If you're a DV lottery 2020 winner, you're in big trouble right now. And the reason is
because of the government's recent proclamation to suspend entry of certain non-immigrant
visas, as well as extending the April proclamation that specifically prevents DV lottery winners
from entering the US is going to cause some serious delays, and possibly eliminate the
opportunity for DV lottery winners to obtain their green cards. In this video, we'll talk
about a few options available for DV lottery winners that are currently stuck overseas.
And what I think is going to happen in the future before the deadline of September 30.
So watch this video, and I'll see you on the other side. So this video, we’ll talk about,
specifically, the impact of the recent proclamation issued by President Trump, specifically suspending
non-immigrant visas but also extending the previous proclamation from April. In that
proclamation, there was a specific bar for 60 days entry for DV visa lottery winners.
And we're going to talk, in this video, about the impact of those, specifically, that are
waiting overseas that did not have an interview yet. And the impact of not being able to complete
the process before September 30, which is the deadline, September 30, 2020, which is
the deadline to complete the program and be able to get an actual interview and a visa
and your passport. So, this particular proclamation has been very bad news for DV lottery winners
who anticipated that this ban is going to last only for 60 days. And hopefully, we're
not going to get an extension. Well, this didn't happen. This recent proclamation extended
the ban so I wanted to talk about some options in terms of the lawsuit, what's happening
currently, and what could happen if the process is not going to be completed. Before we dive
into the video, if you're here for the first time, make sure you subscribe to our channel.
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For those of you who are here, again, for the first time and don't know me, my name
is Jacob Sapochnik. And I'm an immigration attorney based in San Diego, California. And
we represent clients in all 50 states. And we're excited to bring this information to
you every single week and especially the DV lottery options and solutions because I know
it's been a topic of concern to many of you based on the comments and the emails that
we've been receiving. So, let's dive in right away. So, let's talk about the current state
of events. So, as we know that the jury proclamation was issued, specifically barring the entry
of certain non-immigrant visas, specifically H, L, H2B, and J. And we had another video
that will specifically explain that. But also, specifically pertaining to the lottery winners
is that they extended the previous proclamation which bars the entry of lottery winners for
at least 60 days. Now, it's going to be extended through the end of the year. Now, remember
that before this proclamation, we already have a travel ban for certain countries that
already cannot enter the US because we know where they're from. And quite a few DV lottery
winners were there as well. So, that's one thing that's going on. And then we have the
April proclamation that suspended the entry of DV visa lottery winners for 60 days. And
now this recent one extended until the end of the year. And so, there's currently a lawsuit,
section lawsuit that is being filed by the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
That was filed at the end of May and the idea behind it is to try to get some sort of an
injunction to stop the proclamation and to allow people that are currently stuck overseas
to be able to come to the US. And basically, force the consulates to take DV visa lottery
winners for appointments and other issues. It's not specifically for DV lottery winners,
the lawsuit. But it definitely will help if they're going to be able to get an injunction
because they're going to be able to force the consulates to take appointments. And of
course, the DV visa lottery winners need that to be able to get their visas in their passports
before September 30th. So, we've got that going on. And people are asking whether they
should be coming together to file more lawsuits where they should do it individually. Again,
there are different schools of thought. Obviously, class actions are definitely more effective
because more people are joined in a class action. They have more leverage to be able
to force the government to act [inaudible] supposed to be acting harder. And there's
another way for individuals to file a lawsuit called Mandamus, essentially forcing the government
to act. And in this case, issue a visa or do something that will stop the case from
being delayed. So, let's talk a little bit about the mandamus process. If a DV lottery,
either individual or a group of people who come together, for example, there's quite
a few attorneys who organize a few groups of plaintiffs, specifically DV lottery winners
that are being impacted or worried that they’re going to be able to finish the process. They
come together and joined on a mandamus lawsuit. So, what essentially mandamus lawsuit will
do to help DV lottery winners to not miss on the opportunity to get a visa. So, there's
a few things that he can do. Number one, before we look at him a mandamus lawsuit, we're looking
at a few things that we need to have to be able to file a successful lawsuit. So, let's
look at the first thing. The government has unreasonably delayed processing visa applications
for 2020 DV lottery winners. That's number one. And we can prove that because this proclamation
is illegal. It's unreasonable, and we've seen already lawsuits in the past that were able
to get injunctions against similar executive orders. So, it's not unreasonable to say that
what the government has done currently isn't reasonable. So, that's number one. If we go
into the US legislation, the law specifically says the following, 5 USC 5 5 B, a government
agency has a non-discretionary duty to conclude a matter presented to it within a reasonable
time. So again, typically, in DV lottery cases, people who are overseas by now should already
have their appointments. And what's happening right now under this proclamation is an unreasonable
delay, and therefore, it could be a ground for a mandamus. Let's look at another factor.
