From: RBYAML@rohvm1.rohmhaas.com (Aengus Lawlor) Newsgroups: alt.visa.us Subject: Re: Green card lottery Message-ID: <92231.090123RBYAML@rohvm1.rohmhaas.com> Date: 18 Aug 92 13:01:23 GMT In article , philipc@extro.ucc.su.OZ.AU (Philip Clifford) says: > >Does anyone have any details of the 1992 Green Card >Lottery, like who's eligible to apply, how & when ?? >Who are they likely to choose ? This was posted by George Reilly in various groups a few weeks ago. I'm just reposting it. From: georgere@microsoft.com (George V. Reilly) Subject: Next round of Morrison (AA-1) visas Message-ID: <1992Jul15.223448.21510@microsoft.com> Date: 15 Jul 92 22:34:48 GMT [The following is information provided by Microsoft's immigration department. Please do not direct questions to me or to them; this is all I know. I'm sending this to all of the relevant soc.culture newsgroups in a few separate posts. Followups to soc.culture.misc.---gvr] REGISTRATION FOR THE SECOND YEAR OF THE AA-1 IMMIGRANT VISA PROGRAM Information on the Application Procedure for the 40,000 Immigrant Visas to be Made Available in the AA-1 Category During Fiscal Year 1993 THE AA-1 IMMIGRANT VISA "LOTTERY" PROGRAM: Section 132 of the Immigration Act of 1990 provides 40,000 immigrant visas for each of fiscal years 1992, 1993, and 1994 to natives of the countries and areas from which immigration was previously identified as having been "adversely affected" by the 1965 immigration legislation. This program is identified by the visa symbol AA-1, and is informally known as the "visa lottery". The law specifies that THERE MUST BE A SEPARATE REGISTRATION FOR EACH YEAR'S AA-1 VISAS. The application period for the first year's visas was completed during 1991, and those visas are being issued until September 1992. This information concerns the application period during 1992 are visas to be issued during fiscal year 1993, the second year of the program. WHO QUALIFIES FOR REGISTRATION UNDER THE AA-1 PROGRAM? Natives (as that term is explained in question 1 on page 3) of the following countries and areas are entitled to apply for AA-1 visas: ALBANIA FINLAND HUNGARY LUXEMBOURG ALGERIA FRANCE ICELAND MONACO ARGENTINA GUADALUPE INDONESIA NETHERLANDS AUSTRIA NEW CALEDONIA IRELAND NORWAY BELGIUM GERMANY ITALY POLAND CANADA GREAT BRITAIN JAPAN SAN MARINO CZECHOSLOVAKIA NORTHERN IRELAND LATVIA SWEDEN DENMARK BERMUDA LIECHTENSTEIN SWITZERLAND ESTONIA GIBRALTAR LITHUANIA TUNISIA HOW AND WHEN WILL APPLICATIONS FOR AA-1 STATUS BE ACCEPTED? The application period for registration for the visas to be issued during Fiscal Year 1993 (i.e., from October 1992 through September 1993) WILL BEGIN AT 12:01 A.M. (Washington, DC time) ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 1992, AND WILL END AT 12:00 P.M. (MIDNIGHT) ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 1992. APPLICATIONS MUST BE MAILED TO THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS: AA-1 PROGRAM P.O. BOX 1993 DULLES, VA 21301-1993 U.S.A. TYPED OR CLEARLY PRINTED at the UPPER LEFT HAND CORNER OF THE FRONT OF THE ENVELOPES must be the applicant's NATIVE COUNTRY OR AREA (from the list above). BELOW the country must be the NAME AND MAILING ADDRESS OF THE APPLICANT as they are shown on the application. EXAMPLE: NORTHERN IRELAND George Q. Public 1234 Any Street, Apt. 5 Center City, NJ 10001 ONLY ONE APPLICATION MAY BE SUBMITTED BY OR FOR EACH APPLICANT DURING THIS REGISTRATION PERIOD. (SUBMISSION OF MORE THAN ONE APPLICATION WILL DISQUALIFY THE PERSON FROM REGISTRATION.) APPLICATIONS FOR REGISTRATION WILL BE SELECTED STRICTLY IN A RANDOM ORDER FROM AMONG ALL OF THOSE RECEIVED DURING THE SPECIFIED PERIOD. Applications must be sent to the address above by regular mail or air mail, and may be mailed from within the United States or from abroad. Any mail requiring signed receipt such as registered mail, hand- delivered applications, telegrams, or applications sent by courier or any other means will NOT be eligible for the visa lottery. Applications received at the post office box before or after the application period or delivered to any other address will NOT be considered for registration. ONLY ONE APPLICATION MAY BE INCLUDED IN EACH ENVELOPE. SIZE OF ENVELOPE. The envelope in which each application is mailed MUST BE BETWEEN 6 inches and 9 1/2 inches (15 cm to 24 cm) IN LENGTH, and BETWEEN 3 1/2 inches and 4 1/2 inches (9 cm to 11 cm) IN WIDTH. This is necessary to assist the automated processing of the mail. WHAT INFORMATION MUST BE INCLUDED ON THE APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION? THERE IS NO SPECIAL APPLICATION FORM; THE REQUEST FOR REGISTRATION MAY SIMPLY BE A SHEET OF PAPER which provides the necessary information TYPED OR CLEARLY PRINTED (in the Roman alphabet) in the following format: A. APPLICANT'S FULL NAME Last Name, First Name and Middle Name. (Underline Last Name/Surname/Family Name) Example: Public, George Quincy B. APPLICANT'S DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH Date of birth: Day, Month, Year. Example: 15 November 1961 Place of birth: City/Town, District/County/Province, Country. Example: Toronto, Ontario, Canada C. NAME, DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH OF APPLICANT'S SPOUSE AND CHILDREN, IF ANY. The spouse and child(ren) of an applicant who is registered for AA-1 status are automatically entitled to the same status. The spouse or child does NOT need to be born in one of the countries listed above. To obtain a visa on the basis of this derivative status, a child must be under 21 years of age and unmarried. NOTE: Do NOT list parents as they are not entitled to derivative status. D. APPLICANT'S MAILING ADDRESS The mailing address must be clear and complete, since it will be to that address that the notification letter for the persons who are registered will be sent. A telephone number is optional. E. UNITED STATES CONSULAR OFFICE TO WHICH VISA REGISTRATION SHOULD BE SENT. Ordinarily, this will be the immigrant visa issuing consular office nearest the applicant's place of residence. If the applicant is in the United States, indicate the immigrant visa issuing office in the country of last previous residence outside the U.S. If the applicant does not know which U.S. consulates issue immigrant visas, list