on what the court held was a “likely unlawful interpretation” of 8 U.S.C. § 1182(f) (which gives the president wide authority on who can be barred entry to the United States).
• The injunction is limited to the named plaintiffs.
• The ruling does not help the 12 named plaintiffs whose visas were already refused by the State Department following administrative processing.
• The order does not require the State Department to grant visas.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group.

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