DV Lottery Winners Win Case Against Government!
Posted Jan 17, 2000

In a surprising decision, the winners of a Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery won a case against the INS to approve their green cards! As many of you know, the deadline to complete the DV cases is by September 30 of each year. The reason for this deadline is that it is the end of each INS fiscal year and all cases have to be resolved on or before that date for all the DV numbers that are allocated for that fiscal year. The Law Office of Sheela Murthy posts information each year on the procedures to apply for the DV Lottery Program and has stressed the importance of filing within the strict guidelines required.

The case involves two plaintiffs, Teodor Paunescu and Lelia Paunescu, who were winners of the 1998 DV Lottery Program. The INS denied their I-485 application for adjustment of status because INS failed to process their fingerprints prior to the fiscal year deadline. The plaintiffs brought a mandamus and declaratory judgment suit against the INS requiring the INS to complete their applications for adjustment of status. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment in the case.

The Honorable Judge Robert Gettleman ruled against the INS and granted the plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. The court held that it had jurisdiction of this case, despite the jurisdictional bar found in Section 152 of the 1996 Immigration Reform Act. Second, the court found that the INS had a duty to adjudicate plaintiffs' applications within the prescribed time frame; hence, the plaintiffs were entitled to have their applications for adjustment of status adjudicated by the INS!