the city and country of the applicant's current residence abroad, or the city and country of last previous residence outside the U.S., and the processing center will identify the proper immigrant visa issuing consular office where the visa registration will be sent for processing. Persons who claim ALTERNATE FOREIGN STATE CHARGEABILITY should also include a statement to that effect on the application. (See question No. 1 on page 3.) ONLY ONE APPLICATION MAY BE SUBMITTED FOR EACH APPLICANT FOR REGISTRATION APART FROM WHAT IS SPECIFIED ABOVE. IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO INCLUDE AN OFFER OF EMPLOYMENT WITH A REGISTRATION REQUEST. (Applicants who are REGISTERED for AA-1 status will need to present an offer of employment in the U.S. at the time of formal visa interview. See question 8 on page 3 for more information on this point.) THERE IS NO FEE FOR SUBMISSION OF AN AA-1 REGISTRATION REQUEST. A SIGNATURE IS NOT REQUIRED ON THE APPLICATION. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE AA-1 REGISTRATION 1. HOW IS THE TERM "NATIVE" DEFINED? ARE THERE ANY BASES UPON WHICH PERSONS WHO HAVE NOT BEEN BORN IN A QUALIFYING COUNTRY MAY QUALIFY FOR REGISTRATION? Native means BOTH someone born within one of the countries listed above AND someone entitled to be "charged" to such country under the provisions of Section 202(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. An applicant for AA-1 registration may be charged to the country of birth of a spouse; a child can be charged to the country of birth of a parent; and an applicant born in a country of which neither parent was a native or a resident at the time of his/her birth may be charged to the country of birth of either parent. An applicant who claims the benefit of alternate chargeability must include a statement to that effect on the application for registration, and must show the country of chargeability on the upper left hand corner of the envelope in which the registration request is mailed. 2. CAN NATIVES OF CANADA APPLY FOR AA-1 REGISTRATION? Yes, for this and the next registration period, natives of Canada are entitled to apply for registration for AA-1 visas. 3. WHAT IF A PERSON'S BIRTH PLACE WAS IN AN "AA-1" COUNTRY AT THE TIME OF BIRTH, BUT DUE TO CHANGES IN BOUNDARIES IS NO LONGER WITHIN A QUALIFYING COUNTRY? For a person to be considered to have been born in a qualifying country, the place of birth must be within the boundaries currently recognized by the U.S. 4. MAY PERSONS WHO ARE IN THE U.S. APPLY FOR REGISTRATION? Yes, an applicant may be in the U.S. or in another country, and the application may be mailed in the U.S. or abroad. 5. IS EACH APPLICANT LIMITED TO ONLY ONE APPLICATION DURING THIS AA-1 REGISTRATION PERIOD? Yes, for this and for the next AA-1 registration, the law allows only ONE application BY OR FOR each person; SUBMISSION OF MORE THAN ONE APPLICATION WILL DISQUALIFY THE PERSON FROM REGISTRATION. 6. MAY A HUSBAND AND A WIFE EACH SUBMIT A SEPARATE APPLICATION? Yes, a husband and a wife may each submit one application for registration; if either is registered, the other would be entitled to derivative status. 7. MUST EACH APPLICANT SUBMIT HIS/HER OWN REQUEST, OR MAY SOMEONE ACT ON BEHALF OF AN APPLICANT? Applicants may prepare and submit their own request for registration, or have someone act on their behalf. Regardless of whether an application is submitted by the applicant directly, or by a relative, friend, attorney, etc., ONLY ONE APPLICATION MAY BE SUBMITTED IN THE NAME OF EACH PERSON. There is no requirement that an applicant sign the registration request. Only one notification letter will be sent for each case registered, to the address on the application. 8. WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR AN OFFER OF EMPLOYMENT IN THE UNITED STATES? An offer of employment should NOT be submitted as part of the registration application. Applicants who are successfully registered for AA-1 status will need to present an employment offer at the time of visa issuance. Applicants must submit evidence of a commitment for FULL-TIME employment in the U.S. at the visa interview. Two or more part-time jobs will meet this requirements if, taken together, they constitute full-time employment, as long as the applicant submits letters from each employer supporting the job offer. The offer may come from a businesses or any other institution or organization in the United States, or from a private individual. Evidence of existing self-employment in the United States CAN meet the offer of employment requirement; a plan to create one's own business in the future, even in the immediate future, would NOT qualify, however. 9. HOW WILL CASES BE REGISTERED? All mail received will be individually numbered. After the end of the application period, a computer will randomly select cases from among all the mail received. The first letter randomly selected will be the first case registered, the second letter selected the second registration, etc. It makes no difference whether an application is received early or late in the application period. When a case has been registered, the applicant will immediately be sent a notification letter, which will provide appropriate visa application instructions. The registration will at the same time be forwarded to the consular office which will process the case; all subsequent visa processing information will be obtained by the applicant directly from that consular office. 10. WILL APPLICANTS WHO ARE NOT REGISTERED BE INFORMED? No, applicants who are not registered will receive no response to their registration request. Only those who are registered will be informed. All notification letters are expected to be sent within about three months of the end of the application period. Anyone who does NOT receive a letter will know that his/her application has not been registered. 