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SUMMARY
OF STATE DEPARTMENT DV2008 INSTRUCTIONS
Registration
for DV2009 opens Wednesday,
October 3, 2007, 12:00pm noon
EDT (GMT-4), and closed on Sunday,
December 2, 2007, at 12pm noon
EST (GMT-5).
For
instructions on registering
for DV2009 with assistance from
Kirberger PC, please
click here.
ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION FOR
DV2008
- Applicants
must submit an Electronic
Diversity Visa Entry Form
(EDV Entry Form) for DV2009
rather than a paper entry,
as required in years prior
to DV 2006.
- The
EDV form may be accessed at
http://www.dvlottery.state.gov
during the registration period
(Oct. 3, 2007-Dec 2, 2007).
Applicants may prepare and
submit their own entries or
may have someone else submit
the entry for them (see
Kirberger
PC DV Registration Service).
- Failure
to complete this form in its
entirety will disqualify an
applicant's entry, as will
multiple entries. No paper
entries will be accepted.
- The
Department of State will send
DV lottery entrants an electronic
confirmation notice upon receipt
of a completed EDV Entry Form.
- The
Department of State strongly
encourages clients not to
wait until the last week of
the registration period to
enter. Heavy demand may result
in delays.
- No
lottery entries can be accepted
by the Department of State
after noon on December 2,
2007. If you use
our registration service,
we must receive your complete
entry in our offices by 5pm
November 23, 2007.
ENTRY
PERIOD
Entries
for DV2009 period must be submitted
electronically between Wednesday,
October 3, 2007 (12pm noon EDT/GMT-4),
and Sunday, December 2, 2007
(12pm noon EST/GMT-5).
Back
to top.
APPORTIONMENT
OF VISAS
DV2009
will make 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 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 particular country
may receive more than 7% of
the available Diversity Visas
in any one year.
For
DV2009, natives of the following
countries are not eligible
to apply because their countries
sent a total of more than 50,000
immigrants to the U.S. in the
past five years: Brazil,
Canada, China (mainland-born;
persons born in Hong Kong
SAR, Macau SAR and Taiwan are
eligible to apply), Colombia,
Dominican Republic, Ecuador,
El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti,
India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan,
Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russia,
South Korea, United Kingdom
(except Northern Ireland) and
its dependent territories, and
Vietnam. Back to top.
REQUIREMENTS
AND ELIGIBILITY
To
enter, an applicant must be
able to claim nativity in
an eligible country (see
below), AND must
meet either the education
or training requirement
(see below) of the DV
program.
Nativity:
To qualify for DV2009, an applicant
must be a native of an eligible
country (see below).
Nativity in most cases is determined
by the applicant's place of
birth. However, there are two
other ways in which one may
qualify. First, if an applicant
was born in a country whose
natives are ineligible, but
his/her spouse was born in a
country whose natives are eligible,
that person can claim the spouse's
country of birth rather than
his/her own provided that both
applicant and spouse are on
the selected entry, both are
issued visas, and both enter
the U.S. at the same time. Second,
if a person was born in a country
whose natives are ineligible,
but neither of his/her parents
was born in that ineligible
country or resided there at
the time of the applicant's
birth, that applicant may claim
nativity in one of the parents'
countries of birth if that is
a country whose natives qualify
for the DV program in the year
of application. Back to top.
Nationals
from all countries EXCEPT
the following qualify for the
DV2009 lottery: Brazil,
Canada, China (mainland born;
persons born in Hong Kong SAR,
Macau SAR and Taiwan are
eligible), Colombia, Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica,
Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines,
Poland, Russia, South Korea,
United Kingdom and all its dependent
territories (except Northern
Ireland) and Vietnam.
Education
or Training:
Applicants must have either
a high school education or its
equivalent, or have two years
of work experience within the
five years immediately preceding
registration in an occupation
that requires at least two years
of training or experience. U.S.
Department of Labor definitions
will apply. The U.S. Department
of Labor's O*Net OnLine database
will be used to determine qualifying
work experience. See
http://online.onetcenter.org,
and Department of Labor list
of qualifying occupations at
http://travel.state.gov.
If
a person does not meet these
requirements, s/he SHOULD
NOT submit an entry to the
DV program. Back to top.
