Visa Lottery
Washington
, DC
September 30, 2008
U.S.
Department of State
2010
Diversity Visa Lottery Program Registration: Russia is back
.
For DV-2010, Russia has returned to the list of eligible
countries. Kosovo has also been added to the list of eligible
countries. No countries have been removed from the list of eligible
countries for DV-2010.
Applications
for the 2010 Diversity Visa Lottery Program will be accepted
from October 2 to December 1, 2008. Entries for the DV-2010
Diversity Visa lottery must be submitted electronically between
noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Thursday, October
2, 2008, and noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-5), Monday,
December 1, 2008. Applicants may access the electronic Diversity
Visa entry form (E-DV) at www.dvlottery.state.gov
during the registration period. Paper entries will
not be accepted. Applicants are strongly encouraged not to wait
until the last week of the registration period to enter. Heavy
demand may result in website delays. No entries will be accepted
after noon, EST, on December 1, 2008 .
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 and provides for a
class of immigrants known as “diversity immigrants.” Section
203(c) of the INA provides a maximum of 55,000 Diversity Visas
(DV) each fiscal year to be made available to persons from countries
with low rates of immigration to the United States .
The
annual Diversity Visa program makes visas available to persons
meeting the simple, but strict, eligibility requirements. A
computer-generated, random lottery drawing chooses selectees
for Diversity Visas. The visas 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 nationals
of countries sending more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S.
over the past five years. Within each region, no single country
may receive more than seven percent of the available Diversity
Visas in any one year.
For
DV-2010, natives of the following countries are not eligible
to apply because the countries sent a total of more than 50,000
immigrants to the U.S. in the previous five years:
BRAZIL,
CANADA, CHINA (mainland-born), COLOMBIA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC,
ECUADOR, EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HAITI, INDIA, JAMAICA, MEXICO,
PAKISTAN, PHILIPPINES, PERU, POLAND, 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.
The
Department of State implemented the electronic registration
system beginning with DV-2005 in order to make the Diversity
Visa process more efficient and secure. Special technology and
other means are used to identify those who commit fraud for
the purposes of illegal immigration or those who submit multiple
entries. In DV-2010, for the first time, those who submit entries
may check the status of entries online and determine whether
their entries are selected or not selected. Successful entrants
will continue to receive notification letters by mail.
For
detailed information about entry requirements, along with frequently
asked questions about the DV lottery, please see the instructions
for the DV-2010 Diversity Visa lottery
on
the Department's Consular Affairs Website at
http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1318.html
.
