United States
Department of State
Bureau of Consular Affairs
DV-2003 will make permanent residence visas available
to persons meeting the simple, but strict, eligibility requirements. Applicants
for Diversity Visas are chosen by a computer-generated random lottery drawing.
The visas, however, are distributed among six geographic regions with a greater
number of visas going to regions with lower rates of immigration, and with no
visas going to citizens of countries sending more than 50,000 immigrants to the
U.S. in the past five years. Within each region, no one country may receive more
than seven percent of the available Diversity Visas in any one year.
For DV-2003, natives of the following countries1
are not eligible to apply because they sent a total of more than 50,000
immigrants to the U.S. in the previous five years:
CANADA, CHINA
(mainland-born), COLOMBIA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, EL SALVADOR, HAITI, INDIA,
JAMAICA, MEXICO, PAKISTAN, PHILIPPINES, SOUTH KOREA, UNITED KINGDOM (except
Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and VIETNAM. Persons born in
Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR and Taiwan are eligible.
1 The
term "country" in this notice includes countries, economies and other
jurisdictions explicitly listed in the List
of Qualifying Countries by Region.
ENTRIES
FOR THE DV-2003 DIVERSITY VISA LOTTERY MUST BE RECEIVED AT ONE OF THE
KENTUCKY CONSULAR CENTER MAILING ADDRESSES LISTED UNDER MAILING
THE ENTRY BETWEEN NOON ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2001 AND NOON ON WEDNESDAY,
OCTOBER 31, 2001. Entries received before or after theSE dates will be
disqualified regardless of when they are postmarked. Also, entries mailed to any
address other than the Kentucky Consular Center addresses under MAILING
THE ENTRY will be disqualified.
REQUIREMENTS FOR ENTRY
Native of a qualifying
country: In most cases this means the country in which
the applicant was born. However, if a person was
born in an ineligible country but his/her spouse was born in an eligible
country, such person can claim the spouse’s country of birth providing both
the applicant and spouse are issued visas and enter the U.S. simultaneously.
Also, if a person was born in an ineligible country, but neither of his/her
parents was born there or resided there at the time of the birth, such
person may be able to claim nativity in one of the parents’ country of birth.
Education or Training: An applicant must have EITHER a high school education or its equivalent,
defined in the U.S. as successful completion of a 12-year course of elementary
and secondary education; OR two years of work experience within the past five
years in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience to
perform. The
U.S. Department of Labor’s O*Net OnLine database will be used to determine the
occupations that require at least two years of training or experience to
perform.
If the applicant cannot meet these requirements, he or
she should NOT submit an entry to the DV program.
PROCEDURES FOR SUBMITTING AN ENTRY TO DV-2003
If photos do not conform to the following
specifications, the entry will be disqualified:
THE ENTRY
There is no specific format for the entry. Simply use a
plain sheet of paper and type or clearly print in the English (Roman)
alphabet the following information. Failure to provide all of this
information will disqualify the applicant’s entry.
1. FULL NAME,
with the last (surname/family) name underlined
EXAMPLES: Public, Sara Jane (or) Lopez, Juan Antonio
2. DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH
Date: Day, Month, Year
EXAMPLE: 15 November 1961
Place: 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; Kazakhstan rather than Soviet Union, for example).
3. THE APPLICANT’S NATIVE COUNTRY IF DIFFERENT FROM
COUNTRY OF BIRTH
If the applicant is claiming nativity in a country
other than his/her place of birth, this must be clearly indicated on the entry.
This information must match with what is put on the upper left corner of the
entry envelope. (See MAILING
THE ENTRY.) If an applicant is claiming nativity through spouse or parent, please
indicate this on the entry. (See the REQUIREMENTS section on for more information on this item.)
4. NAME, DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH OF THE APPLICANT’S
SPOUSE AND ALL NATURAL CHILDREN, AS WELL AS ALL LEGALLY-ADOPTED AND
STEPCHILDREN, WHO ARE UNMARRIED AND UNDER THE AGE OF 21 YEARS, EVEN IF YOU ARE
NO LONGER LEGALLY MARRIED TO THE CHILD’S PARENT, AND EVEN IF THE CHILD DOES
NOT CURRENTLY RESIDE WITH YOU AND/OR WILL NOT IMMIGRATE WITH YOU. Note that
married children and children 21 years or older will not qualify for the
Diversity Visa. Failure to list all children will result in your
disqualification for the visa.