PROCEDURES
FOR SUBMITTING AN ENTRY FORM
Only
one entry may be submitted by
or for each applicant during
the registration period. An
entry will be disqualified if:
- All
required photographs are not
submitted (photographs of
you, your spouse and each
unmarried child under 21,
including all natural children
as well as all legally-adopted
children and stepchildren,
even if a child no longer
resides with you or you do
not intend for a child to
immigrate under the DV program;
however, photographs are not
required of a child who is
already a US citizen or legal
permanent resident); or,
- An
applicant submits more than
one entry (note: entries
by an applicant will be disqualified
if more than one entry is
received, regardless of who
submitted additional entries).
Back to top.
Photographic
Specifications (Submitting
a Digital Photo/Image)
With
the electronic application,
an applicant must attach 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
a child who is already a US
citizen or Legal Permanent Resident,
even if a child no longer resides
with the applicant or is not
intended to immigrate under
the DV program. Group or family
photographs will not be accepted.
A separate photograph must be
submitted for each family member.
Each
applicant, his/her spouse, and
each child will need a computer
file containing his/her digital
photographic image. This digital
photo file must then be submitted
online 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. Back to top.
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
of such rejection.
Compositional
Specifications
- 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 are unacceptable.
- Photos
in which the face of the person
being photographed is not
in focus are not acceptable.
- Photos
in which the person being
photographed is wearing sunglasses
or other paraphernalia which
detracts from the face are
not acceptable.
- Photographs
of applicants, spouses or
children wearing head coverings
or hats are acceptable only
in cases where such is necessary
due to religious beliefs,
and even then, may not obscure
any portion of the face of
the person photographed. 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 are unacceptable
as well. Back to top.
Technical
Specifications: New Digital
Image
- The
image must be in the Joint
Photographic Experts Group
(JPEG) format.
- New
digital photographs submitted
must have a resolution of
320 pixels high by 240
pixels wide, and a
color depth of 24-bit
color mode. Monochrome
images (2-bit color depth),
8-bit color or 8-bit grayscale
will not be accepted.
- The
maximum acceptable image size
is 62,500 bytes.
Technical
Specifications: Scanned Photograph
Before a photographic print
is scanned, it must meet the
following specifications:
- It must be 2 inches by 2
inches (50mm x 50mm) square.
- A color image is preferable,
but black and white or grayscale
photographs must be scanned
in 24-bit color mode.
The scanned photograph must
also meet the following compositional
specifications. If it meets
the print size, print color
and compositional specifications,
then you may scan the print
using the following scanner
specifications:
- The photo should be scanned
at a resolution of 150 dots
per inch (dpi).
- The image must be in the
Joint Photographic Experts
Group (JPEG) format.
- The maximum image file size
will be 62,500 bytes.
- The image resolution must
be 300 by 300 pixels.
- The image must be in 24-bit
color. Monochrome images (2-bit
color depth), 8-bit color
or 8-bit gray scale are unacceptable.
COMPLETING
THE ENTRY FORM
Failure
to provide ALL of the
following information will disqualify
the applicant.
- FULL
NAME, with the last (surname/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 applicant
was born.
- COUNTRY
OF ELIGIBILITY OR CHARGEABILITY
FOR THE DV PROGRAM: Country
of eligibility will normally
be the same as the country
of birth. Your country of
eligibility is not related
to where you live. If you
were born in a country that
is not eligible for the DV
program, please review the
instructions to see if there
is another option for country
of chargeability for you.
If applicant is claiming nativity
in a country other than his/her
place of birth, this information
must be submitted on the entry.
That is, an applicant is claiming
nativity through spouse or
parent, please indicate this
on the entry. Note that failure
to list correct country of
birth or country of alternate
chargability may result in
disqualification.
- ENTRY
PHOTOGRAPH(S): see
above for photograph
specifications
and requirements.
- MAILING
ADDRESS: in care of, address
line 1, address line 2, city/town,
district/country/province/state,
postal code/zip code, country.
