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United States Department
of State 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-2004, natives of the following countries1
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: ENTRIES FOR THE DV-2004 DIVERSITY VISA LOTTERY MUST BE RECEIVED
AT ONE OF THE KENTUCKY CONSULAR CENTER MAILING ADDRESSES
BETWEEN NOON ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2002 AND NOON ON
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2002. ENTRIES RECEIVED BEFORE OR AFTER THESE DATES
WILL BE DISQUALIFIED REGARDLESS OF WHEN THEY ARE POSTMARKED. ENTRIES MAILED
TO ANY ADDRESS OTHER THAN THE KENTUCKY CONSULAR CENTER ADDRESSES
WILL BE DISQUALIFIED. 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 spouse’s 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 Labor's O*Net OnLine database will be used to determine
qualifying work experience: http://online.onetcenter.org. Applicants
will also find a link to a Labor Department list of qualifying occupations
at the Consular Affairs website: http://travel.state.gov If photos do not conform to the following
specifications, the entry will be disqualified: 1. FULL NAME, with the last
(surname/family) name underlined EXAMPLES: Public, Sara Jane (or) Lopez, Juan Antonio 2. DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH Date: Day, Month, Year, EXAMPLE: 15 November 1961 3. THE APPLICANT’S NATIVE COUNTRY IF DIFFERENT FROM
COUNTRY OF BIRTH If the applicant is claiming nativity in a country
other than his/her place of birth, this must be clearly indicated on
the entry. This information must match with what is put on the upper left corner
of the entry envelope. (See "MAILING THE ENTRY.")
If an applicant is claiming nativity through spouse or parent, please
indicate this on the entry. (See "REQUIREMENTS"
section for more information on this item.) 4. NAME, DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH OF THE APPLICANT’S 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 CHILD’S PARENT, AND EVEN IF THE 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. 5. FULL MAILING ADDRESS 6. PHOTOGRAPH. Attach recent photographs of the applicant,
the applicant’s spouse, and all children. Print the name and date of birth of
each family member on the back of each photograph. Failure
to submit required photos for all family members will result in disqualification.
See the information on photo requirements.
Africa: Asia: Europe: South America/Central America/Caribbean: Oceania: North
America: Submit the entry by regular or airmail to the address matching the region of
the applicant’s country of nativity. Entries sent by express or priority
mail, second day airmail, fax, hand, messenger, or any means requiring special
handling will not be processed. The envelope must be between 6 and 10 inches (15 to 25 cm) long and 3 1/2 and
4 1/2 inches (9 to 11 cm) wide. Postcards or envelopes inside express or oversized
mail packets are NOT acceptable. In the upper left-hand corner of the envelope
the applicant must write his/her country of nativity (see instruction 3 above),
followed by the applicant’s name and full return address. The applicant
must provide both the country of nativity and the country of the address, even
if both are the same. Failure to provide this information will disqualify
the entry. The regions are divided as follows: Africa includes all countries on the African continent and adjacent
islands; EXAMPLE: An applicant who was born in Australia and now lives in France
may submit one entry to the appropriate address
for Oceania; the envelope should look like this: Applicants will be selected at random by computer from among all qualified
entries. Those selected will be notified by mail between May and July 2003
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-2004 visas will be issued between October 1, 2003 and September 30, 2004. In order to actually receive a visa, applicants selected in the random
drawing must meet ALL eligibility requirements
under U.S. law, including any applicable special processing requirements established
in response to the events of September 11, 2001. These requirements may significantly
increase the level of scrutiny required and time necessary for processing of
applications for natives of some countries listed in this notice, including,
but not limited to, countries identified as state sponsors of terrorism.
Processing of entries and issuance of diversity visas to successful applicants
and their eligible family members MUST occur by midnight on September 30, 2004.
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.
NO fee is charged to enter the annual DV program.
The U.S. Government employs no outside consultants
or private mail 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 received directly from an applicant
has an equal chance of being selected by the computer at the Kentucky Consular
Center as does an entry received through a paid intermediary who completes the
entry for the applicant. There is no advantage to mailing early, or mailing
from any particular place. Every entry received during the mail-in 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 that entry. 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 "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 year’s 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 parent’s country
of birth. Finally, any applicant born in a country ineligible for this year’s 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 applicant’s 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 (See
number 3 of the application information items in this Visa Bulletin.),
and must show the native country claimed on the upper left hand corner of
the envelope in which the registration request is mailed, or the entry will
be disqualified. 2. ARE THERE ANY CHANGES OR NEW REQUIREMENTS IN THE APPLICATION
PROCEDURES FOR THIS DIVERSITY VISA REGISTRATION? The information required on the entry and on
the envelope in which it is sent is specified in detail earlier in this
Visa Bulletin. Photos must conform to the specifications.
