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FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS ABOUT DV-2005
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1. WHAT
DOES THE TERM "NATIVE" MEAN? ARE THERE
ANY SITUATIONS IN WHICH PERSONS WHO WERE NOT BORN
IN A QUALIFYING COUNTRY MAY APPLY? "Native"
ordinarily means someone born in a particular
country, regardless of the individual's current
country of residence or nationality. But for
immigration purposes native can also
mean someone who is entitled to be charged
to a country other than the one in which he/she
was born under the provisions of Section 202(b)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
For
example, if a principal applicant was born in a
country that is not eligible for this years
DV program, he/she may claim chargeability
to the country where his/her derivative spouse
was born, but he/she will not be issued a DV-1
unless the spouse is also eligible for and issued
a DV-2, and both must enter the U.S. together on
the DVs. In a similar manner, a minor dependent
child can be charged to a parents
country of birth.
Finally,
any applicant born in a country ineligible for
this years DV program can be charged
to the country of birth of either parent as long
as neither parent was a resident of the
ineligible country at the time of the applicants
birth. In general, people are not considered
residents of a country in which they were not
born or legally naturalized if they are only
visiting the country temporarily or stationed in
the country for business or professional reasons
on behalf of a company or government.
An
applicant who claims alternate chargeability must
include information to that effect on the
application for registration.
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2. ARE THERE ANY CHANGES OR NEW
REQUIREMENTS IN THE APPLICATION PROCEDURES FOR
THIS DIVERSITY VISA REGISTRATION? All DV-2005 lottery entries
must be submitted electronically at http://www.dvlottery.state.gov between Saturday, November
1, 2003 and Tuesday, December 30, 2003. No paper
entries will be accepted.
The
Department of State implemented an electronic
registration system in order to make the
Diversity Visa process more efficient and secure.
The Department will utilize special technology
and other means to identify applicants who commit
fraud for the purposes of illegal immigration or
who submit multiple entries.
The
signature requirement on the DV entry has been
eliminated and the DV-2005 Diversity Immigrant
Visa Program registration period will run from
November 1 through December 30. The other major
change from last year is that natives of Russia
will not be eligible to apply for a diversity
visa. (Please see Question 4 below for a
description of why natives of certain countries
do not qualify for the DV Program.)
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3. ARE SIGNATURES AND PHOTOGRAPHS
REQUIRED FOR EACH FAMILY MEMBER, OR ONLY FOR THE
PRINCIPAL APPLICANT? Signatures are not required on the
Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form. Recent and
individual photos of the applicant, his/her
spouse and all children are required. Family or
group photos are not accepted. Check the
information on the photo requirements in the instructions.
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4. WHY DO NATIVES OF CERTAIN
COUNTRIES NOT
QUALIFY FOR THE DIVERSITY PROGRAM? Diversity visas are
intended to provide an immigration opportunity
for persons from countries other than the
countries which send large numbers of immigrants
to the U.S. The law states that no diversity
visas shall be provided for natives of "high
admission" countries. The law defines this
to mean countries from which a total of 50,000
persons in the Family-Sponsored and Employment-Based
visa categories immigrated to the United States
during the previous five years. Each year, the
Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS)
adds the family and employment immigrant
admission figures for the previous five years in
order to identify the countries whose natives
must be excluded from the annual diversity
lottery. Because there is a separate
determination made before each annual DV entry
period, the list of countries whose natives do
not qualify may change from one year to the next.
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5. WHAT IS THE
NUMERICAL LIMIT FOR DV-2005? By law, the U.S. diversity
immigration program makes available a maximum of
55,000 permanent residence visas each year to
eligible persons. However, the Nicaraguan and
Central American Relief Act (NCARA) passed by
Congress in November 1997 stipulates that
beginning as early as DV-99, and for as long as
necessary, 5,000 of the 55,000 annually-allocated
diversity visas will be made available for use
under the NCARA program. The actual reduction of
the limit to 50,000 began with DV-2000 and
remains in effect for the DV-2005 program.
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6. WHAT ARE THE REGIONAL
DIVERSITY VISA (DV) LIMITS FOR DV-2005? The Bureau of Citizenship and
Immigration Services (BCIS) determines the DV
regional limits for each year according to a
formula specified in Section 203(c) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Once the
BCIS has completed the calculations, the regional
visa limits will be announced.
