Hi all, as you probably already know there is an important hearing tomorrow where DV2020 and DV2021 issues will be heard on a number of different lawsuits in front on Judge Mehta. We will NOT have any final decisions tomorrow – so please don’t expect that. But lawsuits cause action and it will be interesting to listen in if you can.
The cases being discussed are the following.
Gomez (including Aker, Fongjon, Mohammed and Kennedy) (AILA, JALC, Kuck et al, Morrison et al).
Goh (Kuck/Siskind/Joseph/Hall)
Goodluck (Morrison/Urena)
Filazopovich (Glazer)
Hearing details
The hearing is Monday at 1:00 pm EDT:
You can check what time that means in your part of the world here:
To list in you can dial the Court’s toll-free public access line: (877) 848-7030, (US landline number is (404) 443-2170) use the access code 321-8747
or the Court’s YouTube channel (audio only) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbzm9hRdZJNhT15R5Be5Ahg
The hearing is scheduled to last 3 to 3.5 hours.
Charles Kuck has explained the hearing will be divided into these four sections.
1. Justiciability
2. INA 212(f) interpretation and Delay
3. Case-specific claims
4. How Relief will work
The lawsuits all ask the court to consider relief for their plaintiffs, but there are some common themes among the lawsuits. Curtis Morrison has laid out his list of asks (in the Goodluck case) as these:
1) Reserve the visas,
2) Declare no-visa policy and prioritization scheme unlawful
3) Enjoin Biden administration from using these unlawful policies to cause plaintiffs’ delays, and
4) Mandate process applications, schedule interviews, and issue visas to eligible plaintiffs.
If you would like a little more of a preview about what will happen – please watch this video
August 15, 2021 at 19:56
Hi Brit, all good? After the July 19 hearing:
a) when was the next hearing slated? Or nothing was said abt that.
August 15, 2021 at 21:29
No date set.
August 9, 2021 at 08:30
Hi Simon,
Do you know if the Goh lawsuit seeks to preserve visas for all DV2021 selectees or only for those who are plaintiffs?
My interview was cancelled in Sydney due to the lockdown, so I was wondering if the lawsuit also seeks relief for those who are non-plaintiffs.
Thanks!
August 12, 2021 at 22:47
The lawsuits primarily look for protection for their clients, BUT it is possible that we get a result that benefits all.
August 8, 2021 at 16:18
Hello Mr. Brit; I got this information but am wondering if it relates to the final ruling on DV 2020 by the judge? Is it true judge Mehta has refused the plaintiffs application??
https://youtu.be/y6rQWMeQ3oo
64ea1f_1c7e1c8b584a436480828869aa082b09
Thanks
August 12, 2021 at 22:23
It’s one lawsuit, not related to the main lawsuits.
August 7, 2021 at 06:21
I just have those feelings that Judge Mehta is playing for time. The outcome will not be good that is the reason for such delayance.
August 8, 2021 at 14:54
Your feelings are illogical.
August 5, 2021 at 06:45
Thank you Brit for the tremendous efforts, you keep on for Dv2020 relief. Am dv2020 CN Af484**. A non plaintiff. I got aready for scheduling message since March.
1) will I have chance for the interview if the gomez case finds relief?
1) or will i need to contact AILA if the judge orders the 9095 visas to be issued?
August 5, 2021 at 14:01
I don’t know. We don’t have an order yet.
August 4, 2021 at 10:39
I won the dv 2020. I just found out about the process. Is it too late? Or is there something else you can do?
August 5, 2021 at 13:33
Be more clear. Did you do anything about your win last year? When, what?
July 24, 2021 at 17:55
Since january-1-2020
July 24, 2021 at 17:53
Hi brit,
Somebody tell me how baghdad embassy issued some visa on
October 2020 1 visa
April 2021 1 visa
May 2021 4 visa
while “all consular services are suspended at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq due to the attack on our facility.” That is what they said at us.baghdad embassy webpage.
July 25, 2021 at 16:16
I don’t know.
July 24, 2021 at 06:06
hi brit
im one of dv 2020 selectes. but i didnt get the schedule date from kcc. im waited for a long time then i send twice to kcc. threre is no responce from them. im plantif in Gomez (AILA).
so what do you think ? i hv a chane??
July 24, 2021 at 06:13
Wait and see.
July 23, 2021 at 20:47
Dear Brit,
Thanks so much for your support and advice. 2021AS9xxx
Today I received two emails from KCC stating: “Our records indicate that your case is ready to be scheduled for an interview when your case number becomes current and appointments are available.”
I sent my documents to KCC 3 times and have been sending a weekly email to KCC for the past two months. A month ago I started mentioning that I am a plaintiff in Goh.