Qualifying work experience will be defined by the Department
of Labor's O*Net OnLine database, and no longer by the Dictionary of Occupational
Titles. 3. ARE SIGNATURES AND PHOTOGRAPHS REQUIRED FOR EACH FAMILY
MEMBER, OR ONLY FOR THE PRINCIPAL APPLICANT? Only the principal applicant is required to personally sign the entry. 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 signature and photo requirements
in this bulletin. 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. These countries are
those 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 Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) 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. 5. WHAT IS THE NUMERICAL LIMIT FOR DV-2004? 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-2004 program. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) 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 INS has completed
the calculations, the regional visa limits will be announced.
7. WHEN WILL ENTRIES FOR THE DV-2004 PROGRAM BE ACCEPTED? The month-long DV entry period begins each fall at noon on the first Monday
in October and lasts for 30 days. Each year millions apply for the program
during the mail-in registration period. The massive volume of entries creates
an enormous amount of work in selecting and processing successful applicants.
Holding the entry period in the fall will ensure successful applicants are
notified in a timely manner, and gives both them and our embassies and consulates
more time to prepare and complete entries for visa issuance. 8. MAY PERSONS WHO ARE IN THE U.S. APPLY FOR THE PROGRAM? Yes, an applicant may be in the U.S. or in another country, and the entry
may be mailed from the U.S. or from abroad. 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. Applicants may be disqualified
at time of selection as a successful entrant, or at the time of the visa interview
or at any time during the process if more than one entry is detected. However,
applicants may apply for the program each year during the regular one-month
registration period. 10. MAY A HUSBAND AND A WIFE EACH SUBMIT A SEPARATE ENTRY? Yes, a husband and a wife may each submit one entry. If either were selected,
the other would be entitled to derivative status. Note: Husbands and wives
may not sign for each other. Each applicant
must sign his or her own entry. 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 spouse’s 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 even if
they no longer reside with you. The fact that you have listed family members on your entry does not mean
that they later must travel with you. 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. 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. The applicant's original signature is required on the
entry, regardless whether it is prepared and submitted by the
applicant or by someone else. If
the applicant does not personally sign the entry in his/her native alphabet,
the entry will be disqualified. If the entry is selected, the notification
letter will be sent only to the
mailing address provided on the entry. 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 Labor’s O*Net OnLine database will be used: http://online.onetcenter.org.
14. HOW WILL SUCCESSFUL ENTRANTS BE SELECTED? At the Kentucky Consular Center, all mail received at
each of the six geographic regional addresses will be individually numbered.
After the end of the application period, a computer will randomly select entries
from among all the mail received for each geographic region. Within each region,
the first letter randomly selected will be the first case registered, the
second letter selected the second registration, etc. All entries received
during the mail-in 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 an INS office
in the United States for change of status. 15. MAY WINNING APPLICANTS ADJUST THEIR STATUS WITH THE INS? 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 Immigration and Naturalization Service
(INS) for adjustment of status to permanent resident. Applicants
must ensure that INS can COMPLETE ACTION on their cases, including
processing of any overseas derivatives, before September 30, 2004, since
on that date registrations for the DV-2004 program expire. No visa numbers
for the DV-2004 program will be available after midnight on September 30,
2004 under any circumstances. 16. WILL APPLICANTS WHO ARE NOT ELECTED 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. 17. HOW MANY APPLICANTS WILL BE SELECTED? There are 50,000 DV visas available for DV-2004, 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 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 2003. 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 2004. 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. 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. 19. ARE THERE ANY FEES FOR THE DV PROGRAM? There is no fee for submitting an entry,
and no fee should be included with the
entry sent to the mailing addresses indicated above. A special DV case processing
fee will be payable later by persons whose entries are actually selected and processed
at an U.S. consular section for this year’s 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. 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.
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. 22. HOW LONG DO APPLICANTS WHO ARE SELECTED REMAIN ENTITLED TO
APPLY FOR VISAS IN THE DV CATEGORY? Persons selected in the DV-2004 lottery are entitled to apply for
visa issuance only during fiscal year 2004,
i.e., from October 2003 through September 2004. Applicants
must obtain the DV visa or adjust status by the end of the Fiscal Year (September
30, 2004). 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-2004.
Also, spouses and children who derive status from a DV-2004 registration can
only obtain visas in the DV category between October 2003 and September 2004.
Applicants who apply overseas will receive an appointment letter from the
Kentucky Consular Center four to six weeks before the scheduled appointment. ALGERIA AFGHANISTAN (Natives of the following Asian countries do not qualify for this year's
diversity program: ALBANIA
(Natives of the following European countries do not qualify for this
year's diversity program: GREAT BRITAIN. GREAT BRITAIN (UNITED KINGDOM) includes
the following dependent areas: ANGUILLA, BERMUDA, BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS, CAYMAN
ISLANDS, FALKLAND ISLANDS, GIBRALTAR, MONTSERRAT, PITCAIRN, ST. HELENA, TURKS
AND CAICOS ISLANDS. Note that for purposes of the diversity program only, Northern
Ireland is treated separately; Northern Ireland does qualify and
is listed among the qualifying areas. BAHAMAS, THE (In North America, natives of CANADA do not qualify for this year's
diversity program.) AUSTRALIA - including components and dependent areas overseas ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA (Countries in this region whose natives do not qualify for this
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