See Question 11 on the list of Frequently Asked Questions.
5. FULL MAILING ADDRESS
This must be clear and complete, because any future
mailings will be sent there. A telephone number is optional, but useful.
6. PHOTOGRAPH. Attach recent photographs of the
applicant, the applicant’s spouse, and all children. Print the name and date
of birth of each family member on the back of each photograph. Failure to submit
required photos for all family members will result in disqualification. See the PROCEDURES FOR SUBMITTING AN ENTRY TO DV-2003 section for information on photo requirements.
7. SIGNATURE. The
applicant must personally sign the entry, using his/her usual and customary
signature, as it would appear on his or her passport or other official or
contractual obligations. Failure to personally sign the entry will
disqualify the application. See PROCEDURES
FOR SUBMITTING AN ENTRY TO DV-2003 for more information on the signature requirement.
For DV-2003, the world is divided into six regions, and
each region has a separate address. The DV entry should be mailed to the address
listed below for the applicant’s region of nativity:
South America/Central
America/Caribbean:
DV-2003 Program
Kentucky Consular Center
4004 Visa Crest
Migrate, KY 41904-4000, U.S.A.
North America:
DV-2003 Program
Kentucky Consular Center
6006 Visa Crest
Migrate, KY 41906-6000, U.S.A.
Submit the entry by regular or airmail to the address
matching the region of the applicant’s country of nativity. Entries sent by
express or priority mail, second day airmail, fax, hand, messenger, or any means
requiring special handling will not be processed.
The envelope must be between 6 and 10 inches (15 to 25
cm) long and 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 inches (9 to 11 cm) wide. Postcards or envelopes
inside express or oversized mail packets are NOT acceptable. In the upper
left-hand corner of the envelope the applicant must write his/her country of
nativity (see instruction 3 above), followed by the applicant’s name and full
return address. The applicant must provide both the country of nativity
and the country of the address, even if both are the same. Failure to provide
this information will disqualify the entry.
The regions are divided as follows:
EXAMPLE: An applicant who was
born in Australia and now lives in France may submit one entry to the
appropriate address for Oceania; the envelope should look like this:
TO
SEE A SAMPLE ENVELOPE, PLEASE ACCESS OUR AUTOMATED FAX SERVICE.
CALL 202-647-3000 FROM YOUR FAX MACHINE.
REQUEST DOCUMENT NUMBER 1550.
SELECTION OF APPLICANTS
Applicants will be selected at random by computer from
among all qualified entries. Those selected will be
notified by mail between April and June 2002 and will be provided further
instructions, including information on fees connected with immigration to the
U.S. Persons not selected will NOT receive any notification. U.S.
embassies and consulates will not be able to provide a list of successful
applicants. Spouses and unmarried children of successful applicants under age 21
may also apply for visas to accompany or follow to join the principal applicant.
DV-2003 visas will be issued between October 1, 2002 and September 30, 2003.
Applicants must meet ALL eligibility requirements under
U.S. law in order to be issued visas.
Processing of entries and issuance of diversity visas
to successful applicants and their eligible family members MUST occur by
midnight on September 30, 2003. Under no circumstances can diversity visas be
issued or adjustments approved after this date, nor can family members obtain
diversity visas to follow to join the applicant in the U.S. after this date.
Important
Notice
NO fee is charged to enter the DV-2003 program. The U.S. Government employs no outside consultants or private mail
services to operate the DV program. Any intermediaries or others who offer
assistance to prepare DV casework for applicants do so without the authority or
consent of the U.S. Government. Use of any outside intermediary or assistance to
prepare a DV-2003 entry is entirely at the applicant's discretion.
A qualified entry received directly from an applicant
has an equal chance of being selected by the computer at the Kentucky Consular
Center as does an entry received through a paid intermediary who completes the
entry for the applicant. There is no advantage to
mailing early, or mailing from any particular place. Every entry received during
the mail-in period will have an equal random chance of being selected within its
region. However, receipt of more than one entry per person will disqualify the
person from registration, regardless of the source of that entry.
1. WHAT DOES THE TERM
"NATIVE" MEAN? ARE THERE ANY SITUATIONS IN WHICH PERSONS
WHO WERE NOT BORN IN A QUALIFYING COUNTRY MAY APPLY?
