Ukrainian winners of the current lottery drawing account for 5.3% of the total number of winners worldwide, placing Ukraine sixth among participating countries after Bangladesh, Nigeria, Poland, Ethiopia, and Egypt. The diversity lottery offers 50,000 visas that grant the right to permanent residence in the United States.
According to the latest data, about 111,000 people have been informed that they can apply for immigration status starting October 1, 2004, which in the United States is the beginning of fiscal year 2005. The Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky, selects twice as many winners as there are available slots, since typically 50,000 of the registered individuals will not apply for immigrant visas or will be disqualified. This will make it possible to use all available diversity visa numbers for 2005.
5,361 winners of the current drawing are from Ukraine, and 6,211 from Poland, which are the highest numbers among European countries. Visas for Ukrainians and Poles who won in this lottery will be processed in Warsaw.
Applicants who registered in the DV-2005 program were selected by lottery from approximately 6.5 million people who correctly completed and submitted their applications from November 1 to December 30, 2003. For the first time, all applications were electronic, which made it impossible to submit one application multiple times, a problem in previous years.
During the visa interview, principal applicants must provide proof of higher education or its equivalent, or have two years of work experience within the last five years that requires at least two years of vocational training.
Selected applicants must promptly file applications for immigrant visas to receive their visas during the fiscal year, i.e., by September 30, 2005. Detailed information about the DV-2006 rules can be found on the U.S. Embassy website http://usembassy.kiev.ua and in the pages of the newspaper "Zagranitsa" as early as September.
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