Diversity Visa Passport Rule Survives Early Legal Challenge

A federal trial court in D.C. has refused to grant a preliminary injunction that would block the State Department’s new rule that requires prospective applicants for diversity visas to have passports issued by their home country before entering the annual lottery for the visas.

Prospective applicants haven’t shown that the rule will cause them irreparable harm because there is a small chance of getting chosen in the lottery (0.8%), and they can apply for the annual lottery in the future, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said.

The Immigration and Nationality Act established the Diversity Visa Program ...