Integrity Legal

Each year, the United States of America opens the “visa lottery.” Basically, foreign nationals from countries with small numbers of immigrants in the United States are entitled to submit an application for a Diversity visa. As the name implies, the Diversity visa was designed to facilitate cultural diversity in the United States by providing immigrant visas to those originating from various foreign countries.

According to the United States Department of State diversity visa application registration began on October 2, 2009:

The Department of State announces the opening of the registration period for the DV-2011 Diversity Visa lottery. Entries for the DV-2011 Diversity Visa lottery must be submitted electronically between noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Friday, October 2, 2009, and noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-5), Monday, November 30, 2009. Applicants may access the electronic Diversity Visa entry form (E-DV) at www.dvlottery.state.gov during the registration period. Paper entries will not be accepted. Applicants are strongly encouraged not to wait until the last week of the registration period to enter. Heavy demand may result in website delays. No entries will be accepted after noon EST on November 30, 2009.

It should be noted that the Diversity visa application is absolutely free. Under provisions of the United States Immigration and Nationality Act, there is a special visa category for so-called diversity immigrants.

We at Integrity Legal generally do not handle Diversity visa cases as the process is fairly straightforward and can often be handled by an applicant without retaining counsel. Unfortunately, there are those who attempt to defraud unwitting consumers. A common claim made by some is that a diversity visa can be obtained after paying an initial application fee which is absolutely not true. The application for a Diversity visa is provided free of charge.

Only 55,000 visas are available each year and as a result, the chance of acquiring this type of visa is rather low. That being said, the visa lottery winners are drawn from a list of those who are from countries with low numbers of immigrants in the USA. There is a list of countries whose nationals are ineligible for a diversity visa. The list of ineligible nationals has not changed since the last round of the diversity visa lottery. Those granted a diversity visa will be entitled to residence upon entry in the United States.

For more information regarding the Diversity Visa please see our previous posting on this blog.

Visit this website: www.dvlottery.state.gov for more details.

Tags: Diversity Visa, Green Card Lottery, US Visa Thailand, Visa Lottery
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Recently, we have received a number of inquiries regarding the so-called Green Card lottery. In the past, Congress created a visa category designed to allow certain foreign nationals access to the United States as Permanent Residents provided they meet occupational requirements and are natives of certain countries which are underrepresented as immigrant groups in the USA. A yearly lottery is held to determine who shall be granted this type of visa.

The State Department is very clear about the fact that assistance in filling out the Diversity Visa application is probably not a necessity in most cases, and they further warn prospective Visa applicants to be wary of those claiming they can assist in the process or “guarantee” a visa. Integrity Legal does not assist with Diversity Visa applications. That being said, as a courtesy to our readers, below is a list of the countries whose nationals are entitled to apply for Diversity Visa benefits for 2010.

The list below shows the countries whose natives are eligible for Diversity Vise in 2010, grouped by geographic region, for more information please see the State Department Website:

AFRICA
Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Cote D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Persons born in the Gaza Strip are chargeable to Egypt.

ASIA
Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, East Timor, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, North Korea Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Yemen

Natives of the following Asian countries are ineligible for this year’s diversity program: China (mainland-born), India, Pakistan, South Korea, Philippines, and Vietnam. Hong Kong S.A.R and Taiwan do qualify and are listed above. Macau S.A.R. also qualifies and is listed below (Europe). Persons born in the areas administered prior to June 1967 by Israel, Jordan, and Syria are chargeable, respectively, to Israel, Jordan, and Syria.

EUROPE
Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark (including components and dependent areas overseas), Estonia, Finland, France (including components and areas overseas), Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau Special Administrative Region, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands (including components and dependent areas overseas), Northern Ireland, Norway, Portugal (including components and dependent areas overseas), Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vatican City

Nationals of the following European countries are ineligible for this year’s diversity program: Great Britain (United Kingdom) and Poland. Great Britain (United Kingdom) includes the following dependent areas: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St. Helena, and Turks and Caicos Islands. Note that for purposes of the diversity program only, Northern Ireland is treated separately; Northern Ireland does qualify and is listed among the qualifying areas.

NORTH AMERICA
The Bahamas

In North America, natives of Canada and Mexico are ineligible for this year’s diversity program.

OCEANIA
Australia (including components and dependent areas overseas) Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Federated States of Nauru, New Zealand (including components and dependent areas overseas), Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Samoa

SOUTH AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN
Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Honduras Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela

Countries in this region whose nationals are ineligible for this year’s diversity program: Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, and Peru.

For information about Integrity Legal’s Immigration Services please see: Fiance Visa Thailand

(Be Advised: This content does not constitute legal advice. Please seek legal advice from a licensed attorney. No Attorney/Client Relationship is created by reading this piece.)

Tags: American Visa Thailand, Diversity Visa, Green Card Lottery, US Visa Information, US Visa Thailand
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