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Law360 (March 9, 2021, 3:34 PM EST ) The U.S. State Department will review applications from people who were denied immigrant visas under country-specific travel restrictions imposed during the Trump administration, the department has announced after a 45-day policy review.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement Monday that the agency would no longer deny visas to applicants from 13 countries named in presidential proclamations 9645 and 9983 based on their nationalities. The department is also taking measures to ensure that people who were refused visas under those and other executive actions often referred to as "Muslim bans" would not be penalized in future visa applications.
"The department explored every possible avenue under the law for providing relief to affected individuals," Price said. "Those whose immigrant visa applications received a final refusal on or after January 20, 2020 due to the proclamations may seek re-adjudication without resubmitting their application forms or paying any additional fees, provided the underlying visa petitions remain valid."
People whose visa applications were denied under proclamations 9645 or 9983 before President Joe Biden's arrival in office on Jan. 20 could also submit their applications for reconsideration, but they would have to file new documents and pay application fees again, he said.
However, Price said the department's hands were tied with regards to applicants for the diversity visa program, also called the green card lottery, who were denied during the Trump administration.
"FY 2017-FY 2020 diversity visa applicants who were not issued visas are statutorily barred from being issued visas based on their selection as diversity visa applicants in those fiscal years, as the deadlines for visa issuance in those fiscal years have expired," he said.
The American Civil Liberties Union was quick to denounce that aspect of Monday's announcement.
"The opportunity to 'win' a diversity visa is a rare and life-changing opportunity that was snatched away from thousands of people because of President Trump's hatred and discrimination," ACLU senior legislative and advocacy counsel Manar Waheed said in a statement Tuesday. "Instead of restoring this opportunity, President Biden just dusted off Trump's 'CLOSED' sign and locked the door behind him."
The State Department review was mandated in Biden's first immigration-related executive action, the Proclamation on Ending Discriminatory Bans on Entry to the United States, signed the day of his inauguration. The proclamation reversed a number of Trump-era orders often referred to as the "Muslim ban" due to the restrictions they imposed on immigration primarily from majority Muslim and African countries.
Specifically, Proclamation 9645 restricted nationals from Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen seeking to move to the U.S.
Of those countries, only nationals of Venezuela remained eligible for immigrant visas and could participate in the diversity visa program, also called the green card lottery, while the others were barred from those categories. Most of the countries on the list were prohibited from certain non-immigrant visa categories as well. Chad was later removed from the list.
Proclamation 9983 added visa restrictions for nationals of Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania.
On Jan. 22, State announced that it would begin processing visa applications from nationals of the affected countries immediately following the rescission of those proclamations, but reminded would-be applicants that appointments remained limited at many U.S. consulates due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Limited operations remain in effect, Price reiterated Monday.
"The COVID-19 pandemic, and the health safeguards it has necessitated, continue to severely impact the number of visas our embassies and consulates abroad are able to process," he said. "Our team in Washington and around the world continue to work tirelessly to find ways to increase the number of immigrant visa appointments, and will continue to do so in the coming months."
--Editing by Brian Baresch.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