- COUNTRY
WHERE YOU LIVE TODAY
- PHONE
NUMBER (optional)
- EMAIL
ADDRESS (optional)
- HIGHEST
LEVEL OF EDUCATION YOU HAVE
ACHIEVED, AS OF TODAY:
Indicate which one of the
following represents your
own highest level of educational
achievement: (1) Primary school
only; (2) High school, no
degree; (3) High school degree;
(4) Vocational school; (5)
some university courses; (6)
University degree; (7) some
graduate level courses; (8)
Master degree; (9) Some doctorate
level courses; or (10) Doctorate
degree.
- MARITAL
STATUS: Unmarried, Married,
Divorced, Widowed, Legally
Separated.
- NUMBER
OF CHILDREN THAT ARE UNMARRIED
AND UNDER 21 YEARS OF AGE:
Entries must include the 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,
excepting those children who
are already US citizens or
legal permanent residents,
even if the applicant is no
longer married to the child's
parent, and even if the spouse
or child does not currently
reside with you and/or will
not immigrate with you. Married
children and children 21 years
or older will not qualify
for the diversity visa. Failure
to list all eligible children
will result in disqualification
for the visa.
- SPOUSE
INFORMATION: Name, date
of birth (day, month, year),
gender, city/town of birth,
country of birth, photograph.
Failure to list your spouse
will result in disqualification
of the principal applicant
and refusal of all visas in
the case at the time of the
visa interview.
- INFORMATION
ON CHILDREN: Name, date
of birth (day, month, year),
gender, city/town of birth,
country of birth, photograph.
Back
to top.
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 2008 and will be
provided with further instructions,
including information on fees
connected with immigration to
the US.
Persons
not selected will NOT receive
any notification,
and US embassies and consulates
will not be able to provide
a list of successful applicants.
Spouses
and unmarried children under
age 21 of successful applicants
may also apply for visas to
accompany or follow to join
the principal applicant. DV2009
visas will be issued between
October 1, 2008, and September
30, 2009.
To
actually receive a visa to immigrate
to the U.S., applicants selected
in the random drawing must meet
ALL eligibility requirements
under US law. Processing of
entries and issuance of diversity
visas to successful applicants
and their eligible family members
MUST occur by midnight on September
30, 2009. 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
US after this date. Back
to top.
LIST
OF COUNTRIES WHOSE NATIVES QUALIFY,
BY REGION
The
lists below show countries whose
natives are qualified within
each geographic region for this
diversity program. The determination
of countries within each region
is based on information provided
by the Geographer of the Department
of State. The countries whose
natives do not qualify for the
DV2009 program were identified
by the U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS,
formerly INS) according to the
formula in Section 203(c) of
the Immigration and Nationality
Act (INA). Dependent areas overseas
are included within the region
of the governing country. Countries
whose natives do NOT qualify
for this diversity program (because
they are the principal source
countries of family-sponsored
and employment-based immigration
to the US, or "high admission"
countries) are noted in parentheses
after each respective regional
list.
AFRICA:
Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana,
Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon,
Cape Verde, Central African
Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo,
Congo Dem. Rep. of, Cote D'Ivoire
(Ivory Coast), Djibouti, Egypt,
Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea,
Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia,
Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau,
Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya,
Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania,
Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique,
Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda,
Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal,
Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia,
South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland,
Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda,
Zambia, Zimbabwe. Back
to top.
ASIA:
Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh,
Bhutan, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia,
Hong Kong SAR, Indonesia, Iran,
Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan,
Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia,
Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, North
Korea, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,
Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria,
Taiwan (China, Taiwan-born only),
Thailand, United Arab Emirates,
Yemen.
Note:
In Asia, natives of CHINA
(mainland born), INDIA,
PAKISTAN, PHILIPPINES,
SOUTH KOREA, and VIETNAM
DO NOT QUALIFY for this
year's diversity program. Natives
of HONG KONG S.A.R.,
MACAU S.A.R. (listed
in the European Region; see
below), and TAIWAN
DO QUALIFY. Back to top.
EUROPE
: Albania, Andorra, Armenia,
Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus,
Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech
Republic, Denmark (includes
components and dependent areas
overseas), Estonia, Finland,
France (includes components
and dependent areas overseas),
Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary,
Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lichtenstein,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau
SAR, Macedonia (former Yugoslav
Rep.), Malta, Moldova, Monaco,
Montenegro, Netherlands (includes
components and dependent areas
overseas), Northern Ireland,
Norway, Portugal (includes components
and dependent areas overseas),
Romania, San Marino, Serbia,
Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey,
Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan,
Vatican City. Back to top.
