Important Update on Diversity Visa (DV) Cases

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently reversed lower court decisions in Gomez v. Biden, Rai v. Biden, Goodluck v. Biden, and Goh v. Biden. This means the State Department will not process diversity visa (DV) applications from the DV-2020 and DV-2021 program years that were subject to these court orders.

The Appeals Court determined that the lower courts lacked the authority to extend the processing of DV applications beyond the end of the relevant fiscal years. This was based on existing statutes that define eligibility deadlines. Therefore, those who were previously eligible under DV-2020 and DV-2021 have lost their eligibility.

If you are from an eligible country and wish to apply for a diversity visa, you may do so during the registration period for the DV-2026 program year. This period opens in October 2024 and closes in early November 2024.

For complete details of the court's decision, please refer to the official opinion. The State Department will provide updates if there are further appeals or changes in the status of these cases. We will maintain case records related to DV-2020 and DV-2021 until all litigation concludes.