Several versions of lottery programs have occurred over the past several years. The permanent Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery program makes 55,000 visas available for diversity immigrants each Fiscal Year. With this program, 55,000 "diversity visas" will be available to natives of countries where immigration was less than 50,000 during the previous five fiscal-year periods. The law contains a requirement that applicants must have a high school-equivalent education or two years of work experience in an occupation which requires, at a minimum, two years of experience to perform.
Each year, the Attorney General will determine which countries are "low admission," which makes their nationals eligible to apply for the lottery. For those countries which are deemed "high admission," having 50,000 or more immigrants during the previous five fiscal years, their Nationals will not be eligible to participate in the lottery.
Once the Attorney General makes the required determination, the State Department each year will issue implementing regulations, including the official list of included countries, and the address to which one mails the application.
The law divides the world into regions and establishes a series of calculations for dividing the 55,000 visas between those regions, and the countries within each region. In effect, no country will have more than 3,850 visas allocated to its nationals, and in most cases the actual numbers available will be markedly less.
The actual application will generally consist of a plain sheet of paper, legibly printed or typewritten with the following information: name(s), date(s) and place(s) of birth for the petitioner and all derivatives, i.e., immediate relatives, and a current mailing address along with a photograph of the principal applicant. The envelope must be within certain size ranges (most business-sized envelopes meet the criteria) and below the return address on the front of the envelope, the country of chargeability must be written. The applications may only be submitted by regular or air mail; no Federal Expresses, no certified letters, no special handling of any kind. Again, the requirements may change slightly every year, so it is important to review the regulations for each new application period.
Each individual may only file one (1) application; if two or more are found, all applications will be disqualified. Each qualifying submission will be given a computer number, from which 55,000 will be selected at random. The notice of success is the arrival of Packet III (Consular Immigrant Visa Processing forms and instructions), sent to the mailing address given. Successful applicants will be required to complete the immigration process during the same fiscal year in which they were initially selected in order to benefit from the selection and will be able to process either through adjusting their status in the U.S. or applying for permanent resident status through a U.S. Consulate.
back