11. HOW MANY APPLICANTS WILL BE REGISTERED? A total of about 50,000 persons, both principal applicants and their spouses and children, will be registered. Since it is likely that some of the first 40,000 persons who are registered will not pursue their cases to visa issuance, this larger figure should ensure use of all AA-1 numbers, but it also risks some registrants' being left out. All applicants who are registered will be informed promptly of their place on the list. Each month visas will be issued, according to registration lottery rank order, to those applicants who are ready for visa issuance during that month. Once all of the fiscal year 1993 visas have been issued, the program for the year will end. (In the event there are any numbers from the worldwide or Ireland 1992 AA-1 limits which are unused for visa issuance during that fiscal year, such numbers will be added to the AA-1 limits for fiscal year 1993.) Registered applicants who wish to receive visas must be prepared to ACT PROMPTLY on their cases. The law specifies that at least 40% (i.e., 16,000) of each year's AA-1 visas are to be made available to natives of Ireland. Natives of Northern Ireland are entitled to benefit from the 40% of the AA-1 numbers provided for Ireland. So that Northern Ireland natives are properly identified during registration processing, they should show their area of birth as NORTHERN IRELAND on their application and envelope. 12. IS THERE A MINIMUM AGE FOR APPLICANTS FOR REGISTRATION UNDER THE AA-1 PROGRAM? There is NO minimum age for submission of an application for registration, but the requirement of a firm commitment of employment for each principal applicant at the time of visa issuance will effectively disqualify anyone who is under the legal working age. 13. WILL THERE BE ANY SPECIAL FEE FOR REGISTRATION IN THE AA-1 CATEGORY? There is NO FEE FOR SUBMITTING A REQUEST FOR REGISTRATION, and NO FEE should be included with the letter sent to the post office box indicated above. There will be a special fee of US$25.00 per case registered, however, to cover the cost of processing the AA-1 registrations. This fee will be collected by the consular office to which the case is sent for processing, when the applicant responds to the registration notification letter. 14. ARE AA-1 APPLICANTS SPECIALLY ENTITLED TO APPLY FOR A WAIVER OF ANY OF THE GROUNDS OF VISA INELIGIBILITY? The law states that, for AA-1 visa applicants, the Immigration and Naturalization Service shall waive the ground of visa ineligibility based on misrepresentation on an application for a visa or for entry into the U.S. (INA 212(a)(6)(C)), unless there is a finding that such waiver is not in the national interest. In addition, the law automatically waives the two year foreign residence requirement on certain former exchange visitor ("J") visa holders under INA 212(e). Also, the requirement for a labor certification (INA 212(a)(5)(A)) does not apply. In all other respects, persons registered under the AA-1 program must meet the standard eligibility requirements before a visa can be issued. 15. MAY APPLICANTS WHO ARE ALREADY REGISTERED FOR AN IMMIGRANT VISA IN ANOTHER CATEGORY APPLY IN THIS REGISTRATION FOR THE AA-1 CATEGORY? Yes, such persons may seek AA-1 status as well. 16. HOW LONG DO APPLICANTS WHO ARE REGISTERED ON THE BASIS OF THIS APPLICATION PERIOD REMAIN ENTITLED TO APPLY FOR VISAS IN THE AA-1 CATEGORY? Under the law, persons registered following this AA-1 application period are entitled to apply for visa issuance ONLY DURING FISCAL YEAR 1993, i.e., from October 1992 through September 1993. There is no carry-over of benefit into another year for persons who are registered but who do not obtain visas during FY-1993. A separate application period must be held for each year's AA-1 visas prior to the start of the respective fiscal year. There is no restriction on a person's applying for AA-1 status during each of the three application periods. NOTE: THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO ADVANTAGE TO MAILING EARLY, OR MAILING FROM ANY PARTICULAR LOCALE. EVERY APPLICATION RECEIVED DURING THE MAIL-IN PERIOD WILL HAVE AN EQUAL RANDOM CHANCE OF BEING SELECTED. HOWEVER MORE THAN ONE APPLICATION PER PERSON WILL DISQUALIFY THE PERSON FROM REGISTRATION. ________________ George V. Reilly From: ojvind@plato.cns.caltech.edu (Ojvind Bernander) Newsgroups: alt.visa.us Subject: Re: Visa Lottery. Message-ID: <1992Aug28.175829.10870@cco.caltech.edu> Date: 28 Aug 92 17:58:29 GMT In article bernard@sirius.gte.com (Bernard Silver) writes: > >> 4) Do you know anyone who has got his/her green card in a lottery? >> What is the procedure after you have have been 'selected'. There were eight of us who pooled resources last year and sent of a few hundred applications. All eight of us got it. Here is what happened afterwards: Oct 14 Application deadline. Nov 15 I get a letter saying that I had won. It included a form to send back and a list of documents (birth and police certificates, etc) that I needed to assemble. Jan 15 I have all my documents (I was slow and lazy) And send in a letter stating this fact, asking for an appointment to interview. Mar 15 I still haven't gotten an appointment date and so I call my embassy. They "never received" my letter, so I Fedex a new copy. Mar 30 I interview and get all the papers I need to show when entering the U.S. next time. Apr 7 I enter the U.S. and get a stamp in my passport saying "Employment authorized." This stamp serves as a temporary (6 months) green card. Jun 15 I receive the green card in the mail (it's pink!). Last year 20 million applications were received. Assuming that people on average sent in 100 applications (I heard of a German dude who sent in 10,000) that gives 200,000 applicants. If the same holds true this year there is a one in five chance to win, since 50,000 "win" and the first 40,000 to get processed actually receive green cards. _ -- Ojvind Bernander From: pkopczyn@lynx.dac.northeastern.edu (Przemyslaw R. Kopczynski) Newsgroups: alt.visa.us Subject: Re: AA-1 Phone Number/Address???? Message-ID: <1993Jan15.163343.15073@lynx.dac.northeastern.edu> Date: 15 Jan 93 16:33:43 GMT The number of Processing Center is (703) 875-0499. The address is: Transitional Immigrant Visa Processing Center 1401 Wilson Blvd., Suite 700 Arlington, Virginia 22209 From: mingo@world.std.com (Charles H Mingo) Newsgroups: alt.visa.us Subject: Re: AA-1 Update???? Keywords: Try Calling The State Dept's Consular Affairs BBS for the Latest! Message-ID: Date: 23 Sep 92 01:55:19 GMT In article <1992Sep9.222255.7625@ulowell.ulowell.edu> pmullins@cs.ulowell.edu ([Irish Harp]) writes: > >Now that the period for applying for this year's Morrison visa has ended, >what's the up-to-date news on the process???? The news is there's no news yet. For updates, you might consider calling the State Department's Consular Affairs Bulletin Board System (at 647-9225 v.32bis/HST), and look at the latest Visa Bulletin, updated each night from State's mainframe. (This is also a good place for anyone looking for the latest visa numbers.) The "official word" is: C. TRANSITION IMMIGRANT (AA-1) CATEGORY FOR NATIVES OF CERTAIN "ADVERSELY AFFECTED" FOREIGN STATES Section 132 of the Immigration Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-649) provides 40,000 immigrant visas during each of fiscal years 1992, 1993 and 1994 for natives of certain countries which had been identified as "adversely affected" for purposes of the "NP-5" immigrant program established under Section 314 of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (P.L. 99-603). At least 40 percent of AA-1 numbers are designated for natives of the country which received the greatest number of visas under the NP-5 program (i.e., Ireland). Requests for registration for the FY-1993 AA-1 visas were received by the Department of State during the period July 29 through August 28, 1992. Applications selected at random from among those received during this period are currently in the process of being registered for the FY-1993 visas. The first notification letters to applicants who are registered should be dispatched by the end of October. From: brian.mcgrath@rose.com (brian mcgrath) Subject: UN: Does anyone know if I Date: Sat, 9 Oct 1993 04:10:04 GMT Message-ID: <1993Oct09.031008.18953@rose.com> >Does anyone know if the INS has the visa lottery this year? If yes, >what countries are included in the list? Vic, The AA-1 lottery is no more. In its place id the DV-1 (Diversification Visa) lottery which is the permenant replacement for the AA-1. While the INS hasn't announced anything, there is a lawyer here in Toronto trolling for clients in the DV-1 lottery. Apparently he offers to prepare and submit their applications for them for a fee. I've called him to see if he has (or was willing to share) any information, but it sounded like he had little idea of when the application period was to start. He did say, however, that this year's lottery would include Canada, Great Britain, France, (former) Soviet Union, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa (and other unspecified countries). If I find out anything more, I'll be posting it here. Brian, Toronto --- RoseReader 2.10 R002397 Entered at [ROSE] RoseMail 2.10 : RoseNet<=>Usenet Gateway : Rose Media 416-733-2285 From mimsy!cs.umd.edu!news.umbc.edu!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!uunet!olivea!sgigate.sgi.com!odin!alborz.mti.sgi.com!ali Tue Jan 11 14:21:53 EST 1994 You can call the following number to get the latest information on the immigration lotteries: 202-663-1600 Good Luck! From mimsy!cs.umd.edu!zombie.ncsc.mil!paladin.american.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!news.eecs.uic.edu!uicvm.uic.edu!u62225 Wed Jan 12 12:51:14 EST 1994 In article <9401121605.aa19689@poker.informatik.uni-kl.de>, c_guenth@informatik.uni-kl.de says: > >Hi, > >I need some information on this years green card >lottery: what is the date and the address, and >what do I have to send them in order to take part? > >Thanks for any help. > >Carsten. > I called State Departament lottery hotline yesterday. Here is the information I obtained: 1) There will be ~60,000 visas in DV-5 lottery avaliable; 2) No single country can get more than 3,500 visas (hence the name: DV=diversity) 3) You need to have a high school diploma or at least two years experience to qualify; 4) There won't be any special application form to fill and no fee; 5) All other details (how to apply etc.) are not known yet and will be published "in early 1994"; Good luck Henryk From mimsy!cs.umd.edu!uchinews!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!agate!soda.berkeley.edu!petr Tue Jan 25 11:06:28 EST 1994 I don't know how many of you know about visa lotteries but here is the repost from the local newsgroup. This may be your lucky day , although I doubt that Sovok will be excluded from the list (see below) :) Shura. From: dwalker@uclink.berkeley.edu (Dianne H Walker) Newsgroups: ucb.general,ucb.students.internat Subject: 1994 Green Card Lottery Date: 23 Jan 1994 20:20:30 GMT ============================================================ INFORMATION ON THE 1994 GREEN CARD LOTTERY ============================================================ The U.S. State Department will publish, by March 1994, complete instructions on the application procedure for the next phase of the Diversity Program (also known as the 'visa lottery', for acquisition of permanent residence in the U.S. Until those guidelines are published (SISS will make copies of this available as soon as this happens; expect the availability of the guidelines to be widely published in local print media, e.g., the paper), it might be useful to know the following: 1. This is the first year of the permanent or regular diversity program, DV-1. Created by the Immigration Act of 1990, this year the program is called 'Fiscal Year 1995 Diversity Program' because formal adjust- ment of status (or conversion to immigrant status) for the winners will start on October 1, 1994, the start of the federal government 1995 fiscal year. The application period, however, will be either April or May 1994. 2. There will be 55,000 winners each year, compared with 40,000 each of the last three years. 3. You will be eligible to apply if you were born in a country from which there were fewer than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. during the preceding five years. At this point, the following countries will be *excluded* from the DV-1 program: + Canada + Dominican Republic + El Salvador + India + Jamaica + Korea + Mexico + People's Republic of China + Philippines + United Kingdom + Vietnam This list is not yet final. 4. The only additional requirement for eligibility will be completion of high school or its equivalent or work for at least two years in an occupation that requires two years of training or experience. 