Guidelines for Diversity Visa Lottery 2002 announced

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of State issued guidelines on procedures for applying for immigrant visas to be made available in the Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) category during fiscal year 2002.

Visas are apportioned among six geographic regions: Africa; Asia; Europe; South America, Central America, Caribbean; Oceania; North America. A greater number of visas will be given to regions with lower rates of immigration. For DV-2002, natives of the following countries are not eligible to apply: Canada, China (Mainland-born and Macau), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, Vietnam.

Requirements

To enter, an applicant must be able to claim nativity in an eligible country and must meet either the education or the training requirement of the DV program.

Nativity in most cases is determined by the applicant's place of birth. However, if a person was born in an ineligible country, but his or her spouse was born in an eligible country, such person can claim the spouse's country of birth as his or her country of nativity. Both the applicant and the spouse must be listed on the original entry.

Also, if a person was born in an ineligible country, but neither of his or her parents was born there or resided there at the time of birth [for example, those whose parents were in a diplomatic service], such person may be able to claim nativity in the country of birth of one of the parents.

To enter, an applicant must have either a high school education or the equivalent, defined in the United States as the successful completion of a 12-year course of elementary and secondary education [in Ukraine the equivalent to American high school would be a secondary education that allows one to enter university]; or an applicant must have two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience to perform, as defined by the U.S. Department of Labor. If an applicant does not meet these requirements, he or she should not submit an entry to the DV program.

Only one entry may be submitted by each applicant during the registration period. The applicant must personally sign the entry with his or her usual and customary signature, preferably in his or her native alphabet.

A recent photograph of the applicant with the applicant's name printed on the back must be attached with clear tape to the entry.

The entry will be disqualified if the applicant:

• submits more than one entry;
• does not personally sign the entry with his or her usual and customary signature; or
• does not attach a recent photograph with his or her name printed on the back.

Important notice

Applicants must meet all eligibility requirements under U.S. law in order to be issued visas.

Both parents, as well as children who have completed high school and are under 21 years old, may submit separate entries for the DV lottery.

The applicant's spouse and all minor, unmarried children must be listed on the applicant's original entry regardless of whether or not they wish to immigrate.

The spouse and unmarried children under 21 can obtain diversity visas to join the applicant only if they were listed on the original lottery entry.

DV-2002 visas will be issued between October 1, 2001, and September 30, 2002.

Processing of applications and issuance of diversity visas to successful applicants and their eligible family members must occur by September 30, 2002. Once all the diversity visas have been issued or on September 30, 2002, whichever is sooner, the DV program for fiscal year 2002 will end. No diversity visas will be issued or adjustments approved after this date.

There is no initial fee, other than postage, required to enter the DV-2002 program. The use of an outside intermediary or assistance to prepare a DV-2002 entry is entirely at the applicant's discretion.

Entries for the DV-2002 program must be received at the Kentucky Consular Center mailing address between noon (Eastern Time) on Monday, October 2, 2000, and noon (Eastern Time) on Wednesday, November 1, 2000. Entries received before or after these dates will be disqualified regardless of when they were postmarked. Entries sent to any address other than the Kentucky Consular Center address will not be included in the DV lottery.

Applicants will be selected at random by computer from among all qualified entries. Qualified entries received directly from applicants or through intermediaries have an equal chance of being selected by computer. There is no advantage to mailing early or mailing from any particular place.

Only successful entrants will be notified. They will be notified by mail between May and July of 2001 at the mailing address listed on their entry. Applicants are not required to list their address of permanent residence and can list any address as the mailing address at which they would like to receive their notification. The address listed on the entry must also be listed in the upper left hand corner of the envelope as the mailing address. Winners will also be sent instructions on how to apply for an immigrant visa, including information on the fee for immigrant visas and a separate visa lottery surcharge.

Being selected as a winner in the DV lottery does not automatically guarantee being issued a visa, even if the applicant is qualified, because the number of entries selected and registered is greater than the number of immigrant visas available.

Persons not selected will not be notified. U.S. Embassies and Consulates will not be able to provide a list of successful applicants.

Instructions on entering the DV lottery, may be obtained by calling (202) 331-7199. Applicants overseas may contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate for instructions on the DV lottery. DV information is also available in the Visa Bulletin on the Internet at http://travel.state.gov/ or via the Consular Affairs automated fax at (202) 647-3000 (code 1550). Calls to the automated fax service must be made from a fax machine using the receiver or voice option of the caller's fax equipment.

