The State Department has released instructions for the 2008 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV-2008), also known as the Green Card Lottery. The Diversity Program provides a means for foreign nationals to become permanent residents of the U.S. (acquire green cards) regardless of whether they have a family member or an employer willing to sponsor them. The State Department has made 50,000 permanent resident visas available to persons meeting the simple, but strict, eligibility requirements. Applications must be submitted electronically between noon EDT on Wednesday October 4, 2006 and noon EST on Sunday December 3, 2006. The electronic form must be submitted on line at www.dvlottery.state.gov. There is no fee.
Lottery Visas are apportioned to foreign nationals hailing from the following six geographic regions: Africa; Asia; Europe; North America; Oceania; and South America, Central America and the Caribbean. Natives of the following countries are NOT eligible because each country has sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. in the past five years: Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, Vietnam, and added for the first time this year Brazil and Peru. Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and Taiwan are eligible.
To qualify as a diversity immigrant from one of these six regions, a foreign national must claim nativity in an eligible country and meet the education requirement of the DV program. Nativity is most often determined by the applicant’s place of birth; however, an applicant may be able to claim the place of birth of a spouse or a parent to meet the guidelines under certain circumstances. To fulfill the education/training provisions, an applicant must have either a high school education or its equivalent, or two years of work experience in the last five years in a job that requires at least two years of training or experience.
Applicants must submit a recent digital photo adhering to the compositional and technical specifications listed on the website. The applicant will be asked to submit the following information on the DV entry form:
- The Applicant’s full name (last, first, middle)
- Date of birth (day, month, year)
- Gender (male or female)
- City/Town of birth
- Country of birth
- Applicant photograph
- Complete current mailing address
- Phone number (optional)
- E-mail address (optional)
- Country of eligibility if the applicant’s native country is different from country of birth (if the applicant is claiming nativity in a country other than his/her place of birth, this information must be indicated on the entry)
- Marital Status
- Number of children that are unmarried and under 21 years of age (except children that are either U.S. legal permanent residents or American citizens)
- Spouse information (name, date of birth, gender, city/town of birth, country of birth, photograph)
- Children information (name, date of birth, gender, city/town of birth, country of birth, photograph)
Applicants will receive a notice of receipt containing their name, date of birth, country of chargeability, and a time/date stamp when information has been properly registered on the website. The State Department recommends that applicants enter the lottery as early in the registration period as possible.
Note regarding children:
Entries must include the 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 at the time of entry (except children who are already U.S. citizens or Legal Permanent Residents), 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 will not qualify for the diversity visa. Failure to list all children will result in your disqualification for the visa.Anyone filing more than one application will be ineligible to receive a green card through the lottery even if he or she wins a number. Family members or spouses may file separate applications. Applicants do not need to be physically present in the U.S. to apply.
Applicants will be selected at random by computer from among all qualified entries. In recent years as many as seven million people per year have filed applications. Those selected will be notified by mail between May and July 2007 and will be provided with further instructions, including information on fees connected with immigration to the U.S. Persons not selected will not receive any notification. Winning a number in the lottery is only the first step towards getting a green card. A person with a winning number must file an application with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service or a U.S. Consulate outside of the U.S. to move towards obtaining permanent residence.
For very specific details on mailing procedures, photograph specifications, or more detailed instructions, please call an attorney at Mintz Levin or log on to the Department of State website at http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1322.html.
B. Premium Processing:
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is now offering Premium Processing Service for the following types of Employment Based Immigrant Visa (Green Card) applications:
- EB-1 Outstanding Professors and Researchers
- EB-2 Members of Professions with Advanced Degrees or Exceptional Ability (except NOT those seeking a National Interest Waiver)
- EB-3 Unskilled Workers.
Last month USCIS had announced that EB-3 Skilled Workers were eligible for Premium Processing Service (as well as a number of non-immigrant work visa categories). As we discussed in our previous Client Alert at that time, Premium Processing is the process by which the USCIS will, for an additional filing fee of $1,000, adjudicate the petition within 15 calendar days of receipt. When USCIS "adjudicates" a petition, it either approves or denies the petition, or issues a request for additional evidence. In the event of the latter, upon response from the Petitioner, the USCIS will make its final decision within 15 days of receipt of the response.
For most people, Premium Processing of Employment Based Immigrant Petitions will not speed up the final grant of permanent residence, and thus the benefits of the current Premium Processing program for Immigrant Petitions are only slight. While an individual can receive an approved I-140 in an expedited fashion, with the current backlog of EB-3 visa numbers for all countries and EB-2 numbers for India and Chinese workers, the only immediate benefit of such an approval will be (a) for those individuals who want to take advantage of AC21 portability or (b) for some of those who need extended time in H1B status. For example, while many employers and H-1B employees know that one can have a 7th year of H-1B, an 8th year, and more--as long as the permanent residency process has been commenced at least one year prior to the end of the six-year limit for H-1Bs, it is less well known that the law also provides for an individual to obtain a three-year extension of H-1B status beyond the six-year limit if the employee has an approved I-140 petition which is subject to backlogs due to the unavailability of visa numbers. So in this regard, it is very beneficial to both the individual and the employer to expedite the approval of an I-140 petition. This is especially true if the employee does not qualify for the single-year extension because the permanent residency process was not commenced one year prior to the end of the six-year maximum stay in H-1B.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