5. Only one application may be submitted. Winners will be selected by random number software once all applicant names have been entered into a database. All who apply during the designated time period will have an equal chance, i.e., there is not advantage gained by applying early. ============================================================================= For further information, do not contact SISS, but do call the State Department hotline: (202) 663-1600. This 24-hour line has a recorded message with the latest information on the lottery. ============================================================================= From mimsy!cs.umd.edu!zombie.ncsc.mil!paladin.american.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!news.intercon.com!digex.net!digex.net!not-for-mail Sun Feb 13 10:45:44 EST 1994 I think netters need the following info. -------------------BEGIN----------- DV1 LOTTERY PROGRAM The program is NOT finalized yet. It is expected to be finalized in March 1994. Applications for the program will probably begin to be accepted in May. Please note, at this point, NOTHING is final. HOW IT WORKS There is an annual limitation of 55,000 visas per year for diversity immigrants. The U.S. Attorney General (acting through INS) will establish numerical visa quotas for each country. "Natives" of each country will compete amongst themselves for the quota for that country. "Native" is being defined as born within the territory of the foreign country, or entitled to be charged for immigration purposes to that foreign state pursuant to section 202(b) of the INA. It is being speculated by people better informed on this topic than this author that the following countries may be excluded from the DV-I program for 1995: Canada, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, India, Jamaica, Korea, Mexico, the People's Republic of China, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and Vietnam (may be even Colombia, Haiti, and Taiwan). WHO WOULD BE ELIGIBLE UNDER THE PROPOSED REGULATIONS To be eligible, a person: 1. Must be a native of a low-admission foreign state (determined by the Attorney General in every Fiscal Year); 2. must have at least a high school education or its equivalent (successful completion of twelve years of elementary and secondary education in the United States or successful completion in another country of a formal course of elementary and secondary education comparable to completion of twelve years' elementary and secondary education in the United States); or within the five years preceding the date of application for a visa, must have two years of work experience in an occupation requiring at least two years training or experience; 3. May be in the United States or in a foreign country; and 4. Who is in the United States need not be in lawful status. No more than one petition may be submitted by, or on behalf of, any individual for consideration during any single fiscal year. PROPOSED PROCEDURES I. Form: The petition shall consist of a sheet of paper on which there shall be typed or legibly printed in the Roman alphabet the petitioner's name; date and place of birth (including city and county, province or other political subdivision, and country); name[s] and date[s] and place[s] of birth of spouse and child[ren], if any; and a current mailing address. II. Submission: A petition shall be submitted by mail to the address designated by the Department for that purpose. The Department shall establish a period of not less than thirty days during each fiscal year during which petitions for consideration during the following fiscal year may be submitted. Each fiscal year, the Department shall give timely notice of both the mailing address and the exact dates of the application period, through publication in the Federal Register and such other methods as will ensure the widest possible dissemination of the information, both abroad and within the United States. III. Mailing: Petitions must be submitted by normal surface or air mail only. Petitions submitted by hand, telegram, fax, or by any means requiring any form of special handling/acknowledgement will be rejected. The petitioner must type or print using the Roman alphabet, on the upper left-hand corner of the envelope in which the petition is mailed, his or her full name and mailing address, the COUNTRY of which he or she is a native, as shown on the petition itself, Because of the need to sort the envelopes into six groups according to region, identification of the country of which the alien is a native on the envelope becomes indispensable. The Department will reject any envelope which does not bear this information. Envelopes shall be between 6 and 9 inches (15 cm to 24 cm) in length and between 3 and 1/2 and 4 and 1/2 inches in width (9 cm to 11 cm). Envelopes not conforming these specifications will be rejected. -------------------------------END------------- PLEASE NOTE: This is all the information I have at the moment. As and when I receive further information, I will post it on the net. PLEASE DO NOT SEND ME FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS ON THIS TOPIC. THIS DOCUMENT IS AVAILABLE BY ANONYMOUS FTP TO netcom1.netcom.com, netcom2.netcom.com, etc. through netcom9.netcom.com. The document is found in directory "/pub/rskhanna" and indexed as "DV1Proposed." ---------------------------TOTALLY END--------------- -- ----------------------------------------------------------------- LAW OFFICES OF RAJIV S. KHANNA Voice: (202) 466-2113 1129 20th Street, NW, Suite 400 Email: rskhanna@access.digex.net Washington, DC 20036-3403 rajiv.khanna@permanet.org From rskhanna@access.digex.net Thu Mar 31 19:55:47 EST 1994 Well folks, here is the much awaited DV1 Info. ---------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF STATE Bureau of Consular Affairs [Public Notice 1974] Registration for the Diversity Immigrant (DV-1) Visa Program ACTION: Notice of registration for the first year of the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program This public notice provides information on the application procedures for the 55,000 immigrant visas to be made available in the DV-1 category during Fiscal Year 1995. This notice is issued pursuant to 22 CFR 42.33 which implements Sections 201(a)(3), 201(e), 