A blog about U.S. immigration matters by Paul Szeto, a former INS attorney and an experienced immigration lawyer. We serve clients in all U.S. states and overseas countries. (All information is not legal advice and is subject to change without prior notice.)

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Tuesday, October 2, 2012

2014 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program

The 2014 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV-2014) will begin accepting applications at noon, October 2, 2012.  The Diversity Visa Program, also known as visa lottery, is mandated by Congress to allocate immigrant visas to people from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the U.S. For Fiscal Year 2014, 50,000 diversity visas (DV) will be available for natives of countries who have not sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S over the past five years.  Winners are selected randomly by computer.

Native Country Requirement
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:
Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China(mainland-born), Columbia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.

Although people born in mainland China are not eligible to apply, those who were born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and Taiwan are eligible for DV-2014. Natives of Guatemala are now eligible for DV-2014 too.  Besides, natives from other countries including Singapore, Cambodia, Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, etc. are also eligible for selection.

Exceptions to the Native Country Requirement
Even if a person’s native country is not eligible for visa lottery, there are two other ways that the person may qualify to apply.  First, if this person’s spouse was born in an eligible country, than the person may also apply based on the spouse’s native country.  Secondly, if an applicant was born in an ineligible country such as China, but his or her parents were born in an eligible country such as Taiwan and they were not residing in China at the time of applicant’s birth, then the applicant is also eligible to apply.

Education and Work Experience Requirement
In addition to the country requirement, there is also an education and work experience requirement for  DV-2014.  An applicant must either have 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.

Persons in the U.S. and Persons who already applied for Immigration
If a person owns other type of visa which allows him or her to reside in U.S. legally, he or she may still apply for DV-2014 in the U.S.  Even those people who have already applied for other types of immigrant visa (e.g., family based or employment based immigrant visa) may also submit an application under Diversity Visa program.

Who may apply and who to include in a family
For a married couple, if both husband and wife are qualified, they may each submit one application in order to increase the chances of being selected. Which family members should be included in the application?  The application must list the applicant’s spouse and all living unmarried children under the age of 21, including step-children and legally adopted children.  Even if a family member has no intention to immigrate, he or she must be included in the application form. The only exception is that the family member is a U.S. citizen or green card holder.

When and how to submit an entry
Entries for the DV-2014 DV program must be submitted electronically between noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Tuesday, October 2, 2012, and noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Saturday, November 3, 2012. Applicants may access the electronic DV Entry Form (E-DV) at www.dvlottery.state.gov during the registration period. Paper entries will not be accepted. Do not 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, EDT, on November 3, 2012.

Importance of following instructions
The DV program makes visas available to persons meeting simple but strict requirements.  Applicants should carefully follow the program instructions to fill-out the application form and submit all required photographs.  Entries not following the official instructions and requirements will be rejected and disqualified.  Furthermore, DHS is technologically capable of identifying fraudulent entries, illegal entries or multiple entries. After an application is submitted, a unique confirmation number is generated.  This number should be kept in a safe place for future reference.

When and how to find out the results
Beginning May 1, 2013, applicants will be able to check the status of their DV-2014 entries online.  Visit www.dvlottery.state.gov, click on Entrant Status Check, and enter the unique confirmation number and personal information. Entrant Status Check will be the only means through which applicants may check the status of their applications.  It will also provide instructions to the winners of the visa lottery how to proceed with the application process, and also notify them of their appointments for their immigrant visa interview. Therefore, it is very important for an applicant to keep the confirmation number.

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