Bureau of Consular Affairs; Registration for the Diversity Immigrant (DV-96) Visa Program

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice 2124]

Bureau of Consular Affairs; Registration for the Diversity

Immigrant (DV-96) Visa Program

ACTION: Notice of registration for the second year of the Diversity

Immigrant Visa Program.

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This public notice provides information on the application

procedures for the 55,000 immigrant visas to be made available in the

DV category during Fiscal Year 1996. This notice is issued pursuant to

22 CFR 42.33 which implements Sections 201(a)(3), 201(e), 203(c) and

204(a)(1)(G) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, (8

U.S.C. 1151, 1153, and 1154). The Department published regulations

related to this Notice in the Federal Register on March 31, 1994 [59 FR

15303.]

Information on the Application Procedures for the 55,000 Immigrant

Visas To Be Made Available in the DV Category During Fiscal Year 1996

Sections 201(a)(3), 201(e), 203(c) and 204(a)(1)(G) of the

Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, taken together establish,

effective for Fiscal Year 1996 and thereafter, an annual numerical

limitation of 55,000 for diversity immigrants. Aliens who are natives

of countries determined by the Attorney General according to a

mathematical formula specified by the law will be able to compete for

immigration under this limitation. This program for Fiscal Year 1996 is

identified by the visa symbol DV-96 and is informally known as the

``visa lottery.'' The law specifies that there must be a separate

registration for each year's DV visas. This information concerns the

application period during 1995 for visas to be issued during Fiscal

Year 1996.

Qualifying Countries and Areas Under the DV-96 Program

The law apportions immigrant visa issuance among six geographic

regions (Africa, Asia, Europe, North America--other than Mexico,

Oceania, and South America including Mexico, Central America, and the

Caribbean) according to a formula based on total immigrant admissions

over the most recent five-year period. The formula identifies both high

and low admission regions and high admission foreign states. A greater

share of the available visa numbers go to low admission regions than to

high admission regions. High admission states are excluded entirely

from the program. No single country may receive more than 7 percent

(3,850) of the world-wide total of visa numbers.

The U.S. Attorney General has determined as follows the countries

whose natives (term is explained in question 1) are entitled to apply

for DV visas for Fiscal Year 1996. According to the law, countries are

grouped by region (see list at the end of this notice). The allotment

of visa numbers for each region is shown in parentheses below:

Africa: (20,426) All countries.

Asia: (7,087) All countries EXCEPT the following: China--mainland born

and Taiwan born, India, Philippines, Vietnam, and South Korea. (Hong

Kong is eligible.)

Europe: (24,257) All countries Including Turkey EXCEPT the following:

United Kingdom and its dependent territories. (Northern Ireland is

eligible.)

North America: (8) Canada is not eligible. The Bahamas is the ONLY

eligible country included in the North American region.

South America, Central America, and the Caribbean: (2,407) All

countries EXCEPT Mexico, Jamaica, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic

and Colombia.

Oceania: (815) All Countries.

How and When to Apply for DV-96 Status

The application period for registration for the visas to be issued

during Fiscal Year 1996 (i.e. from October 1995 through September 1996)

will begin at 12:01 a.m. (Eastern Time) on Tuesday, January 31, 1995,

and will end at midnight on Wednesday, March 1, 1995. Applications must

be typed or clearly printed and mailed to one of the six following

addresses, depending upon the region of the applicant's native country:

Note Carefully the Importance of Using the Correct Postal Zip Code

for Each Region.

Asia: DV-96 Program, National Visa Center, Portsmouth, NH 00210, U.S.A.

South America: DV-96 Program, National Visa Center, Portsmouth, NH

00211, U.S.A.

Europe: DV-96 Program, National Visa Center, Portsmouth, NH 00212,

U.S.A.

Africa: DV-96 Program, National Visa Center, Portsmouth, NH 00213,

U.S.A.

Oceania: DV-96 Program, National Visa Center, Portsmouth, NH 00214,

U.S.A.

North America: DV-96 Program, National Visa Center, Portsmouth, NH

00215, U.S.A.

Typed or clearly printed in the Roman alphabet in the upper left

hand corner of the front of the envelope must be the country or area of

which the applicant is a native. Typed or clearly printed below the

country must be the same name and mailing address of the applicant as

are shown on the application form contained therein. Failure to include

this information will disqualify the application.

Example: Pakistan, George Q. Public, 1234 Any Street, Apt. 5, Center

City, CA 90001.