203(c) and 204(a)(1)(G) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, (8 U.S.C. 1151, 1153, and 1154). Final regulations related to this Notice are being published simultaneously with this Notice elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register. Information on the Application Procedures for the 55,000 Immigrant Visas To Be Made Available in the DV-1 Category During Fiscal Year 1995 Sections 201(a)(3), 201(e), 203(c) and 204(a)(1)(G) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, taken together establish, effective for Fiscal Year 1995 and thereafter, an annual numerical limitation of 55,000 for diversity immigrants. Aliens who are natives of countries determined by the Attorney General according to a mathematical formula specified by the law will be able to compete for immigration under this limitation. This program is identified by the visa symbol DV-1 and is informally known as the "visa lottery." The law specifies that there must be a separate registration for each year's DV-1 visas. This information concerns the application period during 1994 for visas to be issued during fiscal year 1995. Qualifying Countries and Areas Under the DV-1 Program The law apportions immigrant visa issuance among six geographic regions (Africa, Asia, Europe, North America - other than Mexico, Oceania, and South America including Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean) according to a formula based on total immigrant admissions over the most recent five-year period. The formula identifies both high and low admission regions and high admission foreign states. A greater share of the available visa numbers go to low admission regions than to high admission regions. High admission states are excluded entirely from the program. No single country may receive more than 7 percent (3,850) of the world-wide total of visa numbers. The U.S. Attorney General determines and publishes separately the countries whose natives (as that term is explained in question 1) are entitled to apply for DV-1 visas during Fiscal Year 1995. According to the law, countries are grouped by region (see list at the end of this notice). The allotment of visa numbers for each region is shown in parenthesis below: AFRICA:(20,200) All countries. ASIA: (6,837) All countries EXCEPT the following: China - mainland born and Taiwan born, India, Philippines, Vietnam, and South Korea. (Hong Kong is eligible). EUROPE: (24,549) All countries EXCEPT the following: United Kingdom and its dependent territories. (Northern Ireland is eligible). NORTH AMERICA: (8) Canada is not eligible. The Bahamas is the ONLY eligible country included in the North American region. SOUTH AMERICA: (2,589) All countries EXCEPT Mexico, Jamaica, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic. OCEANIA: (817) All Countries. How and When to Apply for DV-1 Status The application period for registration for the visas to be issued during Fiscal Year 1995 (i.e. from October 1994 through September 1995) will begin at 12:01 a.m. (Eastern Time) on Wednesday, June 1, 1994, and will end at midnight on Thursday, June 30, 1994. Applications must be typed or clearly printed and mailed to one of the six following addresses, depending upon the region of the applicant's native country: NOTE CAREFULLY THE IMPORTANCE OF USING THE CORRECT POSTAL ZIP CODE FOR EACH REGION. ASIA: DV-1 Program National Visa Center Portsmouth, NH 00210, U.S.A. SOUTH AMERICA: DV-1 Program National Visa Center Portsmouth, NH 00211, U.S.A. EUROPE: DV-1 Program National Visa Center Portsmouth, NH 00212, U.S.A. AFRICA: DV-1 Program National Visa Center Portsmouth, NH 00213, U.S.A. OCEANIA: DV-1 Program National Visa Center Portsmouth, NH 00214, U.S.A. NORTH AMERICA: DV-1 Program National Visa Center Portsmouth, NH 00215, U.S.A. Typed or clearly printed in the Roman alphabet in the upper left hand corner of the front of the envelope must be the country or area of which the applicant is a native. Typed or clearly printed below the country must be the same name and mailing address of the applicant as are shown on the application form contained therein. Failure to include this information will disqualify the application. Example: Pakistan, George Q. Public, 1234 Any Street, Apt. 5, Center City, CA 90001. Only one application may be submitted by or for each applicant during this registration period. (Submission of more than one application will disqualify the person from registration.) Applications for registration will be grouped by region and will be selected strictly in a random order from among all those received during the application period. Every application received will have an equal chance of being selected. Applications must be sent to the addresses above by regular mail or air mail only, and may be mailed from within the United States or abroad. The information required on the envelope must be typed or clearly printed. Any applications submitted by hand, telegram, FAX, or by any means requiring any form of special handling or acknowledgement of receipt, such as registered mail, express mail, or certified mail will not be eligible for the visa lottery. Applications received at the post office either before or after the application period, or delivered to any other address will not be processed for registration. Only one application may be included in each envelope. Size of Envelope The envelope in which each application is mailed must be BETWEEN 6 inches and 10 inches (15 cm to 25 cm) IN LENGTH, and BETWEEN 3 inches and 4 inches (9 cm to 11 cm) IN WIDTH. This is necessary to assist the automated processing of the mail. INFORMATION WHICH MUST BE INCLUDED WITH APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION There is no application fee or special application form. The request for registration in the lottery must furnish the following information on a plain sheet of paper. All answers must be typed or clearly printed in the Roman alphabet. Each application must be in the following format: 1. APPLICANT'S FULL NAME Last Name, First Name and Middle Name (Underline Last Name/Surname/Family name) Example: Public, George Quincy 2. APPLICANT'S DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH Date of birth: Day, Month, Year Example: 15 November 1961 Place of birth: City/Town, District/County/Province, Country Example: Munich, Bavaria, Germany 3. NAME, DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH OF APPLICANT'S SPOUSE AND CHILDREN, IF ANY The spouse and child(ren) of an applicant who is registered for DV-1 status are automatically entitled to the same status. To obtain a visa on the basis of this derivative status, a child must be under 21 years of age and unmarried. NOTE: Do NOT list parents as they are not entitled to derivative status. 