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USINS:DV-99 LOTTERY PROGRAM
DV-99 LOTTERY PROGRAM
The rules for the DV-99 green card lottery have recently been announced
by the Department of State (DOS). This lottery will enable
55,000 randomly-chosen people to obtain permanent residence in the United
States.
The application period will begin at noon on Friday, October 24, l997
and end at noon on Monday, November 24, l997. All applications
must be received between these two dates. Applicants who are
selected will be eligible to become permanent residents during the 1999
fiscal year (October 1, 1998 to September 30, 1999).
The allocation of visas issued under the DV-99 program is determined by
a mathematical calculation based on population and immigrant
admissions to the United States over the preceding five year period.
The geographical allocation is shown below:
AFRICA: (21,409) All countries
ASIA: ( 7,254) All countries EXCEPT the following:
CHINA-mainland born and TAIWAN born, INDIA, PHILIPPINES,
SOUTH KOREA and VIETNAM (Hong Kong is eligible)
EUROPE: (23,024) All countries EXCEPT the following:
GREAT BRITAIN (United Kingdom) and its dependent territories and
POLAND (Northern Ireland is eligible)
NORTH AMERICA ( 8) The Bahamas is the ONLY eligible country included
in the North American region. CANADA is NOT eligible.
OCEANIA: ( 837) All countries
SOUTH AMERICA, ( 2,468) All countries EXCEPT COLUMBIA CENTRAL AMERICA
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, EL SALVADOR, CARIBBEAN JAMAICA and MEXICO
Applications
The registration period will begin at noon (Eastern Time) on
Friday, October 24, 1997 and will end at noon, Monday, November
24, 1997. Applications received before or after these dates will not be
accepted.
Applications are to be sent by regular mail or airmail only. They can
be mailed from the United States or abroad and must be mailed to one
of the six following addresses, depending upon the region of the
alien's native country:
ASIA: DV-99 Program
National Visa Center
Portsmouth, NH 00210
U.S.A.
SOUTH AMERICA, DV-99 Program
CENTRAL AMERICA, National Visa Center
and CARIBBEAN: Portsmouth, NH 00211
U.S.A.
EUROPE: DV-99 Program
National Visa Center
Portsmouth, NH 00212
U.S.A.
AFRICA: DV-99 Program
National Visa Center
Portsmouth, NH 00213
U.S.A.
OCEANIA: DV-99 Program
National Visa Center
Portsmouth, NH 00214
U.S.A.
NORTH AMERICA: DV-99 Program
(Bahamas only) National Visa Center
Portsmouth, NH 00215
U.S.A.
Only one application may be submitted by or on behalf of an alien. If
more than one is submitted, the alien will be disqualified.
There is no pre-printed government application form. Submit an
application on a blank sheet of paper with the following information
typed or printed clearly in the Roman (English) alphabet.
A. Applicant's full name--listed as last name, first name, middle
name (underline the last name).
B: Applicant's date of birth (day/month/year) and place of birth
(City/town, District/County/Province/Country).
Enter the name of the country currently in use for the country
of birth.
C: Applicant's native country if different from country of birth .
D: Name, date and place of birth of spouse and child[ren].
E: Applicant's current mailing address (a telephone number is useful,
but optional).
F: Applicant's signature.
G: Recent photograph of applicant (1-1/2" x 1-1/2" or 37cm x 37cm)
with name of applicant printed on reverse of photo. The photo must
be attached to the application with clear tape.
No fee is required with this application.
Envelope Specifications
Envelopes of applications must be specifically marked. Each applicant
must type or print legibly in the upper left hand corner the name of the
country of which he or she is a native and his or her name and current
address.
Example: Iceland
George Q. Public
1234 Main Street
Center City, NJ 10001
The envelope must be no larger than 10" by 4.5" (25cm by 11cm) and
no smaller than 6" by 3.5" (15cm by 9cm).
Family Members
Whether or not the applicant names a spouse and children on the
application form, they will be automatically included. In the case of
a spouse, the marriage must have taken place before the
applicant's admission for permanent residence under the DV program.
The child must have been the issue of the marriage which took place
before the applicant's admission and must be under 21 years of age and
unmarried. Neither the spouse nor the child[ren] have to be born in
the applicant's native country. Parents of applicants are not eligible
for inclusion on an application. Husbands and wives may each submit an
application.
