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Changes implemented during
the DV2005 Program (2003 calendar year)
Please
note that the information below was released by the State Department
in August 2003 and contains important information about the changes in
the DV2005 lottery. Sentences in red represents additional
information.
U.S.
Department of State
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Visa Services |
INSTRUCTIONS
FOR THE 2005 DIVERSITY IMMIGRANT VISA PROGRAM (DV-2005)
The congressionally mandated Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is
administered on an annual basis by the Department of State and
conducted under the terms of Section 203(c) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (INA). Section 131 of the Immigration Act of 1990
(Pub. L. 101-649) amended INA 203 to provide for a new class of
immigrants known as "diversity immigrants" (DV immigrants).
The Act makes available 50,000 permanent resident visas annually to
persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United
States.
The annual DV program makes 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, however, 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
one country may receive more than seven percent of the available
Diversity Visas in any one year.
For DV-2005, natives of the
following countries are not eligible to apply because they sent a
total of more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. in the previous five
years:
CANADA, CHINA (mainland-born), COLOMBIA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, EL
SALVADOR, HAITI, INDIA, JAMAICA, MEXICO, PAKISTAN, PHILIPPINES,
RUSSIA, 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.
ENTRIES FOR THE DV-2005
DIVERSITY VISA LOTTERY MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY. THE USUAL
OCTOBER MONTH WINDOW PERIOD HAS BEEN SHIFTED AND EXTENDED TO A 60 DAY
REGISTRATION PERIOD BETWEEN SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2003 AND TUESDAY,
DECEMBER 30, 2003. (However,
note that USGC Services do still accept applications throughout the
year)
REQUIREMENTS FOR ENTRY
- Applicant must be a native
of one of the countries listed. See “List Of Countries By Region
Whose Natives Qualify.”
Native of a country whose
natives qualify: In most
cases this means the country in which the applicant was born. However,
if a person was born in a country whose natives are ineligible but
his/her spouse was born in a country whose natives are eligible, such
person can claim the spouse’s country of birth providing both the
applicant and spouse are issued visas and enter the U.S.
simultaneously. If a person was born in a country whose natives are
ineligible, but neither of his/her parents was born there or resided
there at the time of the birth, such person may be able to claim
nativity in one of the parents’ country of birth.
- Applicant must meet either
the education or training requirement of the DV program.
Education or Training:
An applicant must have EITHER a high school education or its
equivalent, defined as successful completion of a 12-year course of
elementary and secondary education; OR two years of work experience
within the past five years in an occupation requiring at least two
years of training or experience to perform. The U.S. Department of
Labor’s O*Net OnLine database will be used to determine qualifying
work experience.
If the applicant cannot meet
these requirements, he or she should NOT submit an entry to the DV
program.
PROCEDURES FOR SUBMITTING AN
ENTRY TO DV-2005
- All entries by an
applicant will be disqualified if more than ONE entry for the
applicant is received, regardless of who submitted the entry.
- The Department of
State will only accept completed Electronic Diversity Visa Entry
Forms submitted electronically during the 60 day registration period
beginning November 1, 2003. (Note that USGC
Services accepts application throughout the year and submits the
applications electronically during the specified time period.)
- USGC Services will
send DV lottery entrants an electronic confirmation notice upon
submission of their completed EDV Entry Form to the State
Department.
- Paper entries will be
accepted by USGC Services, who will then submit an electronic form
to the State Department during the window period.
- The entry will be
disqualified if all required photos are not submitted.
Each applicant, his/her spouse, and
each child will need to submit a photograph. This can either be a
normal passport photograph that USGC Services will scan and turn into
an electronic digital photo, or the applicant can submit a computer
file containing his/her digital photo (image) which will be submitted
on-line with the DV 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.
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. (USGC
Services will as far as possible attempt to modify digital photographs
to comply to the rules below)
- The image must be in the Joint
Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format.
- The image must be either in color or
grayscale; monochrome images (2-bit color depth) will not be
accepted.
- If a new digital photograph is
taken, it must have a resolution of 320 pixels wide by 240 pixels
high, and a color depth of either 24-bit color, 8-bit color, or
8-bit grayscale.
- If a photographic print is scanned,
the print must be 2 inches by 2 inches (50mm x 50mm) square. It must
be scanned at a resolution of 150 dots per inch (dpi) and with a
color depth of either 24-bit color, 8-bit color, or 8-bit grayscale.
- The maximum image size accepted will
be sixty-two thousand five hundred (62,500) bytes.
If the submitted digital
images do not conform to the following specifications, the entry will
be disqualified:
- 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 will not be accepted.
- Photos in which the face of the
person being photographed is not in focus will not be accepted.
- Photos in which the person being
photographed is wearing sunglasses or other paraphernalia which
detracts from the face will not be accepted.
- Photos of applicants wearing head
coverings or hats are only acceptable due to religious beliefs, and
even then, may not obscure any portion of the face of the applicant.
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 will not be accepted.
THE ENTRY
Applicants
will be asked to submit the following information on the Electronic DV
Entry Form.
1. FULL NAME - Last/Family Name, First Name, Middle
name
2. DATE OF BIRTH - Day, Month, Year
3.
GENDER (or Sex) - Male or Female
4.
CITY/TOWN OF BIRTH
5.
COUNTRY OF BIRTH - The name of the country should be
that which is currently in use for the place where the applicant was
born.
6.
APPLICANT PHOTOGRAPH
7.
MAILING ADDRESS - Address, City/Town,
District/Country/Province/State, Postal Code/Zip Code, Country
8.
PHONE NUMBERS
9.
E-MAIL ADDRESS
10.
COUNTRY OF ELIGIBILITY IF THE APPLICANT’S NATIVE COUNTRY IS
DIFFERENT FROM COUNTRY OF BIRTH - If the applicant is
claiming nativity in a country other than his/her place of birth, this
information must be submitted on the entry. If an applicant is
claiming nativity through spouse or parent, please indicate this on
the entry.
11.
MARRIAGE STATUS - Yes or No
12.
NUMBER OF CHILDREN THAT ARE UNMARRIED AND UNDER 21 YEARS OF
AGE
13.
SPOUSE INFORMATION - Name, Date of Birth, Gender,
City/Town of Birth, Country of Birth, Photograph
14.
CHILDREN INFORMATION - Name, Date of Birth, Gender,
City/Town of Birth, Country of Birth, Photograph
NOTE:
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 U.S. citizens or Legal
Permanent Residents, even if you are no longer legally 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. Note that married
children and children 21 years or older will not qualify for the
diversity visa. Failure to list all children will result in your
disqualification for the visa.
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 2004 and
will be provided further instructions, including information on fees
connected with immigration to the U.S. Persons not selected
will NOT receive any notification from the State Department.
U.S. 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. DV-2005 visas will be issued between
October 1, 2004 and September 30, 2005.
In order to actually
receive a visa, applicants selected in the random drawing must meet
ALL eligibility requirements under U.S. law.
Processing of entries and issuance of diversity visas to successful
applicants and their eligible family members MUST occur by midnight on
September 30, 2005. 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 U.S.
after this date.
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