1. What does the term "native" of a country mean? Are there any situations where people not born in a country whose citizens are eligible to enter the lottery can apply?
"Native" usually means that a person was born in that country, regardless of their current country of residence or citizenship. But for the purposes of immigration to the United States, the term "native" can also mean a person who, under the provisions of Section 202(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, is eligible to be "charged" to a country other than the country of birth.
For example, if the principal applicant was born in a country whose citizens are not eligible for that year's visa lottery, they may "charge" themselves to the country in which their spouse was born. However, their visa will only be issued as a DV-1 visa if their spouse is also eligible to enter the lottery and is issued a DV-2 visa, and both must enter the United States together on these visas. Similarly, a minor dependent child may be "charged" to the country of birth of one of their parents.
Finally, any applicant born in a country whose affiliation does not grant eligibility for that year's visa lottery may be "charged" to the country of birth of one of their parents, provided that at the time of the applicant's birth, neither parent was a resident of the country whose affiliation does not grant eligibility for that year's visa lottery. In general, people are not considered residents of a country in which they were not born or naturalized legally, if they live in that country only temporarily or are assigned there for work by their employer or government.
An applicant who charges themselves to a country other than the country of birth must provide the necessary information for this in the electronic registration application (item #6). If the country that grants the applicant eligibility for the lottery or to which they are "charged" is incorrectly indicated (i.e., valid proof cannot be provided), the application may be rejected.
2. Have any changes or new requirements been made to the application process for the DV-2008 visa lottery?
All applications for the DV-2008 visa lottery must be submitted electronically at www.dvlottery.state.gov during the registration period. Paper applications will not be considered. To collect additional information, a number of questions and answer options have been added to the DV-2008 lottery entry form.
1. In which country do you currently reside?
2. What is your level of education? You must choose one of these ten answer options, indicating the highest level of education you have completed: (1) Only primary education, (2) Some secondary education, (3) Completed secondary education, (4) Vocational/technical training, (5) Some university education, (6) Completed university education, (7) Some master's level education, (8) Master's degree, (9) Some doctoral level education, and (10) Doctorate degree.
3. In the new form, the status "Divorced" has been replaced with "Legally divorced" as one of the answer options for the question "What is your marital status?" The status "legally divorced" means that the court has officially declared you and your spouse divorced. This status means that your spouse is not eligible to immigrate with you.
3. Is it necessary to submit signatures and photographs for each family member or only for the principal applicant?
Signatures are not required on the electronic visa lottery application form. It is necessary to submit recent photographs separately for the applicant, their spouse, and all children under 21 years of age. Photograph requirements are provided in the instructions.
4. Why are natives of some countries not eligible to enter the diversity immigrant visa lottery?
Diversity immigrant visas are intended to provide immigration opportunities for people from all countries except those from which a large number of immigrants enter the United States. The law states that diversity immigrant visas may not be issued to natives of countries with "high admission rates," from which a total of 50,000 people have immigrated to the United States over the past five years using family-sponsored and employment-based visas. Each year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) counts the number of immigrants who entered the United States on such visas in the previous five years and determines the countries whose natives are ineligible for the upcoming visa lottery. Since the list of countries whose natives are ineligible to participate in the lottery is revised anew before the start of each annual registration period, it may change from year to year.
5. Are there any regional restrictions on participation in the DV-2008 lottery?
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) determines regional restrictions on the number of visa lottery participants according to the formula set forth in Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Regional restrictions will be announced as soon as USCIS completes its calculations.
6. Are people who are already in the United States eligible to enter the lottery?
Yes, an applicant may be in the United States or another country and may apply from within the United States or from abroad.
7. Is there a rule that each applicant may submit only one entry for the diversity visa lottery for immigrants of different nationalities?
Yes, the law allows each applicant to submit only one entry per registration period. Applicants for whom more than one entry is submitted will not be registered. The Department of State will use sophisticated technology and other means to identify those who have submitted multiple entries. Applicants who submit more than one entry will be disqualified from the lottery, and a permanent record will be made in the Department of State's electronic database. Applicants may submit entries for the lottery each year during the regular registration period.
8. Can a husband and wife submit separate entries?
Yes, a husband and wife may each submit one separate entry, provided that both are eligible to participate in the lottery. In doing so, the husband's entry must list the wife as a dependent, and vice versa.
9. Which family members should be listed in the visa lottery entry?
In the entry, you must list your spouse and all unmarried children under the age of 21, except for children who are already U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents of the United States. You must list your spouse even if you are currently living separately, provided you are not legally divorced. If you are legally divorced, you should not list your former spouse. You must list all your children who are unmarried and under 21, whether they are your biological children, your spouse's children, or children legally adopted by you under the laws of your country, provided they are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents. List all children under 21 even if they no longer live with you or you do not plan for them to immigrate to the U.S. through the visa lottery.
The mere fact of listing your family members in the entry does not mean they must subsequently travel with you. They may stay behind if they wish. However, if you later list an eligible dependent on your visa application whom you did not list in the lottery entry, your application will be revoked. This applies only to those who were family members at the time of the lottery entry and does not apply to those who became family members later. Your spouse will be eligible to file a separate visa application, even if their name was listed in your lottery entry, provided that both the entry and the application included detailed information about all dependents in your family.
10. Must each person submit an entry in person, or can someone else do it for them?
Entrants may prepare and submit entries themselves or ask someone to do it for them. Regardless of whether the entry is submitted in person or with the help of a lawyer, friend, relative, etc., only one entry per person is permitted, and the named entrant remains responsible for ensuring that the information provided is true and complete. If the entry is selected, the notification letter will be sent only to the mailing address provided in the entry.