Only one application may be submitted by or for each applicant

during this registration period. (Submission of more than one

application will disqualify the person from registration.) Applications

for registration will be grouped by region and will be selected

strictly in a random order from among all those received during the

application period. Every application received will have an equal

chance of being selected. The names of all SELECTED applicants will be

chosen by July 1, 1995.

Applications must be sent to the addresses above by regular mail or

air mail only, and may be mailed from within the United States or

abroad. The information required on the envelope must be typed or

clearly printed. Any applications submitted by hand, telegram, FAX, or

by any means requiring any form of special handling or acknowledgement

of receipt, such as registered mail, express mail, or certified mail

will not be eligible for the visa lottery.

Applications received at the post office either before or after the

application period, or delivered to any other address will not be

processed for registration. Only one application may be included in

each envelope. An application returned to sender, for whatever reason,

will not be considered unless the returned application is received

during the application period.

Size of Envelope

The envelope in which each application is mailed must be BETWEEN 6

inches and 10 inches (15 cm to 25 cm) IN LENGTH, and BETWEEN 3\1/2\

inches and 4\1/2\ inches (9 cm to 11 cm) IN WIDTH. This is necessary to

assist the automated processing of the mail.

Information Which Must be Included With Application for Registration

There is no application fee or special application form. The

request for registration in the lottery must furnish the following

information on a plain sheet of paper. All answers must be typed or

clearly printed in the Roman alphabet.

Each application must be in the following format:

1. Applicant's Full Name

Last Name, First Name and Middle Name

(Underline Last Name/Surname/Family name)

Example: Public, George Quincy

2. Applicant's Date and Place of Birth

Date of birth: Day, Month, Year

Example: 15 November 1961

Place of birth: City/Town, District/County/Province, Country

Example: Munich, Bavaria, Germany

3. Name, Date and Place of Birth of Applicant's Spouse and Children, if

any

The spouse and child(ren) of an applicant who is registered for DV-

96 status are automatically entitled to the same status. To obtain a

visa on the basis of this derivative status, a child must be under 21

years of age and unmarried. Note: Do NOT list parents as they are not

entitled to derivative status.

4. Applicant's Mailing Address

The mailing address must be clear and complete, since it will be to

that address that the notification letter for the persons who are

registered will be sent. A telephone number is optional.

5. Applicant's Native Country if Different from Country of Birth

See the answer to Question 1 in this notice regarding the meaning

of ``native'' for the purposes of the DV-96 program.

Frequently Asked Questions About DV-96 Registration

1. How is the Term ``Native'' Defined? Are There Any Bases Upon Which

Persons Who Have Not Been Born in a Qualifying Country May Qualify for

Registration?

Native means BOTH someone born within one of the qualifying

countries AND someone entitled to be ``charged'' to such country under

the provisions of Section 202(b) of the Immigration and Nationality

Act. Applicants for DV-96 registration may be charged to the country of

birth of a spouse; a minor dependent child can be charged to the

country of birth of a parent; and an applicant born in a country of

which neither parent was a native or a resident at the time of his/her

birth may be charged to the country of birth of either parent. An

applicant who claims the benefit of alternate chargeability must

include a statement to that effect on the application for registration,

and must show the country of chargeability on the upper left hand

corner of the envelope in which the registration request is mailed.

2. May Persons who Are in the U.S. Apply for Registration?

Yes, an applicant may be in the U.S. or in another country, and the

application may be mailed in the U.S. or abroad.

3. Is Each Applicant Limited to Only one Application During This DV-96

Registration Period?

Yes, the law allows only ONE application BY OR FOR each person;

submission of more than one application will disqualify the person from

registration. Applicants will be disqualified if more than one entry is

detected, regardless of where they are in the application process or

whether the visa has already been issued; disqualification may occur,

for example, at the time of registration, at the time of visa

interview, or at any other time.

4. May a Husband and a Wife Each Submit a Separate Application?

Yes, if otherwise qualified, a husband and a wife may each submit

one application for registration; if either is registered, the other

would be entitled to derivative status.

5. Must Each Applicant Submit His/Her own Request, or may Someone act

on Behalf of an Applicant?

Applicants may prepare and submit their own request for

registration, or have someone act on their behalf. Regardless of

whether an application is submitted by the applicant directly, or is

assisted by an attorney, friend, relative, etc., only one application

may be submitted in the name of each person. Only one notification

letter will be sent for each case registered, to the address provided

on the application.

