October 4, 2010
You, your family, friends or employees may be interested in participating in the immigration (diversity) visa “lottery” program. If you are not eligible, please pass this information on to someone who may be eligible.
This lottery commences on October 5, 2o10 and is free. The lottery program makes available 55,000 immigrant visas ("green cards") to “natives”* of certain countries. Eligible countries are grouped into 6 geographic categories: Asia; South & Central America, including the Caribbean; Europe; Africa; Oceania; & North America.
You may complete the lottery application on your own by going to the Department of State’s lottery website, http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/. Entries must be submitted electronically on the website between noon Eastern Daylight Time on Tuesday, October 5, 2010 and noon Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday, November 3, 2010. No entries will be accepted after noon on November 3, 2010. Paper entries sent by mail will notbe accepted. An applicant may submit his/her entry directly or instead, have someone submit it on his/her behalf. Digital photographs of the applicant and family (including spouse and each unmarried child under 21 years of age at the time of electronic entry) are required and must be submitted electronically as part of the entry. (Please carefully follow the Department of State’s instructions for photographs.) To qualify, an applicant must also have either a high school education or its equivalent, or two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience.
Each person may submit only ONE application. If more than one application per person is received, the applicant will be disqualified. However, a husband and wife may each file an application. If you were not born in one of the eligible countries, but your spouse was, both of you can apply as natives of the eligible country. Every application received between the above-stated application dates will have an equal chance of being selected.
All Diversity Visa entrants will be required to go to the E-DV website Entry Status Check to find out whether or not they were selected for the lottery. Starting May 1, 2011, selectees can find out via Entry Status Check whether they were selected. The Kentucky Consular Center will NOT be mailing notification letters. Visas will be issued between October 1, 2011 and September 30, 2012. If you are chosen in the lottery you will need to apply for your visa as soon as possible because more people are notified than there are visas.
For detailed information regarding requirements for the Diversity Visa Lottery, as well as frequently asked questions about the Lottery, please visit the Department of State’s Consular Affairs Website at: http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/. Instructions for applying for the 2012 Diversity Visa Lottery are available at: http://travel.state.gov/pdf/1318-DV2012Instructions-ENGL.pdf.
Best of luck with your application.