4. APPLICANT'S MAILING ADDRESS The mailing address must be clear and complete, since it will be to that address that the notification letter for the persons who are registered will be sent. A telephone number is optional. 5. APPLICANT'S NATIVE COUNTRY IF DIFFERENT FROM COUNTRY OF BIRTH See the answer to Question 1 in this notice regarding the meaning of "native" for the purposes of the DV-1 program. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT DV-1 REGISTRATION 1. HOW IS THE TERM "NATIVE" DEFINED? ARE THERE ANY BASES UPON WHICH PERSONS WHO HAVE NOT BEEN BORN IN A QUALIFYING COUNTRY MAY QUALIFY FOR REGISTRATION? Native means BOTH someone born within one of the qualifying countries AND someone entitled to be "charged" to such country under the provisions of Section 202(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Applicants for DV-1 registration may be charged to the country of birth of a spouse; a minor dependent child can be charged to the country of birth of a parent; and an applicant born in a country of which neither parent was a native or a resident at the time of his/her birth may be charged to the country of birth of either parent. An applicant who claims the benefit of alternate chargeability must include a statement to that effect on the application for registration, and must show the country of chargeability on the upper left hand corner of the envelope in which the registration request is mailed. 2. MAY PERSONS WHO ARE IN THE U.S. APPLY FOR REGISTRATION? Yes, an applicant may be in the U.S. or in another country, and the application may be mailed in the U.S. or abroad. 3. IS EACH APPLICANT LIMITED TO ONLY ONE APPLICATION DURING THIS DV-1 REGISTRATION PERIOD? Yes, the law allows only ONE application BY OR FOR each person; SUBMISSION OF MORE THAN ONE APPLICATION WILL DISQUALIFY THE PERSON FROM REGISTRATION. NOTE: More than 400,000 applications were DISQUALIFIED during the 1993 and 1994 visa lotteries due to multiple applications. Applicants may be disqualified at time of registration or at the time of the visa interview if more than one entry is detected. 4. MAY A HUSBAND AND A WIFE EACH SUBMIT A SEPARATE APPLICATION? Yes, if otherwise qualified, a husband and a wife may each submit one application for registration; if either is registered, the other would be entitled to derivative status. 5. MUST EACH APPLICANT SUBMIT HIS/HER OWN REQUEST, OR MAY SOMEONE ACT ON BEHALF OF AN APPLICANT? Applicants may prepare and submit their own request for registration, or have someone act on their behalf. Regardless of whether an application is submitted by the applicant directly, or is assisted by an attorney, friend, relative, etc., ONLY ONE APPLICATION MAY BE SUBMITTED IN THE NAME OF EACH PERSON. Only one notification letter will be sent for each case registered, to the address provided on the application. 6. WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR EDUCATION OR WORK EXPERIENCE? The law and regulations require that every applicant must have at least a high school education or its equivalent or, within the past five years, have two years of work experience in an occupation requiring at least two years training or experience. A "high school education or equivalent" is defined as successful completion of a twelve-year course of elementary and secondary education comparable to that of a high school degree in the United States. Qualifying work experience shall be based upon the most recent edition of the Dictionary of Occupational Titles published by the Employment and Training Administration of the United States Department of Labor. Documentary proof of education or work experience should NOT be submitted with the application, but must be presented to the consular officer at the time of formal immigrant visa application. 7. HOW WILL CASES BE REGISTERED? At the National Visa Center all mail received will be separated into one of six geographic regions and individually numbered. After the end of the application period, a computer will randomly select cases from among all the mail received for each geographic region. Within each region, the first letter randomly selected will be the first case registered, the second letter selected the second registration, etc. It makes no difference whether an application is received early or late in the application period; all applications received within the mail-in period will have an equal chance of being selected within each region. When a case has been registered, the applicant will immediately be sent a notification letter, which will provide appropriate visa application instructions. The National Visa Center will continue to process the case until those who are registered are instructed to make formal application at a U.S. consular office or at an INS office in the United States in the case of those who are entitled to apply for change of status. The National Visa Center will provide additional instructions on what steps to take to pursue their applications for DV-1 visas. 8. MAY APPLICANTS ADJUST THEIR STATUS WITH THE INS? Yes, provided you are otherwise eligible to adjust status, if you are physically present in the United States you may apply to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) for adjustment. Applicants who adjust, however, must first mail completed forms OF-230, Part I, and DSP-122 to the National Visa Center. Applicants should ensure that INS can complete action on their cases before September 30, 1995, since on that date registrations in the Fiscal Year 1995 DV-1 program terminate. 9. WILL APPLICANTS WHO ARE NOT REGISTERED BE INFORMED? No, applicants who are not registered will receive no response to their registration request. Only those who are registered will be informed. All notification letters are expected to be sent within about three months of the end of the application period. Anyone who does NOT receive a letter will know that his/her application has not been registered. 