"Native" ordinarily means someone born in
a particular country, regardless of the individual's current country of
residence or nationality.
"Native" also means someone entitled to be
"charged" to a particular country under the provisions of Section
202(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Applicants for DV-2003
registration may claim chargeability to the country of birth of a spouse
providing both the applicant and spouse are issued visas and enter the U.S.
simultaneously. 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 alternate chargeability must
include information to that effect on the application for registration (See number 3 of the application information items under THE ENTRY.), and must show the native country claimed on the upper left hand corner
of the envelope in which the registration request is mailed.
2. ARE THERE ANY CHANGES OR
NEW REQUIREMENTS IN THE APPLICATION PROCEDURES FOR THIS DIVERSITY VISA
REGISTRATION?
The address for submitting DV applications has changed.
Applicants must mail their entries to one of the six Kentucky Consular Center
regional addresses listed in MAILING
THE ENTRY. Entries mailed to any other address will be disqualified. The information required on the entry and on the envelope in which it is
sent is specified in detail above. Each
entry must be personally signed by the applicant. Photographs of the
applicant and all his/her dependents are now required,
and the photos must conform to the specifications listed under THE ENTRY. Qualifying work experience will no longer be defined by the Department of
Labor’s Dictionary of Occupational Titles, but rather by the more current
information contained in the Department of Labor’s O*Net OnLine database.
Please
also note changes to the list of eligible DV countries.
3. ARE SIGNATURES AND
PHOTOGRAPHS REQUIRED FOR EACH FAMILY MEMBER, OR ONLY FOR THE PRINCIPAL
APPLICANT?
Only the principal applicant is required to personally
sign the entry. Recent and individual photos of the applicant, his/her spouse
and all children are required. Family or group photos are not accepted. Check the information on the signature and photo requirements.
4. WHY DO CERTAIN COUNTRIES NOT
QUALIFY FOR THE DIVERSITY PROGRAM?
Diversity visas are intended to provide an immigration
opportunity for persons from countries other than the countries which send large
numbers of immigrants to the U.S. The law states that no diversity visas shall
be provided for "high admission" countries. These countries are those
from which a total of 50,000 persons in the Family-Sponsored and
Employment-Based visa categories immigrated to the United States during the
previous five years. Each year, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
adds the family and employment immigrant admission figures for the previous five
years in order to identify the countries that must be excluded from the annual
diversity lottery. Because there is a separate determination made before each
annual DV entry period, the list of countries that do not qualify may change
from one year to the next.
5. WHAT IS THE NUMERICAL
LIMIT FOR DV-2003?
By law, the U.S. diversity immigration program makes
available a maximum of 55,000 permanent residence visas each year to eligible
persons. However, the Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NCARA) passed
by Congress in November 1997 stipulates that beginning as early as DV-99, and
for as long as necessary, 5,000 of the 55,000 annually-allocated diversity visas
will be made available for use under the NCARA program. The actual reduction of
the limit to 50,000 began with DV-2000 and remains in effect for the DV-2003
program.
6. WHAT ARE THE REGIONAL
DIVERSITY VISA (DV) LIMITS FOR DV-2003?
The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
determines the DV regional limits for each year according to a formula specified
in Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Once the INS has
completed the calculations, the DV-2003 regional visa limits will be announced.
7. WHEN ARE ENTRIES FOR THE DV PROGRAM ACCEPTED EACH
YEAR?
The month-long DV entry period begins each fall at noon
on the first Monday in October and lasts for 30 days. Each year millions apply for the program during the mail-in registration
period. The massive volume of entries creates an enormous amount of work in
selecting and processing successful applicants. Holding the entry period in the
fall will ensure successful applicants are notified in a more timely manner, and
give both them and our embassies and consulates overseas more time to prepare
and complete the entries for visa issuance.
8. MAY PERSONS WHO ARE IN
THE U.S.APPLY FOR THE PROGRAM?
Yes, an applicant may be in the U.S. or in another
country, and the entry may be mailed from the U.S. or from abroad.
9. IS EACH APPLICANT LIMITED
TO ONLY ONE ENTRY DURING THIS DV-2003 REGISTRATION PERIOD?
Yes, the law allows only one entry by or for
each person during each registration period; applicants for whom more than
one entry is submitted will be disqualified. Applicants may be
disqualified at time of selection as a winner, or at the time of the visa
interview or at any time during the process if more than one entry is detected.
