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Effective this year, all applicants
who register to participate in the Diversity Visa
lottery program must do so electronically through
a designated Internet website, http://www.dvlottery.state.gov. The website will become
operational, and applicants may access the
website between Saturday, November 1,
2003, and Tuesday, December 30, 2003, to
fill out the electronic diversity visa entry form.
Paper entries and mail-in requests for diversity
visa registration will no longer be accepted.
The
Department of State is implementing the new
electronic system in order to improve efficiency
and make the diversity visa petition process less
prone to fraud, thus making it less vulnerable to
use by persons who may pose a threat to the
security interests of the United States.
The
congressionally mandated Diversity Immigrant Visa
Program is administered on an annual basis by the
Department of State and conducted under the terms
of Section 203(c) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (INA). Section 131 of the
Immigration Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-649) amended
INA 203 to provide for a new class of immigrants
known as "diversity immigrants" (DV
immigrants). The Act makes available 50,000
permanent resident visas annually to persons from
countries with low rates of immigration to the
United States. The annual DV program makes
permanent residence visas available to persons
meeting the simple, but strict, eligibility
requirements. Applicants for Diversity Visas are
chosen by a computer-generated random lottery
drawing. The visas, however, are distributed
among six geographic regions with a greater
number of visas going to regions with lower rates
of immigration, and with no visas going to
citizens of countries sending more than 50,000
immigrants to the U.S. in the past five years.
Within each region, no one country may receive
more than seven percent of the available
Diversity Visas in any one year.
For
DV-2005, natives of the following countries(*)
are not eligible to apply
because they sent a total of more than 50,000
immigrants to the U.S. in the previous five years:
CANADA, CHINA (mainland-born),
COLOMBIA, DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC, EL SALVADOR, HAITI,
INDIA, JAMAICA,
MEXICO, PAKISTAN,
PHILIPPINES, RUSSIA,
SOUTH KOREA, UNITED
KINGDOM (except Northern Ireland) and
its dependent territories, and VIETNAM.
Persons
born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR and Taiwan are
eligible.
(*)The
term "country" in this notice includes
countries, economies and other jurisdictions
explicitly listed.
REQUIREMENTS FOR ENTRY
- Applicant must be a
native of one of the countries on the
"List Of Countries By Region Whose
Natives Qualify."
- Applicant must meet
either the education or training
requirement of the DV program.
Native
of a country whose natives qualify: In
most cases this means the country in which the
applicant was born. However, if a person was born
in a country whose natives are ineligible but his/her
spouse was born in a country whose natives are
eligible, such person can claim the spouses
country of birth providing both the applicant and
spouse are issued visas and enter the U.S.
simultaneously. If a person was born in a country
whose natives are ineligible, but neither of his/her
parents was born there or resided there at the
time of the birth, such person may be able to
claim nativity in one of the parents
country of birth.
Education
or Training: An applicant must have EITHER
a high school education or its equivalent,
defined as successful completion of a 12-year
course of elementary and secondary education; OR
two years of work experience within the past five
years in an occupation requiring at least two
years of training or experience to perform. The U.S.
Department of Labors O*Net OnLine database
will be used to determine qualifying work
experience. Applicants will also find a link to a
Labor Department list of qualifying occupations
at the Consular Affairs website: http://www.travel.state.gov
If
the applicant cannot meet these requirements, he
or she should NOT submit an entry to the DV
program.
PROCEDURES FOR SUBMITTING
AN ENTRY TO DV-2005
- All entries by an
applicant will be disqualified if more
than ONE
entry for the applicant is received,
regardless of who submitted the entry.
Applicants may prepare and submit their
own entries, or have someone submit the
entry for them.
- The Department of
State will only accept completed
Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Forms
submitted electronically at http://www.dvlottery.state.gov during the
60 day registration period beginning
November 1, 2003.
- The Department of
State will send DV lottery entrants an
electronic confirmation notice upon
receipt of a completed EDV Entry Form.
- Paper entries will
not be accepted.
- The entry will be
disqualified if all required photos are
not attached. Recent photographs
of the applicant and his/her spouse and
each child under 21 years of age,
including all natural children as well as
all legally-adopted and stepchildren,
excepting children who are already U.S.
citizens or Legal Permanent Residents,
even if the child no longer resides with
the applicant or is not intended to
immigrate under the DV program, must be
submitted electronically with the
Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form.
Group or family photos will not be
accepted; there must be a separate photo
for each family member.
Each
applicant, his/her spouse, and each child will
therefore need a computer file containing his/her
digital photo (image) which will be submitted on-line
with the EDV Entry Form. The image file can be
produced either by taking a new digital
photograph or by scanning a photographic print
with a digital scanner.
If
the submitted digital images do not conform to
the following specifications, the system will
automatically reject the EDV Entry Form and
notify the sender.
- The image must be in the
Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG)
format.
- The image must be either in
color or grayscale; monochrome images (2-bit
color depth) will not be accepted.
- If a new digital photograph
is taken, it must have a resolution of
320 by 240 pixels, and a color depth of
either 24-bit color, 8-bit color, or 8-bit
grayscale.