Something is happening, since I would have had almost zero chance to become documentarily qualified when my first document submission was on March. Now the question is if the Jerusalem embassy will accept me or whether to ask for a different consulate. I have an option to ask for a transfer to the Belgium consulate, which is a 3 hour drive from my house as I live in Luxembourg. However, the Jerusalem embassy has processed 22 DV cases at the same time that Brussels processed only 4. Also, I’ve been to the Jerusalem consulate several times in the past and they seemed professional. The reason I ask is because going to the Jerusalem embassy will force me to stay in Israel for two weeks and I am not sure which embassy is the safer bet.
What do you think?
July 24, 2021 at 06:09
I can’t make that decision for you, you have to decide.
July 23, 2021 at 14:02
Dear Brit,
I’m a DV21 winner from EU and I am ready to be scheduled. My passport will expire on January 2022 but I’ve seen that the embassy require me to bring an unexpired passport valid for six months beyond the intended date of entry into the United States.
My question is, I will renew my passport in the coming days, should I re-send the documents to KCC?!?
What I have to do?
Thanks a lot,
Sara
July 24, 2021 at 06:01
No, just take old and new passports to the interview.
July 23, 2021 at 11:20
Hey
Brit firstly i just want to thank for all you have done for us and then i just want to ask you for dv2020 was cancelled their interview in April because of Ban, if there is a chance for that visa reserved by Mehta (9095). Thanks for you good answer
July 24, 2021 at 05:57
Maybe. We just have to wait and see.
July 23, 2021 at 10:10
I am Dv2020AF711** . I got in KCC mix can’t see documents when i became current in May. I re -emailed my documents and kept the phones ringing to kcc. By end of July they had confirmed they received and can now forward to relevant department. I waited for 2nl in July 2020 in vain… September was merely for plaintiffs but I tried to push from Our AF embassy in vain. KCC never sent 2nl. @britsimon, What is the meaning of KCC to have sent my documents to relevant department? Which department?? Group 5
July 23, 2021 at 10:12
I first sent my documents in October 2019.
July 24, 2021 at 05:56
As far as the government is concerned your case is ended. All you can do now is wait for the outcome of the Gomez lawsuit.
July 25, 2021 at 07:27
Thanks for your time and response.
July 23, 2021 at 09:25
Dear Mr. Brit,
I already got my green card on October 6, 2020 and returned to my home country to process to my wife and kid expecting judge Metha’s order to issue 9095 visa is applicable in near future. However, I have to return to USA by September as it is not to stay more than 12 month.
1) Is there hope that the judge Metha’s order will be implemented in the coming two months?
2) Is there another way to process for my wife and kid?
My case 2020AF00020819
Thank you in advance
July 24, 2021 at 05:54
1. I don’t know.
2. You should do family based application. Your DV case is closed since the derivative is issued.
July 24, 2021 at 12:02
Dear Brit,
My wife was suspended by counselor during the interview to submit her medical result. However, the embassy was closed and she was not able to submit the medical result. At the end of August we got our kid. I think both my wife and kid have opportunity if judge Metha’s order is to be implemented. Is that not?
Thanks
July 25, 2021 at 16:12
No. I already told you. Your DV case is closed since you entered the USA.
July 23, 2021 at 03:45
Hi Brit,
My situation is getting complicated. Need your expert advice. My details are as below –
Case# DV2021AS17xxx. Currently living in Canada. Embassy is Montreal, QC, Canada. I’m a named plaintiff in Goh lawsuit. I’ve submitted the documents but the interview is not scheduled yet.
My employer is processing L1B Blanket for me. And I am expected to move to US by 4th week of August.
Questions:
1. If I move to US in August, will I have to go through AOS process to get the DV or I can still go through Counselor Processing at Montreal embassy?
2. If I move to US and Judge Mehta gives positive verdict in Goh case, will I be benefited or I will not be because of the AOS processing?
3. Considering the remaining time for the current fiscal year end, is moving to US and processing DV through AOS beneficial and feasible?
4. Should I move to US or not?
Thanks!
July 24, 2021 at 05:50
1. You can still do CP – but Montreal is not scheduling DV cases at all right now.
2. AOS will probably not benefit from the ruling
3. Probably not since you are clearly not ready.
4. Your choice.
July 22, 2021 at 16:15
Hello Brit,
A GOH plaintiff here. I just sent an email to KCC today, and miraculously I received an answer. What’s your opinion about the process they stated regarding documents? I have a high EU case number, but we know that this is not true, am I correct?
“Documents are processed in numerical order, based on lottery rank number.”
Thanks for everything!
July 24, 2021 at 02:46
As I have explained many times, they process documents in case number order. However, there have been times when there was no backlog, so some very high cases got processed early on. It’s not the mystery that some people try to make it seem.
July 24, 2021 at 09:45
Thank you. But I think it is just an excuse now. We see cases with low numbers not processed. And in my point of view using this method would only make sense if they receive docs from everyone othetwise how can they decide which shall be processed or not? Anyways, I wait for our the decision from the Judge.
