About the Diversity Lottery: Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides for a class of immigrants known as “diversity immigrants” from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. For Fiscal Year 2020, 50,000 Diversity Visas (DVs) will be available. The Department of State determines selectees through a randomized computer drawing. The Department of State distributes diversity visas among six geographic regions, and no single country may receive more than 7 percent of the available DVs in any one year. For DV-2020, natives of certain countries are not eligible to apply, because more than 50,000 natives of these countries immigrated to the United States in the previous five years. President Trump’s Travel Ban on Immigrants: On Wednesday, April 22, President Trump signed a proclamation suspending entry into the United States of certain immigrants who present risk to the U.S. labor market during the economic recovery following the COVID-19 outbreak. The proclamation was effective at 11:59 p.m. EDT on Thursday, April 23. It was continued by President Trump on June 22, and will expire on December 31, 2020, unless continued. Applicants for immigrant visas covered by the proclamation, including Diversity Visa 2020 (DV-2020) applicants, who have not been issued an immigrant visa as […]