However, applicants may apply for the program each year during the regular
one-month registration period.
10. MAY A HUSBAND AND A WIFE
EACH SUBMIT A SEPARATE ENTRY?
Yes, a husband and a wife may each submit one entry. If
either is selected, the other would be entitled to derivative status. Note:
Husbands and wives may not sign for each other. Each applicant must sign
his or her own entry.
11. WHAT FAMILY MEMBERS MUST I INCLUDE ON MY ENTRY FOR
DV-2003?
On your entry you must list your spouse, that is
husband or wife, and all unmarried children under 21 years of age. You
must list your spouse even if you are currently separated from him/her. However,
if you are legally divorced, you do not need to list your former spouse. For
customary marriages, the important date is the date of the original marriage
ceremony, not the date on which the marriage is registered. You must list
ALL your children who are unmarried and under the age of 21 years,
whether they are your natural children, your spouse’s children by a previous
marriage, or children you have formally adopted in accordance with the laws of
your country. List all children even if they no longer reside with you.
The fact that you have listed family members on your
entry does not mean that they later must travel with you. They may choose to
remain behind. However, if you include an eligible dependent on your visa
application forms whom you failed to include on your original entry, your case
will be disqualified. (This only applies to persons who were dependents at the
time the original application was submitted, not those acquired at a later
date.) Your spouse may still submit a separate entry, even though he or she is
listed on your entry, as long as both entries include details on all dependents
in your family. See question 10 above.
12. MUST EACH APPLICANT
SUBMIT HIS/HER OWN ENTRY, OR MAY SOMEONE ACT ON BEHALF OF AN APPLICANT?
Applicants may prepare and submit their own entries, or
have someone submit the entry for them. Regardless of whether an entry is
submitted by the applicant directly, or assistance is provided by an attorney,
friend, relative, etc., only one entry may be submitted in the name of each
person. The applicant's original signature is required on the entry, regardless
whether it is prepared and submitted by the applicant or by someone else. If
the applicant does not personally sign the entry with his or her usual and
customary signature, the entry will be disqualified. If the entry is selected, the notification letter will be sent only
to the mailing address provided on the entry.
13. 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 in the United States or
successful completion in another country of a formal course of elementary and
secondary education comparable to a high school education in the United States.
Documentary proof of education or work experience should not be submitted
with the lottery entry, but must be presented to the consular officer at the
time of the visa interview.
14. HOW WILL WINNERS BE
SELECTED?
At the Kentucky Consular Center, all mail received at
each of the six geographic regional addresses will be individually numbered.
After the end of the application period, a computer will randomly select entries
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
entry is received early or late in the application period; all entries received
during the mail-in period will have an equal chance of being selected within
each region. When an entry has been selected, the applicant will be sent a
notification letter by the Kentucky Consular Center, which will provide visa
application instructions. The Kentucky Consular Center will continue to process
the case until those who are selected are instructed to appear for visa
interviews at a U.S. consular office, or until those able to do so apply at an
INS office in the United States for change of status.
15. MAY WINNING APPLICANTS
ADJUST THEIR STATUS WITH THE INS?
Yes, provided they are otherwise eligible to adjust
status under the terms of Section 245 of the INA, selected applicants who are
physically present in the United States may apply to the Immigration and
Naturalization Service (INS) for adjustment of status to permanent resident. Applicants
must ensure that INS can COMPLETE ACTION on their cases, including processing
of any overseas derivatives, before September 30, 2003, since on that
date registrations for the DV-2003 program expire. No visa numbers for the
DV-2003 program will be available after midnight on September 30, 2003 under any
circumstances.
16. WILL APPLICANTS WHO ARE NOT ELECTED BE INFORMED?
No, applicants who are not selected will receive no
response to their entry. Only those who are selected will be informed. All
notification letters are sent within about nine months of the end of the
application period to the address indicated on the entry. Anyone who does NOT
receive a letter will know that his/her application has not been selected.
17. HOW MANY APPLICANTS WILL
BE SELECTED?
There are 50,000 DV visas available for DV-2003, but
more than that number of individuals will be selected. Because it is likely that
some of the first 50,000 persons who are selected will not pursue their cases to
visa issuance, more than 50,000 entries will be selected by the Kentucky
Consular Center to ensure that all of the available DV-2003 visas are issued.
