THE US government’s Diversity Visa Lottery Programme will begin accepting online entries for 2008 from tomorrow, a spokesman for the US embassy said yesterday.
Mandated by the US Congress and administered on an annual basis by the Department of State, the Diversity Visa Programme makes permanent residence visas available to persons meeting the eligibility requirements.
The visas are distributed among six geographic regions with a big chunk going to regions with lower rates of immigration.
Visas are not offered, however, to citizens of countries sending more than 50,000 immigrants to the US during the past five years.
Within each region, no one country may receive more than 7% of the available Diversity Visas (DV) in any one year (3,500).
For DV-2008, natives of 18 countries are not eligible to apply because they sent a total of more than 50,000 immigrants to the US over the period of the previous five years, the spokesman said in a release. The countries are: Brazil, Canada, China (Mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, Peru, Poland, Russia, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.
However, persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR and Taiwan are eligible, he said.
Eligibility to participate is determined by place of birth, not nationality. “However, there are two other ways one may be able to qualify. First, if you were born in a country whose natives are ineligible but your spouse was born in a country whose natives are eligible, you can claim your spouse’s country of birth provided both you and your spouse are on the selected entry, are issued visas and enter the US simultaneously.
Second, if you were born in a country whose natives are ineligible, but neither of your parents was born there or resided there at the time of your birth, you may claim nativity in one of your parents’ country of birth if it is a country whose natives qualify for the DV-2008 programme.
Entries for the DV-2008 lottery will be accepted until December 3, 2006. Applicants can access the electronic entry form at http://www.dvlottery.state.gov." rel="nofollow">LINK
Paper entries will not be accepted.
The process is under the authority of the Kentucky Consular Center (KCC) in the United States from whom the winners will receive detailed information and instructions.
Applicants for Diversity Visas are chosen by a computer-generated random lottery drawing and are notified directly by the Kentucky Consular Center.
The official has urged applicants not to contact the US mission in Doha regarding the submission of the entry.
“The programme is managed entirely by the Kentucky Consular Center, and the US Embassy cannot verify the selection of winners, track entries, or process changes of address.
“Having been chosen as a winner does not guarantee the issuance of a visa. Each applicant selected must have the required qualifications. Because many applicants do not qualify, the number of winners selected is greater than the number of visas available,” he clarified.
Talking about the rules regarding the qualification for the visa, he said if the applicant cannot meet these requirements, he should not submit an entry to the programme.
To qualify for a visa under this programme, an applicant must have a US high school education or its equivalent 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 US Department of Labor’s O*Net On-Line database is used to determine qualifying work experience.
“In recent years, there have been a significant number of lottery winners lacking these qualifications who have applied for a Diversity Visa.
“The determination as to whether an applicant qualifies for the Diversity Visa occurs during the interview with the consular officer. Prior to the interview, however, a non-refundable $755 processing fee must be paid for each applicant. “Thus, unqualified applicants spend a substantial amount of money only to be refused a visa. We urge people considering applying for a Diversity Visa to review the qualification criteria information provided by Kentucky Consular Center,” the embassy official said.
Further information can be had at http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1322.html.