On September 4, 2020, a judge from the United States District
Court for the District of Columbia issued a preliminary injunction
in Gomez, et. al. v. Trump, et. al. that temporarily bars
the Trump administration from halting the issuance of visas and
entry of certain classes of foreign nationals, namely, applicants
who won green cards in the Diversity Visa lottery. This decision
came at an especially critical time for this year's eligible
diversity visa applicants, given that the 2020 fiscal year will
close on September 30, 2020.
Since 1990, Congress has reserved up to 55,000 diversity
immigrant visas each year for individuals from countries with
historically low levels of immigration into the United States. Once
selected, applicants must apply for and receive their visas by the
end of the fiscal year or their opportunity to immigrate to the
United States by way of the Diversity Visa program is permanently
gone.
