Rule2022-12514
Visas: Diversity Immigrants
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
June 10, 2022
Effective
June 10, 2022
Issuing agencies
State Department
Abstract
The Department of State ("Department") is removing from the Code of Federal Regulations amendments that were published in an interim final rule ("IFR") on June 5, 2019, requiring principal entrants submitting an electronic diversity visa entry form to provide certain information, including the entrant's unique serial or issuance number associated with the principal entrant's valid, unexpired passport or claim an exemption to the passport requirement. This document responds to a ruling of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which vacated the rule.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 112 (Friday, June 10, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 112 (Friday, June 10, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 35414-35415]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-12514]
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DEPARTMENT OF STATE
22 CFR Part 42
[Public Notice: 11730]
RIN 1400-AE74
Visas: Diversity Immigrants
AGENCY: Department of State.
ACTION: Final rule.
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[[Page 35415]]
SUMMARY: The Department of State (``Department'') is removing from the
Code of Federal Regulations amendments that were published in an
interim final rule (``IFR'') on June 5, 2019, requiring principal
entrants submitting an electronic diversity visa entry form to provide
certain information, including the entrant's unique serial or issuance
number associated with the principal entrant's valid, unexpired
passport or claim an exemption to the passport requirement. This
document responds to a ruling of the U.S. District Court for the
District of Columbia, which vacated the rule.
DATES: The final rule is effective June 10, 2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrea Lage, Acting Senior Regulatory
Coordinator, Office of Visa Services, Bureau of Consular Affairs,
Department of State, 600 19th St. NW, Washington, DC 20006, (202) 485-
7586.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 5, 2019, the Department issued an
IFR titled ``Visas: Diversity Immigrants'' in the Federal Register (84
FR 25989). The IFR amended Department regulations at 22 CFR 42.33(b)(1)
to require a Diversity Visa (``DV'') program entrant to provide on the
electronic DV entry form the unique serial or issuance number
associated with that entrant's valid, unexpired passport, as well as
the passport's country or authority of issuance, and its expiration
date, unless the entrant claimed a valid passport exemption pursuant to
22 CFR 42.2(d), (e), or (g)(2). The IFR also clarified and amended its
regulation at 22 CFR 42.33(b)(1) to notify entrants that failure to
accurately include any information required by the regulation would
result in mandatory disqualification for that selection year.
On February 4, 2022, the District Court vacated the IFR. E.B. v.
U.S. Department of State, No. 19-2856 (D.D.C. Feb. 4, 2022). To comply
with the District Court's ruling, the Department is removing the
regulatory changes promulgated by the IFR. This rule also makes a
technical correction to a punctuation mark in 22 CFR 42.33(b)(1)(vii).
Regulatory Analyses
The regulatory analyses contained in the IFR are adopted herein by
reference, as supplemented by the following.
Administrative Procedure Act
This rule is not subject to the requirement under the
Administrative Procedure Act (APA) to provide notice-and-comment,
because it falls under the good cause exception, 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B).
The good cause exception is satisfied when notice and comment is
``impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest.'' Id.
This rule is a necessary administrative step to implement the District
Court's order vacating the IFR. Additionally, because this rule
implements a court order already in effect, the Department has good
cause to publish the rule effective immediately and without a notice
and comment period under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3).
Congressional Review Act
This is not a major rule as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804.
Executive Orders 12866
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs has determined
that this is a significant, though not economically significant,
regulatory action under Section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866.
List of Subjects in 22 CFR Part 42
Immigration, Passports and visas.
Accordingly, for the reasons stated in the preamble, the Department
amends 22 CFR part 42 as follows:
PART 42--VISAS: DOCUMENTATION OF IMMIGRANTS UNDER THE IMMIGRATION
AND NATIONALITY ACT, AS AMENDED
0
1. The authority citation for part 42 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 8 U.S.C. 1104 and 1182; Pub. L. 105-277, 112 Stat.
2681; Pub. L. 108-449, 118 Stat. 3469; The Convention on Protection
of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption
(done at the Hague, May 29, 1993), S. Treaty Doc. 105-51 (1998),
1870 U.N.T.S. 167 (Reg. No. 31922 (1993)); 42 U.S.C. 14901-14954
(Pub. L. 106-279, 114 Stat. 825); 8 U.S.C. 1101 (Pub. L. 111-287,
124 Stat. 3058); 8 U.S.C. 1154 (Pub. L. 109-162, 119 Stat. 2960); 8
U.S.C. 1201 (Pub. L. 114-70, 129 Stat. 561).
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2. Amend Sec. 42.33 by:
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a. Revising paragraph (b)(1)(vii); and
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b. Removing paragraphs (b)(1)(viii) and (ix).
The revision reads as follows:
Sec. 42.33 Diversity immigrants.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(1) * * *
(vii) The location of the consular office nearest to the
petitioner's current residence or, if in the United States, nearest to
the petitioner's last foreign residence prior to entry into the United
States.
* * * * *
Rena Bitter,
Assistant Secretary, Consular Affairs, Department of State.
[FR Doc. 2022-12514 Filed 6-9-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4710-06-P
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