DIVERSITY LOTTERY VISA PROGRAM

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Overview

The Diversity Lottery Program (DV) is a congressionally mandated visa lottery program that allows for a particular class of immigrants to be admitted into the United States on permanent resident visas. The program is administered annually by the Department of State (DOS) based upon the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) Section 203(c).

Basics of DV Program

INA Section 203(c) provides that 55,000 "diversity immigrants" may enter the United States on permanent resident visas each fiscal year. "Diversity immigrants" are people who are natives of countries that have low rates of immigration to the United States. Out of these 55,000 available visas, 5,000 are set aside for those who qualify under the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) beginning with DV 1999. Annually, approximately 110,000 applications for the DV are selected given that many of those chosen will never complete their visa application process. Once the DOS issues 55,000 visas or the fiscal year ends, the DV program closes until the following year.

Those chosen for the DV Program are selected by a computer-generated random lottery system. There are six geographic regions in which the DV visas are distributed. The countries with the lowest immigration rate to the United States will receive the largest number of visas, and those countries that send more than 50,000 immigrants into the United States each year will not receive any visas. However, no single country may obtain more than 7 percent of the available Diversity Visas in any given year.

Requirements to Enter Diversity Lottery Program

To enter the DV Program applicants must meet the qualifications set out for entry. The requirements for entry are that an immigrant be a native of a country which qualifies for the DV Program and the immigrant must have EITHER: (1) a high school education or its equivalent, OR (2) possess two years of work experience occurring within the last five years in a position that required at least two years of training or experience.

2010 Diversity Lottery Program

The new rules and instructions for the 2010 (even though it runs in 2009 it is always numbered ahead) DV Program have not been issued yet. However, when the rules and instructions are available, we will provide you with complete information and details about the program.

Hiring a Firm to Apply for you

Many people do not feel comfortable in applying for the Green Card Lottery on their own. Moreover, they may move, and as you know, immigration mail is rarely forwarded, and this could be costly. As a result, many people like to hire a firm to handle this process for them. We at US-Immigration-Explained offer the information free, but if you would like the professional service a firm can offer you, consider one of the biggest in the world. You can click here or on the banner below:

Articles:

The Department of State Announces Diversity Visa Lottery Results for FY 2008 (07/22/08)

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