President Trump's current proclamation and the previous ones from April suspending DV
lottery from entering the US for 60 days, the current proclamation from June as well
as the one from April, both proclamations, arbitrarily prohibit the issuance of visas
for DV lottery winners. That's clear. If it wasn't for the first proclamation, suspending
it for 60 days, and this one extending until the end of the year, DV lottery winners will
be getting their visas. So, it's clearly preventing them from getting those visas. What does the
law say? The law prohibits federal agency action that is arbitrary, capricious, and
an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with the law, or is conducted without
observance of procedure required by law. Once again, this proclamation is clearly outside
of the scope of the law, it's arbitrary, it’s capricious. It was proven before. And it can
be proven again. And therefore, it's another very good factor for mandamus case if brought
against the government in a DV lottery lawsuit. So, if you look at what a mandamus is, mandamus
is a judicial rate, it's almost an order to force the government to perform its duty,
right? It's not forcing the government to do something illegal. It's forcing the government
to do something that is its duty. And in this case, the government has a discretionary duty
to adjudicate DV visa lottery winners 2020 before the deadline, which is September 30,
2020. So in this case, essentially, the government by extending the proclamation to December,
it's prohibiting DV visa lottery winners to complete the process by their deadline and
therefore, they have to be forced to do it, because it is illegal. Mandamus lawsuits,
especially in DV lottery cases, is not something new. This happened probably in the past 10
years quite a few times by individuals, but also by groups that came together. There was
a case of an individual a couple of years ago that filed the mandamus because of a severe
delay of background checks at the US Embassy, and he brought a lawsuit, or he filed a mandamus,
and he was able to get his visas issued before the September 30. That might be because he
knew that if he wouldn't do it, it wasn't going to happen. So, it's something that definitely
is effective. I think that, again, aside from the fact that, remember, we have the litigation
that is going on right now by the American Immigration Lawyers Association, it's a very
powerful lawsuit that has a lot of good points in it that, hopefully, we'll be able to get
an injunction but at the same time, we don't know how fast that's going to work. We don't
know what's going to happen again, things change every day but it's really important
to know that DV lottery winners, specifically those that are stuck overseas, we don't have
too many options. If visas are not going to be completed by September 30, there is no
way that they're going to be able to get the green cards. And in fact, if you think about
it, it goes back to a couple of years back when President Trump specifically said that
he does not like the DV lottery program, that he thinks that it's a faulty system, and it
should be eliminated. And in a way, what he's doing right now is a backdoor slam on closing
the program without getting approval from the Congress or getting a legal right to stop
the DV lottery program, right? It's illegal. This is a program that we need in the US.
This is a problem that we had it for many, many decades, specifically, to create diversity.
That's what it is, to create the diversity in our nation, to make sure that we are going
to be continuing to be a country of immigrants. And so again, I know the stress is out there.
And once again, those of you that are watching this video right now for the first time, make
sure to subscribe to our channel because I will be doing an update on this because I
know that people are anxious. And also join our Facebook group. There's a link in this
video, in the description of the video for groups, you can continue to get updates and
continue to discuss about options that we may have. Remember, if you are considering
filing a mandamus lawsuit, it's something to maybe consult an attorney to see if it's
right for you. There are quite a few groups that are forming right now trying to get a
mandamus filed on behalf of the DV lottery. Some people are doing it on their own. It's
better to do something than just wait. I believe in that as well. Or at least get information.
You don't have to necessarily go for a lawsuit right away but at least be involved in groups,
talk to others see what's going on, be in touch with the consulate. And of course, like
I said, as long as the proclamation is in effect, they will see DV lottery for interviews,
and they're going to be probably just stuck over there waiting for something to happen.
Those of you that are inside the US should not be impacted by this proclamation, the
only thing that we do have a lot of delays right now inside the US, I'm going to say
one thing that, make sure you put a lot of pressure on your local USCIS office, try to
get an appointment to speak to an officer [inaudible] reopening to make sure that they
know that you are a DV lottery case, and you have priority because the deadline is September
30. So once again, hopefully, this information was helpful. Just kind of a bit explaining
the DV lottery crisis right now, a little bit about the mandamus and why it's important
to try it and pretty much that if an injunction is not going to happen, I'm really concerned
that DV lottery winners are going to lose out this year and not get their green cards.
But let's see what happens. I'll keep you posted. I'll keep you updated. Thank you for
watching, and I'll see you in our next video.