GREEN CARD LOTTERY

Every year in order to have a better diversity of immigrants; United States issues Diversity Visa Lottery (DVs), popularly known by “Green Card lottery”. The application period began on Tuesday October 5, 2010 and will end at noon on Wednesday, November 3, 2010. All entries are submitted electronically. Applicants must submit their applications at www.dvlottery.state.gov. Paper entries are no longer accepted. Applicants can submit their forms themselves or they have a representative, such as a lawyer, submit the application on their behalf. The applicants are randomly selected through the computer based lottery system. Section 203(c) of the INA provides a maximum of 55,000 Diversity Visas (DVs) each fiscal year to be made available to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. The visas 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 nationals of countries sending more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States over the period of the past five years. For fiscal year 2012, 50,000 DVs will be available.

Procedure:
Eligible Applicants may access the electronic DV Entry Form (E-DV) at www.dvlottery.state.gov during the registration period which ends on noon on Nov 3, 2010. Paper entries will not be accepted. Individuals applying may be in United States or in a foreign country. There is no government application fee for submitting a lottery application. Only one entry must be submitted. A husband and a wife may each submit one entry if each meets the eligibility requirements. If either is selected, the other is entitled to derivative status. Status information for DV-2012 will be available online from May 1, 2011, until June 30, 2012. Persons selected in the DV-2012 lottery are entitled to apply for visa issuance only during fiscal year 2012, from October 1, 2011, through September 30, 2012. The death of an individual selected in the lottery results in automatic revocation and derivatives are no longer entitled to visa.

Countries which are NOT eligible to apply for Diversity Visa Lottery:
-Brazil -Canada -China - mainland China (nationals of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan ARE included) -Colombia -Dominican Republic -Ecuador -El Salvador -Guatemala -Haiti -India -Jamaica -Mexico -Pakistan -Philippines -Poland -Peru -South Korea -United Kingdom (natives of Northern Ireland and Hong Kong are eligible, but natives of Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St. Helena, and the Turks and Calicos Islands are not eligible) -Vietnam

Eligibility/Requirements:
i. Native of Eligible Country & ;
ii. Educational Qualifications: You 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. The Department of Labor (DOL) O*Net Online database groups job experience into five "job zones". While many occupations are listed on the DOL website, only certain specified occupations qualify for the Diversity Visa Program. To qualify for a Diversity Visa on the basis of your work experience, you must, within the past five years, have two years of experience in an occupation that is designated as Job Zone 4 or 5, classified in a Specific Vocational Preparation (SVP) range of 7.0 or higher. The O*Net Online Database can be accessed at -http://online.onetcenter.org/