10. HOW MANY APPLICANTS WILL BE REGISTERED? A total of about 90,000 persons, both principal applicants and their spouses and children, will be registered. Since it is likely that some of the first 55,000 persons who are registered will not pursue their cases to visa issuance, this larger figure should ensure use of all DV-1 numbers, but it also risks some registrants' being left out. All applicants who are registered will be informed promptly of their place on the list. Each month visas will be issued, according to registration lottery rank order, to those applicants who are ready for visa issuance during that month. Once all of the fiscal year 1995 visas have been issued, the program for the year will end. Registered applicants who wish to receive visas must be prepared to ACT PROMPTLY on their cases. 11. IS THERE A MINIMUM AGE FOR APPLICANTS FOR REGISTRATION UNDER THE DV-1 PROGRAM? There is NO minimum age for submission of an application for registration, but the requirement of a high school education or work experience for each principal applicant at the time of visa issuance will effectively disqualify most persons who are under age 18. 12. WILL THERE BE ANY SPECIAL FEE FOR REGISTRATION IN THE DV-1 CATEGORY? There is NO FEE FOR SUBMITTING A REQUEST FOR REGISTRATION, and NO FEE should be included with the letter sent to the post office box indicated above. Furthermore, there is no fee for applicants who come to be registered through the lottery. 13. ARE DV-1 APPLICANTS SPECIALLY ENTITLED TO APPLY FOR A WAIVER OF ANY OF THE GROUNDS OF VISA INELIGIBILITY? No. Applicants are subject to all grounds of ineligibility specified in the Immigration and Nationality Act and there is no special provision for the waiver of any grounds of visa ineligibility other than those provided for in the Act. 14. MAY APPLICANTS WHO ARE ALREADY REGISTERED FOR AN IMMIGRANT VISA IN ANOTHER CATEGORY APPLY IN THIS REGISTRATION FOR THE DV-1 CATEGORY? Yes, such persons may seek DV-1 status through this registration as well. 15. HOW LONG DO APPLICANTS WHO ARE REGISTERED ON THE BASIS OF THIS APPLICATION PERIOD REMAIN ENTITLED TO APPLY FOR VISAS IN THE DV-1 CATEGORY? Under the law, persons registered following this DV-1 application period are entitled to apply for visa issuance ONLY DURING FISCAL YEAR 1995, i.e., from October 1994 through September 1995. There is no carry-over of benefit into another year for persons who are registered but who do not obtain visas during FY-1995. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO ADVANTAGE TO MAILING EARLY, OR MAILING FROM ANY PARTICULAR LOCALE. EVERY APPLICATION RECEIVED DURING THE MAIL-IN PERIOD WILL HAVE AN EQUAL CHANCE OF BEING SELECTED AT RANDOM WITHIN ITS REGION. HOWEVER MORE THAN ONE APPLICATION PER PERSON WILL DISQUALIFY THE PERSON FROM REGISTRATION. ALSO, FAILURE TO INCLUDE THE APPLICANT'S NATIVE COUNTRY AND FULL NAME AND ADDRESS ON THE ENVELOPE WILL DISQUALIFY THE APPLICATION. Countries of the world divided into the six regions defined in section 203(c)(1)(F) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1990 (1) Africa Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Congo Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Ethiopia Gabon Gambia, The Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda Sao Tome and Principe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zaire Zambia Zimbabwe (2) Asia Afghanistan Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Burma Cambodia China-mainland China-Taiwan (a "state" within the meaning of the Act) Hong Kong (a "state" within the meaning of the Act) India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Korea, North Korea, South Kuwait Laos Lebanon Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Nepal Oman Pakistan Philippines Qatar Saudi Arabia Singapore Sri Lanka Syria Thailand United Arab Emirates Vietnam Yemen (3) Europe Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro (a "state" for purposes of the Act; Serbia and Montenegro have proclaimed the formation of a joint independent state, but this entity has not been formally recognized as a state by the United States.) Netherlands Northern Ireland (a "state" within the meaning of the Act) Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia (a "state" for purposes of the Act; Serbia and Montenegro have proclaimed the formation of a joint independent state, but this entity has not been formally recognized as a state by the United States.) Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Tajikistan Turkmenistan Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom Uzbekistan Vatican City (an independent city under the jurisdiction of the Holy See) (4) North America Bahamas, The Canada United States (5) Oceania Australia Fiji Kiribati Marshall Islands Micronesia, Federated States of Nauru New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu Western Samoa (6) South America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Barbados Belize Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Vincent and the Grenadines Suriname Trinidad and Tobago Uruguay Venezuela As indicated above, the regulations pertaining to this Notice are being published in this issue of the Federal Register, and contain detailed information regarding the DV-1 program. ______________________ __________________ DATED Mary A. Ryan Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs DV-1 Public Notice Drafted: Cleared: CA/VO/F/P:JWCarter CA/VO/F/:GCLannon 3/21/94 CA/VO/L:CDScully Ext. 31175 CA/VO/P:AMarwitz WWVOFPL 8416 CA/VO/F/I:SStapleton wordperfect 5.1 DIVNOT.w51 CA/VO/F/P:DSkocz CA/P:RWilliams L/CA:CBrown CA/VO:MHancock CA/VO:DDillard CA:DHobbs ______________________ ________________________ DATED David L. Hobbs Acting Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs ------------------------------------------------------ -- ----------------------------------------------------------------- LAW OFFICES OF RAJIV S. KHANNA Voice: (202) 466-2113 1129 20th Street, NW, Suite 400 Email: rskhanna@access.digex.net Washington, DC 20036-3403 rskhanna@netcom.com