PRESS STATEMENT
NED PRICE, DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON
MARCH 8, 2021
On January 20, President Biden signed Proclamation 10141, “Ending Discriminatory Bans on Entry to the United States.” President Biden has made clear that the now-rescinded Proclamations 9645 and 9983 were a stain on our national conscience, contravened our values, jeopardized our alliances and partnerships, separated loved ones, and undermined our national security.
Applicants from the affected countries may no longer be denied on the basis of nationality, and the Department has taken a number of steps to ensure that applicants previously refused visas under Proclamations 9645 and 9983 will not have future visa applications prejudiced in any way by those prior decisions.
As part of Proclamation 10141, President Biden directed the State Department, within 45 days, to provide a report including a proposal for individuals whose immigrant visa applications were denied due to Proclamations 9645 or 9983 and seek to have their applications reconsidered. The Department has provided the results of our review to the White House.
The Department explored every possible avenue under the law for providing relief to affected individuals. 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. Under current regulations, those whose immigrant visa applications were denied prior to January 20, 2020 may also be reconsidered, but these individuals must submit new applications and pay a new application fee.
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.
As the Department works to serve affected applicants as quickly as possible, the health and safety of our workforce and customers remains paramount. 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. 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.
Statement from the Troika Specials Envoys on their joint visit to Kauda
Yesterday we, the Special Envoys to Sudan and South Sudan from the United Kingdom, Norway and the United States (the Troika), visited Kauda to meet the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North/Abdelaziz al-Hilu, together with Special Representative of the Secretary General to Sudan, Volker Perthes.
To succeed, Sudan’s transition needs all its people. We applaud the efforts of the Government of Sudan and the SPLM-N/al-Hilu to reach a peace agreement. We were extremely encouraged by both parties signing up to the Declaration of Principles on 28 March which shows that it’s possible to move forward on important issues like separation of state and religion. We encouraged the SPLM-N National Liberation Council to build on this success, join the New Sudan and help bring about lasting peace.