- If a photographic print is
scanned, the print must be 2 inches by 2
inches (50mm x 50mm) square. It must be
scanned at a resolution of 150 dots per
inch (dpi); the image must have a
resolution of 300 by 300 pixels, and with
a color depth of either 24-bit color, 8-bit
color, or 8-bit grayscale.
- The maximum image size
accepted will be sixty-two thousand five
hundred (62,500) bytes.
If
the submitted digital images do not conform to
the following specifications, the entry will be
disqualified:
- Applicant, spouse, or child
must be directly facing the camera; the
head of the person being photographed
should not be tilted up, down or to the
side, and should cover about 50% of the
area of the photo.
- The photo should be taken
with the person being photographed in
front of a neutral, light-colored
background. Photos taken with very dark
or patterned, busy backgrounds will not
be accepted.
- Photos in which the face of
the person being photographed is not in
focus will not be accepted.
- Photos in which the person
being photographed is wearing sunglasses
or other paraphernalia which detracts
from the face will not be accepted.
- Photos of applicants wearing
head coverings or hats are only
acceptable due to religious beliefs, and
even then, may not obscure any portion of
the face of the applicant. Photos of
applicants with tribal or other headgear
not specifically religious in nature are
not acceptable. Photos of military,
airline or other personnel wearing hats
will not be accepted.
THE ENTRY
There
is only one way to enter the DV-2005 lottery.
Applicants must submit an Electronic Diversity
Visa Entry Form (EDV Entry Form), which is
accessible only at http://www.dvlottery.state.gov. Failure to complete the
form in its entirety will disqualify the
applicants entry.
Applicants
will be asked to submit the following information
on the EDV Entry Form:
- FULL
NAME - Last/Family Name, First
Name, Middle name
- DATE OF
BIRTH - Day, Month, Year
- GENDER
- Male or Female
- CITY/TOWN
OF BIRTH
- COUNTRY OF
BIRTH - The name of the country
should be that which is currently in use
for the place where the applicant was
born.
- APPLICANT
PHOTOGRAPH - See above for
information on photo specifications.
- MAILING
ADDRESS - Address, City/Town,
District/Country/Province/State, Postal
Code/Zip Code, Country
- PHONE
NUMBER (optional)
- E-MAIL
ADDRESS (optional)
- COUNTRY OF
ELIGIBILITY - If the applicant
is claiming nativity in a country other
than his/her place of birth, this
information must be submitted on the
entry.
- MARRIAGE
STATUS - Yes or No
- NUMBER OF
CHILDREN THAT ARE UNMARRIED AND UNDER 21
YEARS OF AGE
- SPOUSE
INFORMATION - Name, Date of
Birth, Gender, City/Town of Birth,
Country of Birth, Photograph
- CHILDREN
INFORMATION - Name, Date of
Birth, Gender, City/Town of Birth,
Country of Birth, Photograph
NOTE:
Entries must include the name, date and
place of birth of the applicants spouse and
all natural children, as well as all legally-adopted
and stepchildren, who are unmarried and under the
age of 21 years, excepting those children who are
already U.S. citizens or Legal Permanent
Residents, even if you are no longer legally
married to the childs parent, and even if
the spouse or child does not currently reside
with you and/or will not immigrate with you. Note
that married children and children 21 years or
older will not qualify for the diversity visa.
Failure to list all children will result in your
disqualification for the visa. (See question 11 on the list of Frequently Asked
Questions.)
SELECTION OF APPLICANTS
Applicants
will be selected at random by computer from among
all qualified entries. Those selected
will be notified by mail between May and
July 2004 and will be provided further
instructions, including information on fees
connected with immigration to the U.S. Persons
not selected will NOT receive any notification.
U.S. embassies and consulates will not be able to
provide a list of successful applicants. Spouses
and unmarried children of successful applicants
under age 21 may also apply for visas to
accompany or follow to join the principal
applicant. DV-2005 visas will be issued between
October 1, 2004 and September 30, 2005.
In
order to actually receive a visa, applicants
selected in the random drawing must meet ALL
eligibility requirements under U.S. law. Processing
of entries and issuance of diversity visas to
successful applicants and their eligible family
members MUST occur by midnight
on September 30, 2005. Under no circumstances can
diversity visas be issued or adjustments approved
after this date, nor can family members obtain
diversity visas to follow to join the applicant
in the U.S. after this date.
IMPORTANT
NOTICE
NO
fee is charged to enter the annual DV program.
The U.S. Government employs no outside
consultants or private services to operate the DV
program. Any intermediaries or others who offer
assistance to prepare DV casework for applicants
do so without the authority or consent of the U.S.
Government. Use of any outside intermediary or
assistance to prepare a DV entry is entirely at
the applicant's discretion.
A
qualified entry submitted electronically directly
by an applicant has an equal chance of being
selected by the computer at the Kentucky Consular
Center as does an entry submitted electronically
through a paid intermediary who completes the
entry for the applicant. Every entry received
during the lottery registration period will have
an equal random chance of being selected within
its region. However, receipt of more than one
entry per person will disqualify the person from
registration, regardless of the source of the
entry.
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