However, this also means that there will not be a sufficient number of visas for
all those who are initially selected. All applicants who are selected will be
informed promptly of their place on the list. Interviews with those selected
will begin in early October 2003. The Kentucky Consular Center will send
appointment letters to selected applicants 30-60 days before the scheduled
interviews with U.S. consular officers at overseas posts. Each month
visas will be issued, visa number availability permitting, to those applicants
who are ready for issuance during that month. Once all of the 50,000 DV-2003
visas have been issued, the program for the year will end. In principle, visa
numbers could be finished before September 2003. Selected applicants who wish to
receive visas must be prepared to act promptly on their cases. Random
selection by the Kentucky Consular Center computer does not automatically
guarantee that you will receive a visa.
18. IS THERE A MINIMUM AGE
FOR APPLICANTS TO APPLY FOR THE DV-2003 PROGRAM?
There is no minimum age to apply for the program, but
the requirement of a high school education or work experience for each principal
applicant at the time of application will effectively disqualify most persons
who are under age 18.
19. WILL THERE BE ANY SPECIAL
FEE FOR DV-2003 CASE PROCESSING?
There is no fee for submitting an entry, and no
fee should be included with the entry sent to the mailing addresses
indicated above. A special DV case processing fee will be payable later by
persons whose entries are actually selected and processed at a U.S. consular
section for DV-2003 visas. DV-2003 applicants, like other immigrant visa
applicants, must also pay the regular visa fees at the time of visa issuance.
Details of required fees will be included with the instructions sent by the
Kentucky Consular Center to applicants who are selected.
20. ARE DV-2003 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 for immigrant visas specified in the Immigration and Nationality
Act. There are no special provisions for the waiver of any ground of visa
ineligibility other than those ordinarily provided in the Act.
21. MAY PERSONS WHO ARE
ALREADY REGISTERED FOR AN IMMIGRANT VISA IN ANOTHER CATEGORY APPLY FOR THE
DV-2003 PROGRAM?
Yes, such persons may apply for the DV-2003 program.
22. HOW LONG DO APPLICANTS
WHO ARE SELECTED REMAIN ENTITLED TO APPLY FOR VISAS IN THE DV-2002 CATEGORY?
Persons selected in the DV-2003 lottery are
entitled to apply for visa issuance only during fiscal year 2003, i.e.,
from October 2002 through September 2003. Applicants must obtain the DV visa
or adjust status by the end of the Fiscal Year (September 30, 2003). There
is no carry-over of DV benefits into the next year for persons who are selected
but who do not obtain visas during FY-2003. Also, spouses and children who
derive status from a DV-2003 registration can only obtain visas in the DV
category between October 2002 and September 2003. Applicants who apply
overseas will receive an appointment letter from the Kentucky Consular Center
30-60 days before the scheduled appointment.
LIST OF QUALIFYING COUNTRIES BY REGION
The lists below show the countries QUALIFIED within
each geographic region for this diversity program. The determination of
countries within each region is based on information provided by the Geographer
of the Department of State. The countries that do not qualify for the DV-2003
program were identified by the Immigration and Naturalization Service according
to the formula in Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Dependent
areas overseas are included within the region of the governing country.
The countries that do NOT qualify for this diversity program (because they are
the principal source countries of Family-Sponsored and Employment-Based
immigration, or "high admission" countries) are noted in parentheses
after the respective regional lists.
SOUTH AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA
ARGENTINA
BARBADOS
BELIZE
BOLIVIA
BRAZIL
CHILE
COSTA RICA
CUBA
DOMINICA
ECUADOR
GRENADA
GUATEMALA
GUYANA
HONDURAS
NICARAGUA
PANAMA
PARAGUAY
PERU
SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS
SAINT LUCIA
SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES
SURINAME
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
URUGUAY
VENEZ
(Countries in this region that do not qualify
for this year's diversity program: COLOMBIA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, EL SALVADOR,
HAITI, JAMAICA, and MEXICO.)
TO
SEE A SAMPLE ENTRY, ACCESS OUR AUTOMATED FAX SERVICE.
CALL 202-647-3000 FROM YOUR FAX MACHINE.
REQUEST DOCUMENT NUMBER 1550.
Copyright 2001