APPLICANT ENTRY INSTRUCTIONS

The entry must be typed, or clearly printed, in English.
Failure to provide required information will disqualify the applicant.

On a plain sheet of paper include the following information:

• APPLICANT'S FULL NAME, with the last (surname/family) name underlined
  Example: Public, Sara Jane (or) Lopez, Juan Antonio
  
  
• APPLICANT'S DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH
  
  Day/Month/Year
  Example: 15 November 1961
  
  City, Town District/County/Province, Country*
  Example: Munich, Bavaria, Germany

* The name of the country should be that which is currently in use for the place where the applicant was born (Slovenia, rather than Yugoslavia; Ukraine rather than Soviet Union, for example).

• APPLICANT'S NATIVE COUNTRY
  (ONLY IF DIFFERENT FROM COUNTRY OF BIRTH)
  
  If the applicant is claiming nativity in a country other than the one of his or her place of birth, then the name of that country must be indicated here. The name of this country must also be listed on the first line of the upper left-hand corner of the entry envelope. (See "Mailing Instructions").
  
  
• NAME, DATE, AND PLACE OF BIRTH OF THE APPLICANT'S SPOUSE AND ANY MINOR, UNMARRIED CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 21
  
  Applicant's spouse and all minor, unmarried children must be listed on the applicant's entry regardless of whether or not they wish to immigrate. Failure to provide all of this information will disqualify the applicant.
  
  
• FULL MAILING ADDRESS TO WHICH FUTURE CORRESPONDENCE CAN BE SENT, AND, IF POSSIBLE, A TELEPHONE NUMBER
  
  Address must be clear and include the following: building number, street name, city, state/province, postal code and country. Any notification will be sent there.* A telephone number is optional.

* The address listed here does not need to be the applicant's place of permanent residence. This address will be used only for correspondence. The full mailing address listed here must also be entered in the upper left corner of the envelope, under the applicant's name. (See "Mailing Instructions").

• APPLICANT'S PHOTOGRAPH
  
  Attach a recent, preferably less than six-month-old, photograph of the applicant, 1.5 inches (37 mm) x 1.5 inches (37 mm) in size, with the applicant's name printed on the back. The photograph (not a photocopy) should be attached to the entry with clear tape - DO NOT use staples or paper clips, which can jam mail processing equipment. Only the applicant's photograph must be submitted, not the photographs of all those listed on the entry form.
  
  
• APPLICANT'S SIGNATURE
  
  The applicant must sign the entry, with his or her customary signature (preferably in native alphabet), regardless of whether or not the entry was prepared and/or submitted by someone other than the applicant. Only the principal applicant needs to submit a signature. Failure to personally sign the entry will disqualify the applicant.

MAILING INSTRUCTIONS

Submit one entry per applicant by regular or air mail to the address below using the Zip Code for the region of the applicant's country of nativity. The envelope must be between 6 and 10 inches (15 to 25 cm) long and 3.5 and 4.5 inches (9 to 11 cm) wide. In the upper left hand corner of the envelope the applicant must write his or her country of nativity, applicant's name and full mailing address, including the name of the country, even if it is the same as the applicant's country of nativity that is listed on the first line in the upper left-hand corner of the envelope.

Failure to provide this information will disqualify the entry.

Entries sent by express or priority mail, fax, hand, messenger, or any means requiring receipts or special handling will not be processed. Postcards are not acceptable, nor are envelopes inside express or oversized mail packets.

The mailing address is the same for all entries, with the exception of the Zip Code: DV-2002 Program, Kentucky Consular Center, Lexington, KY (Zip Code), U.S.A.

The Zip Codes for country of nativity are: Africa - 41901, Asia - 41902, Europe - 41903, South America/Central America/Caribbean - 41904, Oceania - 41905, North America - 41906.

Applicants listing Ukraine as their native country must use Zip Code 41903.

Applicant's native country Applicant's full name Mailing address City, State/Province, Postal Code Country   DV-2002 Program Kentucky Consular Center Lexington, KY (see above for appropriate Zip Code) U.S.A.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, August 27, 2000, No. 35, Vol. LXVIII

| Home Page |