Note.
Natives of the following European
countries do NOT qualify
for DV2008: GREAT BRITAIN,
POLAND and RUSSIA.
Great Britain (United Kingdom)
includes the following dependent
areas: Anguilla, Bermuda, British
Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands,
Faulkland 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 quality for
DV2008.
NORTH
AMERICA : includes
the Bahamas. (In North America,
CANADA and MEXICO
DO NOT QUALIFY for this
year's Diversity Program.) Back
to top.
OCEANIA:
includes Australia (includes
components and dependent areas
overseas), New Zealand, Papua
New Guinea and all countries
and islands of the South Pacific.
Countries include: Australia,
Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands,
Micronesia-Fed. States of, Nauru,
New Zealand (includes components
and dependent areas overseas),
Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon
Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu,
Western Samoa.
SOUTH
AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA, CARIBBEAN:
Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina,
Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Chile,
Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica,
Grenada, Guyana, Honduras, Nicaragua,
Panama, Paraguay, St. Kitts
& Nevis, St. Lucia, St.
Vincent & the Grenadines,
Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago,
Uruguay, Venezuela. Back to
top.
Note:
In South America BRAZIL,
COLOMBIA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC,
ECUADOR, EL SALVADOR,
GUATEMALA, HAITI, JAMAICA
and PERU DO NOT QUALIFY
for this year's Diversity Visa
Lottery Program.
Applicants
must meet ALL eligibility
requirements under U.S. law
in order to be issued visas.
Processing of applications and
issuance of diversity visas
to successful applicants and
their eligible family members
MUST occur by midnight September
30, 2009. Under no circumstances
can Diversity Visas be issued
or adjustments approved after
this date. Family members may
not obtain diversity visas to
follow to join the applicant
in the U.S. after this date.
Back to top.
SELECTION
AND NOTIFICATION OF WINNERS
Applicants
will be selected at random by
computer from among all qualified
entries. Those selected will
be notified by mail between
May and July 2008
and will be provided with further
instructions, including information
on fees connected with immigrating
to the U.S.
Persons
not selected for the DV lottery
will NOT receive any notification.
Neither U.S. embassies or
consulates nor attorneys can
provide a list of successful
applicants.
Spouses
and unmarried children under
21 of successful applicants
may also apply for visas to
accompany or follow to join
the principal applicant. DV
2009 visas will be issued between
October 1, 2008, and September
30, 2009. Successful entrants
must complete the immigrant
visa application process and
meet all eligibility requirements
under U.S. law to be issued
a visa. Back to top.
In
order to actually receive a
visa, applicants must meet
all eligibility requirements
under U.S. law to be issued
visas, 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.
Being selected as a winner in
the DV Lottery does not automatically
guarantee being issued a visa,
even if the applicant is qualified,
because the number of entries
selected and registered is greater
than the number of immigrant
visas available. Those selected
must complete and file their
immigrant visa applications
quickly. Once all visas have
been issued, or by midnight
September 30, 2009, whichever
is sooner, the DV Program for
Fiscal Year 2009 will end.
Processing
of entries and issuance of diversity
visas to successful applicants
and their eligible family members
MUST occur by midnight on September
30, 2009. Under no circumstances
can diversity visas be issued
or adjustments be approved after
this date, nor can family members
obtain diversity visas to follow-to-join
applicant in the U.S. after
this date. Back
to top.
OBTAINING
INSTRUCTIONS ON ENTERING THE
DV LOTTERY
Information
on DV2009 is also available
in the Visa Bulletin
at http://travel.state.gov.
Applicants overseas may continue
to contact the nearest U.S.
Embassy or Consulate for instructions
on the DV2009 Lottery. For
further information on the lottery,
please consult our DV
FAQ. For
instructions on registering
with assistance from Kirberger
PC, please click here.
NOTICE
There
is no initial fee to enter the
DV program. The US 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 US 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 applicant
from registration, regardless
of the source of the entry.
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