July 24, 2021 at 19:27
No – not an excuse.
I answered you here:
https://youtu.be/Swux0FFALOg
July 22, 2021 at 06:54
Hi brit I’m AS11*** I got a interview Location in my home country but I live in Canada now. So is it wise to request to change interview Location to Montreal? Or
is it better to go to interview in home country at least the primary applicant.
July 24, 2021 at 02:37
Montreal are not currently interviewing.
July 24, 2021 at 20:09
then can I change it to USA as I live near by in Canada
July 25, 2021 at 16:35
No. That is a totally different process.
July 25, 2021 at 17:50
So only available option for me is to fly back to Sri lanka and have my interview their.
And If only the primary applicant go to interview how long it will take the other members to get pr in usa( how long they hv to wait)
July 25, 2021 at 22:26
Around 2 years
July 21, 2021 at 07:16
hey britsimon i have question . if in case the lawsuit reserve visa for dv 2021 , it might take years to get the visa so is it possible to get merried and update ds 260? will kcc respond for unlocking ds 260 after being document qualified?
July 24, 2021 at 01:16
It’s probably too late to do that now.
July 20, 2021 at 22:14
Hi Brit,
DV2021AS17XXX.
In your YouTube live about “DV Lottery | Live Q&A about the hearing today – July 19” one of the listeners asked you “why the Montreal US Embassy is not scheduling the interviews?” and your answer was that they are pain in the…. in other words they are not very active/interested.
1. My embassy is Montreal. I have submitted documents in mid-April. Still have not received ‘ready to schedule an interview’ email from KCC. Do you think I should change the embassy considering that they are not very active as far as the DV is concerned?
Thanks!
July 21, 2021 at 05:52
It is too late, unless we get a win in the lawsuit.
July 21, 2021 at 18:08
Thank you for your reply. I contacted Montreal Embassy requesting them to schedule the interview and received reply from them(given below) reply. Do you think I should forward their email to our lawyers (Immpact Litigation) and if they can use it to prove that DoS is not instructing embassies to resume the processing of DVs?
Montreal Embassy’s email reply below –
“Hello,
Thank you for your inquiry. The U.S. Consulate General in Montreal is processing immigrant visas and will prioritize Immediate Relative family members of U.S. citizens including intercountry adoptions, fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens, and certain Special Immigrant Visa applications, as well as other mission critical categories such as medical professionals. We have not yet resumed processing DV-2021 visa applications.
We will continue expanding our services following State Department guidance to safely return our workforce and the public to Department facilities. For more information on phased resumption of services please visit: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/phased-resumption-routine-visa-services.html.
Thank you for your patience and understanding,
Regards,”
July 24, 2021 at 01:40
Sure.
July 20, 2021 at 12:40
Hi Mr Brit,
So I am a Goh plaintiff, received ready for Scheduling email and currently working in Country A, (Country of Permanent residence) but interviewing in Country B(Country of Citizenship).
Want to hire an attorney to contact kcc to change my interview location back to country A (Country of PR with high chances of receiving 2nl even without lawsuit).
I am DV2021 Af184**
1. Would u advise I proceed with the attorney contacting kcc.
2. Is it too late.
3. Do I leave the location in country of citizenship knowing very well that chances of receiving 2nl there is zero in September but high in country A. My case is still with kcc awaiting interview scheduling.
4.Do I wait for the ruling in Goh v state department before hiring an attorney to help with the change.
Thank you sir,
July 21, 2021 at 05:30
It would normally be too late, but if Goh wins you wil be able to sort it out with KCC. You don’t need a lawyer for that.
July 25, 2021 at 06:13
Thank you Sir for your response.
So, yesterday I received an email from Country A(Country of permanent residence) ready to interview my case and asking me to ask kcc to send my case to them.
I have sent kcc the request wherein I took a screen shot of country A, ready to take my case and asking me to request from kcc.
My question therefore is knowing very well that kcc takes over 4 weeks these days to respond to emails and time at the moment a serious limiting factor for DV2021,
1. Will it be asking for too much from Country A, if I should go back and request them to use other means possible to reach kcc for my case considering the circumstances as explained above. I don’t want to get them angry. Please advice.
2. Should I resort to that after waiting for kcc reply and if so how long could u estimate.
Thanks sir.
July 25, 2021 at 19:56
The embassy know very well that KCC are responsible for picking who can be scheduled. It is done on order of being DQ. So – the embassy can say how many appointments they can accept – they cannot tell KCC which ones to schedule.
July 20, 2021 at 05:18
Mr Brit
I watched your vedio with regard to yesterday hearing before Juge Metha. Very informative and Thankyou.