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7. WHEN WILL
ENTRIES FOR THE DV-2005 PROGRAM BE ACCEPTED? The DV-2005 entry period will begin
on Saturday, November 1, 2003 and will last for
60 days through Tuesday, December 30, 2003. Each
year millions apply for the program during the
registration period. The massive volume of
entries creates an enormous amount of work in
selecting and processing successful applicants.
Holding the entry period during November and
December will ensure successful applicants are
notified in a timely manner, and gives both them
and our embassies and consulates time to prepare
and complete entries for visa issuance.
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9. IS
EACH APPLICANT LIMITED TO ONLY ONE ENTRY DURING
THE ANNUAL DV REGISTRATION PERIOD? Yes, the law allows
only one entry by or for each person during each
registration period; applicants for whom more
than one entry is submitted will be disqualified.
The Department of State will employ sophisticated
technology and other means to identify
individuals that submit multiple entries during
the registration period. Applicants submitting
more than one entry will be disqualified and an
electronic record will be permanently maintained
by the Department of State. Applicants may apply
for the program each year during the regular
registration period.
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11. WHAT
FAMILY MEMBERS MUST I INCLUDE ON MY DV ENTRY? On your
entry you must list your spouse,
that is husband or wife, and all
unmarried children under 21 years of age, with
the exception of a child who is already a U.S.
citizen or a Legal Permanent Resident.
You must list your spouse even if you are
currently separated from him/her. However, if you
are legally divorced, you do not need to list
your former spouse. For customary marriages, the
important date is the date of the original
marriage ceremony, not the date on which the
marriage is registered. You must list ALL
your children who are unmarried and under the age
of 21 years, whether they are your
natural children, your spouses children by
a previous marriage, or children you have
formally adopted in accordance with the laws of
your country, unless a child is already a U.S.
citizen or Legal Permanent Resident. List
all children under 21 years of age even if they
no longer reside with you or you do not intend
for them to immigrate under the DV program.
The
fact that you have listed family members on your
entry does not mean that they are required to
travel with you later. They may choose to remain
behind. However, if you include an eligible
dependent on your visa application forms that you
failed to include on your original entry, your
case will be disqualified. (This only applies to
persons who were dependents at the time the
original application was submitted, not those
acquired at a later date.) Your spouse may still
submit a separate entry, even though he or she is
listed on your entry, as long as both entries
include details on all dependents in your family.
See question 10 above.
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12. MUST EACH APPLICANT SUBMIT
HIS/HER OWN ENTRY, OR MAY SOMEONE ACT ON BEHALF
OF AN APPLICANT? Applicants may prepare and submit
their own entries, or have someone submit the
entry for them. Regardless of whether an entry is
submitted by the applicant directly, or
assistance is provided by an attorney, friend,
relative, etc., only one entry may be submitted
in the name of each person. If the entry is
selected, the notification letter will be sent
only to the mailing address provided on the entry.
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13. WHAT
ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR EDUCATION OR WORK
EXPERIENCE? The law and regulations require that
every applicant must have at least a high
school education or its equivalent or,
within the past five years, have two
years of work experience in an occupation
requiring at least two years training or
experience. A "high school
education or equivalent" is defined as
successful completion of a twelve-year course of
elementary and secondary education in the United
States or successful completion in another
country of a formal course of elementary and
secondary education comparable to a high school
education in the United States. Documentary proof
of education or work experience should not be
submitted with the lottery entry, but must be
presented to the consular officer at the time of
the visa interview. To determine eligibility
based on work experience, definitions from the
Department of Labors O*Net OnLine
database will be used.
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14. HOW WILL SUCCESSFUL
ENTRANTS BE SELECTED?
At the
Kentucky Consular Center, all entries
received from each region will be individually
numbered. After the end of the
registration period, a computer will randomly
select entries from among all the entries
received for each geographic region. Within each
region, the first entry randomly selected will be
the first case registered, the second entry
selected the second registration, etc. All
entries received during the registration period
will have an equal chance of being selected
within each region. When an entry has been
selected, the applicant will be sent a
notification letter by the Kentucky Consular
Center, which will provide visa application
instructions. The Kentucky Consular Center will
continue to process the case until those who are
selected are instructed to appear for visa
interviews at a U.S. consular office, or until
those able to do so apply at a BCIS office in the
United States for change of status.
