Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery Program
Each year the Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery program makes available 55,000 permanent residence visas (green cards) to eligible applicants from countries with low rates of immigration to the U.S. This year, for the first time since 2003, Russians are eligible to enter the lottery.
Entries will be accepted for this year’s lottery (DV-2010) from October 2 to December 1, 2008. Lottery winners will be randomly chosen by computer and notified by letter through the mail between May and July 2009. While unsuccessful applicants will not be notified by mail, all applicants will have the opportunity to check the status of their entries electronically. What is attractive about the Lottery Program is that it is not necessary to have a job offer from an American company, a relative in the U.S., or make an investment. The requirements are minimal, and for millions of individuals around the world, the Lottery represents a unique opportunity to obtain a green card.
Eligibility Requirements
Native of a Qualifying Country
DV Lottery applicants must be native to a qualifying country, as listed in the DV Lottery Registration Instructions.
Natives of the following countries are not eligible, because these countries have sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States during the previous five years:
Brazil, Canada, China (Mainland-Born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, Peru, Poland, 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.
If the country in which you were born is on the above list, this generally means you are ineligible to apply. However, there are two other ways you might be able to qualify. If your spouse was born in a country whose natives are eligible, you are allowed to claim your spouse’s country of birth so long as both you and your spouse are listed on the selected entry, are issued visas, and enter the United States at the same time. Alternatively, 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.
Education or Work Experience
To enter the lottery, applicants must meet simple but strict education or work experience requirements. You must possess either 1) a high school education or its equivalent, defined as a successful completion of a 12-year course of elementary and secondary education; or 2) two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience to perform. To determine if your occupation qualifies, it is necessary to confirm that the Department of Labor O*Net Online Database defines your occupation as Job Zone 4 or 5 with a Specific Vocational Preparation (SVP) range of 7.0 or higher.
DV Lottery Process
How to Enter the DV Lottery
All applications must be submitted electronically using the Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form (E-DV Entry Form), which is only accessible at www.dvlottery.state.gov. There is no fee to enter the lottery. When submitting individual photographs for each family member, it is critical to adhere to the compositional and technical specifications set out in the DV Lottery Registration guide. Your entry must contain the name, date and place of birth of your spouse and all children, even if your spouse or child does not live with you and will not immigrate with you. Failure to list a spouse or child in the application will result in the disqualification of you and your entire family at the time of the visa interview. Each principal applicant is entitled to only one entry per year. The submission of two entries is grounds for disqualification; however, a husband and wife may both submit separate entries.
Because hundreds of thousands of entries are disqualified every year, it is very important to prepare your entry with care. If you require assistance, please fill in this questionnaire or contact one of our specialists.
Procedures for Obtaining a Visa
Being selected in the DV Lottery does not automatically guarantee that you will receive a visa. Each year more lottery winners are selected to apply for immigrant visas than there are immigrant visas available, so it is important that selectees act promptly. If you are selected in the lottery, you will be required to file a formal visa application and attend a visa interview at a U.S. Embassy prior to receiving your visa or adjust your status if you are located in the United States. In support of the application, it is necessary to provide documentation proving that you satisfy the work or education requirement. It may also be necessary to prove that you will not become a public charge, dependent on the U.S. government for support. This can be established by demonstrating considerable assets, a job offer, qualifications for jobs that are in demand, or an affidavit of support.
How Does White & Associates Help?
The experienced professionals at White & Associates have successfully petitioned various embassies on behalf of DV Lottery winners who were unjustly refused visas at the time of their visa interviews. White & Associates can provide legal support at any or all stages of the process: preparing the DV Lottery entry, completing forms after winning the lottery, preparing for the interview, or appealing a denial after the interview.
Our location in Moscow also puts us in a unique position to help Russian applicants enter the lottery this year.
If you are in need of assistance, please feel free to contact us.