11. What are the work experience or education requirements?
Laws and regulations require that each entrant have at least a high school education or its equivalent, or have at least two years of work experience in the last five years in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience. "High school education or its equivalent" means successful completion of 12 years of primary and secondary schooling in the United States, or successful completion of an equivalent level of primary and secondary education in another country comparable to a U.S. high school education. Documentation of education or work experience must be presented to a consular officer at the visa interview. In determining eligibility based on work experience, definitions of terms from the U.S. Department of Labor's O*Net OnLine database will be used.
12. How will the winners of the visa lottery be selected?
At the Kentucky Consular Center, all entries from each region will be assigned individual numbers. After the registration period ends, a computer will randomly select a certain number of entries from among all entries received from each geographic region. Within each region, the first randomly selected entry will be considered the first registered, the second the second, and so on. All entries received during the registration period will have equal chances of being selected within each region. After selection, the Kentucky Consular Center will send the entrant a notification letter with instructions on applying for a visa. The Kentucky Consular Center will continue processing until selected entrants receive an appointment for a visa interview at a U.S. consular post, or until those eligible to adjust status in the United States file an application with a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in the United States.
Important note: selection notifications will not be sent by email. If you receive such a notification by email, you should know that it is not genuine.
13. Can selected entrants adjust their status at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services?
Yes, selected applicants who are physically present in the United States may apply to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to change their status to that of lawful permanent resident, if they are eligible under Section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Applicants must ensure that their cases are adjudicated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, including processing of documents for any foreign dependents, by September 30, 2008, since that is the end of the registration period for the DV-2008 lottery.
14. Will applicants who are not selected be notified?
No, applicants who are not selected will not be notified. Only those who are selected will be notified. All notification letters will be sent within 5-7 months from the end of the application submission period to the addresses provided in the applications. Since notification of non-selected applicants is not practiced, anyone who does not receive a notification letter within 5-7 months from the end of the registration period should consider that their entry was not selected.
15. How many people will be selected?
Under the DV-2008 lottery, 50,000 visas will be available, but the number of selectees will be greater than that. This is because some of the initial selectees may not meet all the requirements for visa issuance or receipt. Accordingly, the Kentucky Consular Center will select more than 50,000 entries to ensure all visas are distributed. This also means that not all initially selected applicants will receive a visa. All selected applicants will be notified in a timely manner of their rank. Interviews for DV-2008 lottery visas will begin in October 2007. The Kentucky Consular Center will send interview appointment letters to selected applicants at the U.S. embassy's consular section 4-6 weeks before the scheduled interview date. Each month, visas will be issued (within the set maximum) to those applicants who are ready to receive them that month. Once all 50,000 visas have been issued, the program for the current year will end. In principle, visas may be exhausted before September 2008. Selected applicants who wish to obtain a visa must be prepared to apply promptly. Random selection by the Kentucky Consular Center computer does not guarantee automatic visa issuance.
16. Is there a minimum age requirement for applicants?
There is no minimum age requirement for applicants; however, the existing requirement that each principal applicant must have at least a high school education or work experience by the time of application means that most people under 18 will not be able to participate in the lottery.
17. Is there any fee to enter the visa lottery?
There is no fee for submitting an electronic entry for the diversity immigrant visa lottery. Applicants will be required to pay all necessary visa fees at the time of visa application directly to the cashier at the U.S. consulate or embassy. Detailed instructions on payment of application processing fees and immigrant visa fees for diversity applicants will be provided to selected applicants among the instructions sent by the Kentucky Consular Center.
18. Are visa lottery winners exempt from any visa requirements?
No. All standard visa requirements as established by the Immigration and Nationality Act apply to applicants. No exceptions to these requirements are made.
19. Can individuals who are already registered for an immigrant visa in another category enter the visa lottery?
Yes, such individuals may submit entries for this lottery.
20. For how long do selected applicants retain the right to apply for visas in this category?
Individuals selected in the DV-2008 lottery are eligible to apply for visas only during fiscal year 2008, i.e., from October 1, 2007, through September 30, 2008, inclusive. Applicants must obtain a visa or adjust their status by the end of the fiscal year. The benefits conferred by this lottery on selected individuals who do not obtain visas during fiscal year 2008 do not carry over to the next year. Additionally, spouses and children who derive status from a DV-2008 entry may only receive visas in this category between October 2007 and September 2008. Applicants applying abroad will receive an interview appointment letter from the Kentucky Consular Center 4-6 weeks before the scheduled interview date.
21. What happens to a selected entry if the applicant dies?
Death of a lottery selectee automatically results in cancellation of his or her entry. In that case, any eligible spouse and/or children will forfeit their right to receive a visa under this lottery based on that selectee's entry.
22. Can I download and save the lottery entry form on my computer and then fill it out?
No, you cannot save the form in any program format to fill out and submit later. The form will only exist as a web page, as this makes it more universal than any word processor format. Additionally, the web page format requires that the form be filled out and submitted in real time.
23. Will electronic confirmation of receipt of the completed electronic visa lottery entry form be sent immediately after submission?
The response from the visa lottery website confirming receipt of an acceptable application on the form (E-DVEntryForm) is sent by the visa lottery website immediately. However, it is impossible to predict how long it will take for the response to reach the sender, which is due to the nature of the Internet. If a long time has passed after you clicked the "Submit" button, you can click the "Submit" button again. Repeated clicking will not cause a failure of the visa lottery database, since confirmation of receipt of the application has not yet been received. The applicant may attempt to submit the application as many times as necessary to complete the application process and send the notification of receipt.
Based on materials from the Bureau of International Information Programs of the U.S. Department of State.