Diversity Visa ("DV") Lottery Winners Thwart Government Roadblocks

Plaintiffs Teodor Paunescu and Lelia Paunescu were winners of the 1998 DV Lottery Program but were denied adjustment of status because the government failed to process their fingerprints prior to the fiscal year deadline.

Plaintiffs brought suit against the government under a mandamus and declaratory judgment theory requiring the government to complete their applications for adjustment of status. Cross-motions for summary judgment were filed.

The Honorable Judge Robert Gettleman denied the government's and granted the plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment.

First, the court found that it had jurisdiction to hear plaintiffs' claim despite the jurisdictional bar found in Section 152 of the 1996 Immigration Reform Act. Second, the court found that the government had a duty to adjudicate plaintiffs' applications; hence, the plaintiffs were entitled to have their applications for adjustment of status adjudicated, and. the court so ordered.