.I’m DV 2020 Asia region. Did not receive Ready for scheduling E mail and so I’m in Group 5.
I have sent my documents back in March 2020 and again June 2020..
1. MY concern is whether I will get a chance for interviewing my case if Juge Metha order to issue 9095 visa.
THANK YOU
July 21, 2021 at 05:13
No one can say for sure. Wait for the outcome.
July 20, 2021 at 05:02
Dear Simon, thank you so much for all of your efforts in helping DV selectees. I asked a question regarding whether FTJ is covered by lawsuits during today’s (Jul 19) live Q&A. So I just want to clarify our situation.
I am the principal DV2021 selectee, and I adjusted my status in May. During my interview, I informed the interviewing officer that my spouse was overseas and needed to apply for his DV visa as a derivative via FTJ. The IO requested me to file Form I-824 to the lockbox, which I did after my AOS was approved in mid-May. However, the processing time of I-824 is 3.5-13 months. Therefore, I do not know if I would have enough time to wait for the adjudication of I-824 and the case transferring from the USCIS to NVC to the embassy.
I also contacted my embassy several times, however they always referred to Form I-824 and were unwilling to directly schedule a so-called formality FTJ interview for my spouse. I reached out to my congresswoman and hoped that they could push Form I-824 by working with the USCIS NBC & field office. They also contacted the embassy and got the same response as I did. The most recent update I had was that the USCIS field office did not know how to transfer my case directly to the embassy. It seems that we are running out of options, and I am unsure whether my embassy would be able to schedule the FTJ interview after the September 2NL for CPers are out, even if my Form I-824 is approved. That was why I asked whether the FTJ would be covered by the lawsuits if DV2021 selectees are granted favorable decisions by Judge Metha.
Could you please shed some light on our situation? I will keep working with my congresswoman, but I wonder if there is anything else I could try. Thank you so much.
July 20, 2021 at 06:12
Your I-824 should have been part of the interview. The FO would have helped get an embassy appointment. This is now up to the embassy – all you need is an appointment. Perhaps a local lawyer could help achieve that – it really does not take any time at all – the processing time you were quoted is nonsense. Push. That’s what you need.
July 20, 2021 at 00:40
Hi BritSimon. I can’t Thankyou enough for your help with this. I’m a DV 2020 winner. It’s seeming impossible to leave Australia at this time to travel to the U.S to activate my green card. Ive tried several times. I just watched this chat. Do you think it might be possible to become a plaintiff on one of these cases now? I realise this could be a stupid question if a decision is made today. I’d like to contact the lawyers if it’s ongoing. Is there info available? Thankyou – tired of trying and being constantly rejected.
July 21, 2021 at 04:56
Huh? You got a visa in September 2020? You just can’t travel? That’s nuts. Sort it out. Advice here:
https://forums.immigration.com/threads/dv-2021-oceania-selectees.343022
July 21, 2021 at 06:09
Sorry Brit, I mean to say that I got the visa issued in September 2020 but am currently unable to leave the country to activate at the u.s airport with immigration. Australia is not approving my exemption/reason to travel. And it’s going to expire Mid August isn’t? If it’s due to expire 6 months on from when the proclamation was rescinded? Was wondering if I have a greater chance of maintaining this green card by being a plaintiff on one of these cases? Am I as clear as mud. Hope not. I’ll check out this forum in the meantime. Thankyou! You’re the only helpful person in all this mess.
July 22, 2021 at 00:02
The lawsuits won’t help you. You have already had *amazing* benefit from the Gomez cases, first by getting a visa in September, then by Mehta ensuring you could use it this year. People in the forum I gave you know how to apply for permission to leave Aus. Literally, your Greencard depends on that one thing. Sort it out!
July 19, 2021 at 15:25
I don’t know if I am inclusive,after my interview on the 21st of Sept 2020,the officer issued me a paper stating that they need to get my medical report to issue me the visa of which the hospital sent to the embassy the next day but I didn’t hear from them again until the 2nd of October,i received a mail from them saying they are sorry the 2020dv lottery has expired and there is nothing they can do but they will recommend me to try again. Please will I be called back after the good outcome?
July 21, 2021 at 04:49
If we get a positive result in Gomez you have a chance.
July 21, 2021 at 05:16
Thank you sir.
July 19, 2021 at 08:24
Thank you for throwing light into todays lawsuits. DV 2020 Ghana selectees are waiting anxiously for a good outcome
July 19, 2021 at 07:00
Hey! Brit. Am 2022 selectee, i applied for 2020_2022 lottery in south sudan right now i changed my interview during my Ds_260 form to cairo as a place for interview because am living here current but high case number my question is here.
Can the selectee of case number 2022AF361** get a chance of an interview because I wanna loose hope with this lawsuit .
July 21, 2021 at 02:53
It is not about the case number, it depends when you became documentarily qualified.