Information Needed: Personal Data & Photograph
Data Needed:
1. FULL NAME – Last/Family Name, First Name, Middle name;
2. DATE OF BIRTH – Day, Month, Year;
3. GENDER – Male or Female;
4. CITY WHERE YOU WERE BORN;
5. COUNTRY WHERE YOU WERE BORN – The name of the country should be that which is currently in use for the place where you were born;
6. COUNTRY OF ELIGIBILITY OR CHARGEABILITY FOR THE DV PROGRAM – Your country of eligibility will normally be the same as your country of birth. Your country of eligibility is not related to where you live. If you were born in a country that is not eligible for the DV program, please review the instructions to see if there is another option for country chargeability available for you.
7. ENTRY PHOTOGRAPH(S) – See the technical information on photograph specifications below
8. MAILING ADDRESS – In Care Of, Address Line 1, Address Line 2, City/Town, District/Country/Province/State, Postal Code/Zip Code, and Country
9. COUNTRY WHERE YOU LIVE TODAY
10. PHONE NUMBER (optional)
11. E-MAIL ADDRESS – provide an e-mail address to which you have direct access. You will NOT receive an official selection letter at this address. However, if your entry is selected and you respond to the notification of your selection through the Entry Status Check, you will receive follow-up communication from the Kentucky Consular Center (KCC) by e-mail notifying you that details of your immigrant visa interview are available on Entry Status Check.
12. WHAT IS THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF EDUCATION YOU HAVE ACHIEVED, AS OF TODAY? You must indicate which one of the following represents your own highest level of educational achievement: (1) Primary school only, (2) High school, no degree, (3) High school degree, (4) Vocational school, (5) Some university courses, (6) University degree, (7) Some graduate level courses, (8) Master degree, (9) Some doctorate level courses, and (10) Doctorate degree
13. MARITAL STATUS – Unmarried, Married, Divorced, Widowed, or Legally Separated
14. NUMBER OF CHILDREN – Entries MUST include the name, date, and place of birth of your spouse and all natural children. Entries must also include all children legally adopted by you, and stepchildren who are unmarried and under the age of 21 on the date of your electronic entry, even if you are no longer legally married to the child’s parent, and even if the spouse or child does not currently reside with you and/or will not immigrate with you. Note that married children and children 21 years or older are not eligible for the DV; however, U.S. law protects children from “aging out” in certain circumstances. If your electronic DV entry is made before your unmarried child turns 21, and the child turns 21 before visa issuance, he/she may be protected from aging out by the Child Status Protection Act and be treated as though he/she were under 21 for visa-processing purposes. Failure to list all children who are eligible will result in disqualification of the principal applicant and refusal of all visas in the case at the time of the visa interview.
15. SPOUSE INFORMATION – Name, Date of Birth, Gender, City/Town of Birth, Country of Birth, and Photograph. Failure to list your eligible spouse will result in disqualification of the principal applicant and refusal of all visas in the case at the time of the visa interview. You must list your spouse here even if you plan to be divorced before you apply for a visa.
16. CHILDREN INFORMATION – Name, Date of Birth, Gender, City/Town of Birth, Country of Birth, and Photograph.

Photograph:
It is very important that all required photographs be submitted. Your entry will be disqualified if all required photographs are not submitted. Recent photographs of the following people must be submitted electronically with the E-DV entry form: a. You, b. Your spouse, c. Each unmarried child under 21 years of age at the time of your electronic entry, including all natural children as well as all legally adopted children and stepchildren, even if a child no longer resides with you or you do not intend for a child to immigrate under the DV program.
If the submitted digital images do not conform to the following specifications, the system will automatically reject the Entry Form and notify the sender.

• The image must be in the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format.

• The image must be in color; monochrome images (2-bit color depth), black and white, and grayscale will not be accepted.

• If a new digital photograph is taken, it must have a resolution of 600 pixels high by 600 pixels wide, and a color depth of 24-bit color. Pictures will not be accepted in monochrome or grayscale. • If a photographic print is scanned, the print must be 2 inches by 2 inches (50mm x 50mm) square. It must be scanned at a resolution of 300 dots per inch (dpi) and with a color depth of 24-bit color.

• The maximum image size accepted will be 240 kilobytes (240KB).If the submitted digital images do not conform to the following specifications, the entry will be disqualified.

• Applicant, spouse, or child must be directly facing the camera; the head of the person being photographed should not be tilted up, down or to the side, and should cover about 50% of the area of the photo.

• The photo should be taken with the person being photographed in front of a neutral, light-colored background. Photos taken with very dark or patterned, busy backgrounds will not be accepted.

• Photos in which the face of the person being photographed is not in focus will not be accepted. • Photos in which the person being photographed is wearing sunglasses or other paraphernalia which detracts from the face will not be accepted.

• Photos of applicants wearing head coverings or hats are only acceptable due to religious beliefs, and even then, may not obscure any portion of the face of the applicant. Photos of applicants with tribal or other headgear not specifically religious in nature are not acceptable. Photos of military, airline or other personnel wearing hats will not be accepted.

If you meet the criteria you should take advantage of this program. You are encouraged to apply early and not wait till Nov 3 deadline. If you need more information on Green card lottery, please contact Ashima at 713.595.6657 or email at: ashima@ashimachocklaw.com.