UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA VLADIMIR GORGADZE, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Civil Action No. 21-2421 (JDB) ANTHONY BLINKEN, Secretary of State, et al., Defendants. MEMORANDUM OPINION Plaintiff Vladimir Gorgadze is a Russian national who was selected to participate in the annual Diversity Visa (“DV”) program for the 2021 fiscal year (“DV21”). He, his wife (plaintiff Elena Petukhova), and his minor son (plaintiff Mikhail Gorgadze), submitted visa applications in August 2020 in hopes that they would be selected for three of the 55,000 DVs available for DV21. However, plaintiffs have not been contacted by U.S. immigration officials regarding the status of their applications since they submitted the required documentation in January 2021. On September 14, just sixteen days before the September 30, 2021 statutory deadline for the issuance of DVs under DV21, plaintiffs filed the instant action seeking a temporary restraining order requiring the government to immediately interview them and adjudicate their applications or to set aside DVs for them to be adjudicated after the close of the 2021 fiscal year. The government has moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing that plaintiffs lack standing and have failed to state a claim on which relief can be granted. Because plaintiffs have not met the high bar for obtaining the emergency relief sought, the Court will deny their motion for a temporary restraining order without ruling on the government’s motion to dismiss at this time. 1 Background I. The Diversity Visa Program Congress established the DV program under the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”), “provid[ing] for up to 55,000 immigrant diversity visas to be distributed each fiscal year to foreign nationals that hail from countries with historically low levels of immigration to the United States.” Filazapovich v. Dep’t of State, No. 21-cv-943 (APM), 2021 WL 4127726, at *2 (D.D.C. Sept. 9, 2021) (citing 8 U.S.C. §§ 1151(e), 1153(c)). Unsurprisingly, millions of would-be immigrants apply for the program each year to vie for one of the 55,000 annual DVs. Id. (citing Gomez v. Trump (“Gomez I”), 485 F. Supp. 3d 145, 159 (D.D.C. 2020)). For example, “in Fiscal Year 2018 there were approximately 14.7 million qualified entries.” Gomez I, 485 F. Supp. 3d at 159. Among those millions, a much smaller number of “selectees” are picked at random by lottery and given the opportunity to apply for DVs for themselves and their dependent immediate family members. See 22 C.F.R. § 42.33(c); U.S. Dep’t of State Bureau of Consular Affs., Instructions for the 2022 Diversity Visa Program at 5–6 (last visited Sept. 29, 2021), https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Diversity-Visa/DV-Instructions-Translations/DV-2022- Instructions-Translations/DV-2022-Instructions-and-FAQs_English.pdf. Each selectee then “submit[s] an application and various documents to be eligible for a visa number.” Almaqrami v. Pompeo, 933 F.3d 774, 776–77 (D.C. Cir. 2019). Once the selectee is assigned a visa number, he or she must complete Form DS-260 and submit scanned copies of all required supporting documents (birth certificates, police records, military records, etc.) to the Kentucky Consular Center (“KCC”). See 9 Foreign Affs. Manual (“FAM”) § 502.6-4(d)(1). KCC reviews the submitted …
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