US Embassy Moscow "is now functioning with just 120 employees, making it difficult for the Americans to carry out consular services and other diplomatic work in Russia."

https://www.axios.com/russia-embassy-moscow-diplomats-expelled-fbd84f40-1080-49fd-b8f4-dd1368105953.html?

Hi everyone! The 2023 Diversity Visa Program is open for entry from October 6-November 9. The ONLY way to enter is through https://dvprogram.state.gov/. Good luck and please follow all instructions carefully.

FAQ: How many Goodluck plaintiffs are DQ?

Answer: We do not know, and there is no way to know. Simply, we have found communications from KCC's LDRM contractors to be contradictory and misleading, and thus, unreliable.

FAQ: What happens next in Goodluck?

Answer: Pursuant to briefing schedule, the government must file the certified administrative record by October 11.
The administrative record is the set of non-deliberative documents that the decision-maker considered, directly or indirectly (e.g., through staff), in making the final decision.)

Thanks. 🙏

“I believe over the last two years, [the Diversity Immigrant Visa program] is not working as intended. It's not bringing in the full amount of people to really increase the diversity of the United States of America.” - Rafael Ureña #dv2021 #DV2020
https://www.pri.org/stories/2021-10-11/we-all-keep-our-lives-hold-thousands-wait-diversity-visas-go-through-amid?

#RaivBiden #DV2021 Update: Government has filed their answer to our complaint in that case. It's not very strong- they also include 2 months-old exhibits from Defendants Morgan Miles and Edward Ramotowski.

#GoodluckvBiden #DV2021 Procedural Update: the government has filed the certified administrative record. This supposed to be the record of their decisions that we are challenging. Sadly, it's not. It's like they misunderstood the assignment.

However, there is some new information here: the last 7 pages explain their decision to only allow Turkish citizens at the Ankara consulate.

#SunnyvBiden Update: Government has filed their opposition to our motion for preliminary injunction, with 2 exhibits.
I've redacted the personal information about individual Sunny plaintiffs in the declaration of Chloe Dybdahl. For the few surprises we saw there, we are reaching out to the plaintiffs individually.

#DV2020 FAQ: When will Judge Mehta’s reserved DV2020 visas be issued?
Answer: We know we won and that the reserved DV2020 visas will be issued, but we don’t know when. We are waiting for an order from Judge Mehta on that issue of when.

#DV2020 Update. Judge Mehta has issued his order in Gomez saying that the reserved DV2020 visas must be issued by Sept. 30, 2022. Note: this has no impact Goodluck or DV-2021.

#DV2020 Update. Judge Mehta also issued the following "final order" on the summary judgment motions. If the Biden administration chooses to appeal, this is the order they would appeal, and they only have 60 days in which to do that.

(This post was edited to correct error)

#DV2020 Update: For DV2020 selectees located within the US, we don't know if "adjustment of status" will be an option for you or not. I've just sent this nudge to government attorneys suggesting that the question be clarified when they release public guidance on their implementation.

FAQ: What will be the impact of Gomez DV-2020 issuances on DV-2022?

Answer: The DV-2022 process faces extraordinary challenges from the State Department’s “tiered approach” to visa prioritization. The impact of reserved DV-2020 and DV-2021 issuances will be negligible in comparison to that obstacle.

#DV2020 Gomez Update: earlier today, the court issued an amended order correcting the typographical error suggesting that 9,905 visas will be issued instead of the 9,095 that were reserved last year. Pursuant to this correction, only 9,095 DV-2020 visas will be issued.

#DV2021 Update: draft of Friday's #RaivBiden joint status report reveals:

(1) Government defendants are seeking authorization to appeal Judge Chutkan's Sept. 27, 2021 Order, but Justice Dept's Office of the Solicitor General (Brian H. Fletcher) must authorize it first, and he hasn't.

(2) In last 4 days of September alone, State Dept issued 2,323 visas. (this was 60% of the # of visas issued in August).

#RaivBiden #DV2021 Update: Tonight Rafael filed a notice of supplemental authority with Judge Chutkan letting her know about Judge Mehta's decision on processing the DV-2020 visas.

Request of our DV clients: Please don’t message me or my team and ask us to calculate your odds of success. Our job is to improve your odds, not talk about them. We don’t really have time to both.

#DV2021 #RaivBiden Update- still haven’t filed Joint Status Report but we’ve just exchanged latest draft with government attorneys and are hopeful it will be filed within an hour.

#DV2021 update- Govt still reviewing their section of the #RaivBiden joint status report, but they've shared with me the declarations and the exhibits, which include their attempts to implement Judge Mehta's Sept 9 #GoodluckvBiden order.

One thing that catches my eye here- the government’s own declarant does not suggest KCC was instructed to implement the Goodluck order. That explains a lot.