Thousands of US "diversity visa" winners from around the world have launched a lawsuit against the Biden administration over fears that they will lose the chance to move to America after being told their visa applications will not be prioritised due to the coronavirus pandemic, writes Euronews.

In a statement published on Twitter, Curtis Morrison, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, announced the lawsuit, asserting that the complaint had been filed on behalf of more than 24,000 people based in 141 different countries.

"Excited to announce we have filed complaint for our 24,089 #GoodluckvBiden plaintiffs in the District Court for District of Columbia", - he said.

The lawsuit comes as thousands of 2021 diversity visa winners fear they will lose a possibly once-in-a-lifetime chance to build a life in America due to the US’s refusal to process their time-limited visa applications.

“I applied for the programme [after visiting as a] Summer Work and Travel Student in Wisconsin, the US. I loved the US and I wanted to spend the rest of my life there”, - one plaintiff in the lawsuit, a 2021 diversity visa winner from Turkey, told Euronews.