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U.S. Department of State
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Visa Services |
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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
BETWEEN SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2003 AND TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2003.
APPLICANTS MAY ACCESS THE ELECTRONIC DIVERSITY VISA ENTRY FORM AT
‘WWW.DVLOTTERY.STATE.GOV’ DURING THE 60 DAY REGISTRATION PERIOD
BEGINNING NOVEMBER 1. PAPER ENTRIES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
- Applicant
must be a native of one of the countries listed beginning on page 10.
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. Applicants will also find a link to a Labor
Department list of qualifying occupations at the Consular Affairs
website: www.travel.state.gov
If the
applicant cannot meet these requirements, he or she should NOT submit an
entry to the DV program.
- All
entries by an applicant will be disqualified if more than ONE entry for
the applicant is received, regardless of who submitted the entry.
Applicants may prepare and submit their own entries, or have someone
submit the entry for them.
- The
Department of State will only accept completed Electronic Diversity Visa
Entry Forms submitted electronically at
http://www.dvlottery.state.gov
during the 60 day registration period beginning November 1, 2003.
- The
Department of State will send DV lottery entrants an electronic
confirmation notice upon receipt of a completed EDV Entry Form.
- Paper
entries will not be accepted.
- The entry
will be disqualified if all required photos are not submitted.
Recent photographs of the applicant and his/her spouse and each child
under 21 years of age, including all natural children as well as all
legally-adopted and stepchildren, excepting a child who is already a
U.S. citizen or a Legal Permanent Resident, even if a child no longer
resides with the applicant or is not intended to immigrate under the DV
program, must be submitted electronically with the Electronic Diversity
Visa Entry Form. Group or family photos will not be accepted; there must
be a separate photo for each family member.
Each applicant,
his/her spouse, and each child will therefore need a computer file
containing his/her digital photo (image) which will be submitted on-line
with the EDV 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.
- 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.
There is
only one way to enter the DV-2005 lottery. Applicants must submit an
Electronic Diversity Visa Entry
Form (EDV Entry Form), which is accessible only at http://www.dvlottery.state.gov.
Failure to complete the form in its entirety will disqualify the
applicant’s entry. Applicants will be asked to submit the following
information on the EDV Entry Form.
1. FULL NAME - Last/Family Name, First Name, Middle
name
2. DATE OF BIRTH - Day, Month, Year
3. GENDER
- 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 - See page 2 for information on photo
specifications.
7. MAILING
ADDRESS - Address, City/Town, District/Country/Province/State,
Postal Code/Zip Code, Country
8. PHONE
NUMBER (optional)
9. E-MAIL
ADDRESS (optional)
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. (See question 11 on the list of
Frequently Asked Questions.)
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. 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.
Important
Notice
NO fee is
charged to enter the annual DV program. The U.S. Government
employs no outside consultants or private services to operate the DV
program. Any intermediaries or others who offer assistance to prepare DV
casework for applicants do so without the authority or consent of the
U.S. Government. Use of any outside intermediary or assistance to
prepare a DV entry is entirely at the applicant's discretion.
A qualified entry
submitted electronically directly by an applicant has an equal chance of
being selected by the computer at the Kentucky Consular Center as does
an entry submitted electronically through a paid intermediary who
completes the entry for the applicant. Every entry received during the
lottery registration period will have an equal random chance of being
selected within its region. However, receipt of more than one entry per
person will disqualify the person from registration, regardless of the
source of the entry.
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