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15. MAY WINNING APPLICANTS ADJUST
THEIR STATUS WITH THE BCIS? Yes, provided they are otherwise
eligible to adjust status under the terms of
Section 245 of the INA, selected applicants who
are physically present in the United States may
apply to the Bureau of Citizenship and
Immigration Services (BCIS) for adjustment of
status to permanent resident. Applicants must
ensure that BCIS can complete action on
their cases, including processing of any overseas
derivatives, before September 30, 2005,
since on that date registrations for the DV-2005
program expire. No visa numbers for the DV-2005
program will be available after midnight on
September 30, 2005 under any circumstances.
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16. WILL APPLICANTS WHO ARE NOT
SELECTED BE INFORMED? No, applicants who are not selected
will receive no response to
their entry. Only those who are selected will be
informed. All notification letters are sent
within about nine months of the end of the
application period to the address indicated on
the entry. Anyone who does not
receive a letter will know that his/her
application has not been
selected.
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17. HOW MANY APPLICANTS WILL BE
SELECTED? There are 50,000 DV visas
available for DV-2005, but more than that number
of individuals will be selected. Because it is
likely that some of the first 50,000 persons who
are selected will not qualify for visas or pursue
their cases to visa issuance, more than 50,000
entries will be selected by the Kentucky Consular
Center to ensure that all of the available DV
visas are issued. However, this also means that
there will not be a sufficient number of visas
for all those who are initially selected. All
applicants who are selected will be informed
promptly of their place on the list. Interviews
with those selected will begin in early October
2004. The Kentucky Consular Center will send
appointment letters to selected applicants four
to six weeks before the scheduled interviews with
U.S. consular officers at overseas posts. Each
month visas will be issued, visa number
availability permitting, to those applicants who
are ready for issuance during that month. Once
all of the 50,000 DV visas have been issued, the
program for the year will end. In principle, visa
numbers could be finished before September 2005.
Selected applicants who wish to receive visas
must be prepared to act promptly on their cases. Random
selection by the Kentucky Consular Center
computer does not automatically guarantee that
you will receive a visa.
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18. IS THERE A MINIMUM AGE FOR
APPLICANTS TO APPLY FOR THE DV PROGRAM? There is no minimum age to
apply for the program, but the requirement of a
high school education or work experience for each
principal applicant at the time of application
will effectively disqualify most persons who are
under age 18.
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19. ARE THERE ANY FEES FOR THE DV
PROGRAM? There is no fee for
submitting an entry. A special DV case processing
fee will be payable later by persons whose entries are
actually selected and processed at
a U.S. consular section for this years
program. DV applicants, like other immigrant visa
applicants, must also pay the regular visa fees
at the time of visa issuance. Details of required
fees will be included with the instructions sent
by the Kentucky Consular Center to applicants who
are selected.
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20. ARE DV APPLICANTS SPECIALLY
ENTITLED TO APPLY FOR A WAIVER OF ANY OF THE
GROUNDS OF VISA INELIGIBILITY? No. Applicants are subject
to all grounds of ineligibility for immigrant
visas specified in the Immigration and
Nationality Act. There are no special provisions
for the waiver of any ground of visa
ineligibility other than those ordinarily
provided in the Act.
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21. MAY PERSONS WHO ARE ALREADY
REGISTERED FOR AN IMMIGRANT VISA IN ANOTHER
CATEGORY APPLY FOR THE DV PROGRAM? Yes, such persons may apply for the
DV program.
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22. HOW LONG DO APPLICANTS WHO
ARE SELECTED REMAIN ENTITLED TO APPLY FOR VISAS
IN THE DV CATEGORY? Persons selected in the DV-2005
lottery are entitled to apply for visa issuance only
during fiscal year 2005, i.e., from
October 2004 through September 2005. Applicants
must obtain the DV visa or adjust status by the
end of the Fiscal Year (September 30, 2005).
There is no carry-over of DV benefits into the
next year for persons who are selected but who do
not obtain visas during FY-2005. Also, spouses
and children who derive status from a DV-2005
registration can only obtain visas in the DV
category between October 2004 and September 2005.
Applicants who apply overseas will receive an
appointment letter from the Kentucky Consular
Center four to six weeks before the scheduled
appointment.
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Copyright © 1999-2003
Green Card Lottery Information. All rights reserved.
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