Chargeability
A "native" means someone born within one of the eligible countries and
also includes someone entitled to be "charged" to that country under
alternative provisions of the immigration laws. The country of
citizenship is not the determinative factor. Those alternative
chargeability rules permit an applicant for DV-99 registration to be
charged to the country of birth of a spouse; the country of birth of a
parent (in the case of a minor unmarried child); and, where an
applicant was born in a country in which neither parent was a native
or resident at the time of his or her birth, the country of birth of
either parent. Alternate chargeability does require a separate
statement on the application and must be noted on the upper left hand
corner of the registration envelope.
Selection Procedure
In previous years, between six and seven million people have applied
for the lottery annually. The applications are entered into a computer
which selects 100,000 winners. This process is purely random and there
is no way to increase one's chances of being selected. Persons who
file multiple applications will be eliminated. Successful applicants
will be notified by mail between April and July, l998, by the National
Visa Center (NVC). Each winner will be given a numerical ranking
within the appropriate geographical region. Unsuccessful applicants
will not be notified.
The NVC will inform all registered applicants of the necessary steps
to meet the requirements for formally applying for an immigrant visa.
There is no fee for the initial application. Successful applicants
will be required to pay a fee later, during adjustment of status
or visa processing. DV-99 visas will be issued between October
1, l998 and September 30, 1999. Being selected by the computer is only
the first step in obtaining a green card. Winners must either file
an application for adjustment of status or start the process of obtaining
an immigrant visa at a U.S. Consulate overseas. Instructions on
both procedures will be provided by the NVC when the winners are
notified. Because 100,000 winners are selected for only 55,000
visas, it is important that visa applications be submitted promptly.
Visas are issued according to both the date of filing and
registration rank order. When all of the 55,000 DV visas for the Fiscal
Year have been issued, the 1999 program will end, even though may winners
did not become permanent residents.
Visa Eligibility
All registered applicants must have a high school education or
its equivalent or, two years of work experience in a job that requires at
least two years of training or experience to perform. The work
experience must be within the five years preceding the date of
application for the visa. No documentation should be submitted with
the application, however the education/work experience must be
documented at the time of the visa interview.
Applicants are subject to medical, criminal and other grounds
of ineligibility as specified in the law. There are no special
waivers of these requirements for lottery winners.
Registered applicants must obtain a visa during the 1999 Fiscal Year
by either visa processing at a U.S. consulate abroad or adjusting
status in the United States.
Further Information
You should not need assistance to submit an application because
the application process is straightforward. Of course, if you
have any questions regarding the visa lottery program for FY99, please
contact one of our offices.
APPLICATION FOR DIVERSITY VISA
(Type or Print Legibly)
YOU MUST PRINT OR TYPE YOUR NATIVE COUNTRY, YOUR NAME, AND CURRENT
ADDRESS ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE MAILING ENVELOPE IN THE UPPER LEFT-HAND
CORNER
BEFORE YOU MAIL IT.
A. NAME:
_
LAST (underline) FIRST MIDDLE
B. DATE OF BIRTH
DAY/MONTH/YEAR
PLACE
(LIST CITY, PROVINCE OR OTHER POLITICAL SUBDIVISION AND COUNTRY)
C. APPLICANT?S NATIVE COUNTRY IF DIFFERENT FROM COUNTRY OF BIRTH
Country:
D. SPOUSE AND CHILD[REN] APPLYING?
NO YES (SEE BELOW)
FULL NAME DATE OF BIRTH PLACE OF BIRTH
(LAST/FIRST/MIDDLE) (D/M/Y) (CITY, POLITICAL
SUBDIVISION AND COUNTRY)
E. CURRENT MAILING ADDRESS
NO. AND NAME OF STREET APARTMENT NO.
CITY STATE/PROVINCE COUNTRY ZIP CODE
Telephone Number (optional)
F. APPLICANT'S SIGNATURE:
G. ATTACH RECENT PHOTOGRAPH (1-1/2 in x 1-1/2 in), PRINT NAME ON
REVERSE,
AND TAPE TO APPLICATION.
This information can be found on our web site at www.fragomen.com