/graphics Ukrainian Media Service
The rules for participating in the lottery will be announced shortly, after which a detailed guide will be published in 'Zagranitsa'. For now, we have access to statistics on the conduct of the American visa lottery DV-2007, which had registrations in the last quarter of 2005. A total of more than 5.5 million people participated, from which only 82,000 applicants from 175 countries were selected.
The number of winners from Ukraine this year is traditionally high, which allowed our country to enter the top three. The list is as follows: Nigeria – 9,849, Egypt – 7,229, Ukraine – 7,205 winners. Thus, Ukraine has been in first place among European countries for the sixth consecutive year in the number of winners of the American green card lottery. Among European countries, natives of Albania (1,988 people), Bulgaria (1,674), and Uzbekistan (1,536) lag far behind us.
Recall that the visa lottery is conducted to diversify the racial and ethnic composition of the U.S. population. Only natives of countries with low immigration rates to the U.S. can participate in this program. Based on the results of the DV-2007 lottery, 82,000 applicants received notification of victory in the first stage of the draw and may apply for an immigrant visa to the U.S. But residents of different countries are provided with only 50,000 U.S. immigrant visas. For each country, the annual quota is no more than 7% of visas – that is, regardless of the number of winners, no more than 3,500 people emigrate from one country.
It should not be forgotten that the very fact of being selected in the lottery does not guarantee obtaining an immigrant visa and entry into the United States. The winner and his family members must meet both the general requirements of U.S. immigration law and the rules established by the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program. An immigrant visa may be denied due to serious diseases, the list of which is approved by the U.S. Department of Health; drug addiction; conviction for certain types of crimes; insufficient financial support of the applicant and his recognition as a potential public burden; deportation of the applicant from the U.S.; illegal presence in the United States.
In addition, the participant must not violate the established requirements. According to the rules, only those who have at least a secondary education or two years (of the last five) of work experience in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience may participate in the lottery. Persons who do not meet this criterion will be disqualified even if they win.
However, anyone who has submitted an application but did not receive a winning notification in the current year may participate in the new drawing. Therefore, those wishing to take part in the American visa lottery DV-2008 are advised to carefully follow the publications in our newspaper.