Sindell Law Offices E-Min Newsletter (Vol. 8) - English Article #32

    Entries for the DV-2006 Diversity Visa Lottery must be submitted electronically between noon (EST) on Friday, November 5, 2004 and noon (EST) on Friday, January 7, 2005. Applicants may access the electronic Diversity Visa entry form at http://www.dvlottery.state.gov during the registration period beginning noon November 5, 2004. Paper entries will not be accepted. Applicants are strongly encouraged to not wait until the last week of the registration period to enter. Heavy demand may result in delays. No entries will be accepted after noon (EST) on January 7, 2005.

For DV-2006, natives of the following countries 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 (the term "country'' in this notice includes countries, economies and other jurisdictions explicitly listed in this notice): Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, 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.

An applicant must have EITHER a high school education or its equivalent, defined 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 qualifying work experience.

There are 50,000 DV visas available for DV-2006, 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 qualify for visas or 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 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 2005. The Kentucky Consular Center will send appointment letters to selected applicants four to six weeks 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 visas have been issued, the program for the year will end. In principle, visa numbers could be finished before September 2006.