6. What Are the Requirements for Education or Work Experience?

The law and regulations require that every applicant must have at

least a high school education or its equivalent or, within the past

five years, have two years of work experience in an occupation

requiring at least two years training or experience. A ``high school

education or equivalent'' is defined as successful completion of a

twelve-year course of elementary and secondary education comparable to

that of a high school degree in the United States. Qualifying work

experience shall be based upon the most recent edition of the

Dictionary of Occupational Titles published by the Employment and

Training Administration of the United States Department of Labor.

Documentary proof of education or work experience should NOT be

submitted with the application, but must be presented to the consular

officer at the time of formal immigrant visa application.

7. How Will Cases be Registered?

At the National Visa Center all mail received will be separated

into one of six geographic regions and individually numbered. After the

end of the application period, a computer will randomly select cases

from among all the mail received for each geographic region. Within

each region, the first letter randomly selected will be the first case

registered, the second letter selected the second registration, etc. It

makes no difference whether an application is received early or late in

the application period; all applications received within the mail-in

period will have an equal chance of being selected within each region.

When a case has been registered, the applicant will immediately be sent

a notification letter, which will provide appropriate visa application

instructions. The names of all selected applicants will be chosen by

July 1, 1995. The National Visa Center will continue to process the

case until those who are registered are instructed to make formal

application at a U.S. consular office or at an INS office in the United

States in the case of those who are entitled to apply for change of

status. The National Visa Center will provide additional instructions

on what steps to take to pursue their applications for DV-96 visas.

8. May Applicants Adjust Their Status With the INS?

Yes, provided you are otherwise eligible to adjust status, if you

are physically present in the United States you may apply to the

Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) for adjustment. Applicants

who adjust, however, must first mail completed forms OF-230, Part I,

and DSP-122 to the National Visa Center. Applicants should ensure that

INS can complete action on their cases before September 30, 1996, since

on that date registrations in the Fiscal Year 1996 DV-96 program

terminate.

9. Will Applicants Who Are Not Registered Be Informed?

No, applicants who are not registered will receive no response to

their registration request. Only those who are registered will be

informed. All notification letters are expected to be sent within about

three months of the end of the application period. Anyone who does NOT

receive a letter will know that his/her application has not been

registered.

10. How Many Applicants Will be Registered?

There are only 55,000 visas available for Fiscal Year 1996 but more

than that number of individuals will be registered. It is likely that

some of the first 55,000 persons who are registered will not pursue

their cases to visa issuance. Registering more people than there are

visa numbers should ensure that all DV-96 numbers will be used, even

though it also risks some registrants being left out. All applicants

who are registered will be informed promptly of their place on the

list. Each month visas will be issued, according to registration

lottery rank order, to those applicants who are ready for visa issuance

during that month. Once all of the fiscal year 1996 visas have been

issued, the program for the year will end. Registered applicants who

wish to receive visas must be prepared to ACT PROMPTLY on their cases.

11. Is There a Minimum Age for Applicants for Registration Under the

DV-96 Program?

There is NO minimum age for submission of an application for

registration, but the requirement of a high school education or work

experience for each principal applicant at the time of visa issuance

will effectively disqualify most persons who are under age 18.

12. Will There be Any Special Fee for Registration in the DV-96

Category?

There is NO FEE FOR SUBMITTING A REQUEST FOR REGISTRATION, and NO

FEE should be included with the letter sent to the post office box

indicated above. Furthermore, there is no special fee for applicants

who come to be registered through the lottery. Registered applicants

who pursue applications for immigrant visas will, however, be required

to pay all normal immigrant visa fees.

13. Are There Any Countries That Were Eligible to Participate in the

DV-1 Visa Lottery That Are not Eligible to Participate in the DV-96

Visa Lottery?

Yes, Colombia has been added to the list of countries ineligible to

participate in the DV-96 visa lottery. With the addition of Colombia

there are now thirteen countries excluded from participation in the

diversity visa lottery due to high admissions of immigrants in the

preceding 5 years.

14. Are DV-96 Applicants Exempted From Any of the Grounds of Visa

Ineligibility?

No. Applicants are subject to all grounds of ineligibility

specified in the Immigration and Nationality Act and there is no

special provision for the waiver of any grounds of visa ineligibility

other than those provided for in the Act.

15. May Applicants Who Are Already Registered for an Immigrant Visa in

Another Category Apply in This Registration for the DV-96 Category?

Yes, such persons may seek DV-96 status through this registration

as well.

16. How Long do Applicants Who Are Registered on the Basis of This

Application Period Remain Entitled to Apply for Visas in the DV-96

Category?

Under the law, persons registered following this DV-96 application

period are entitled to apply for visa issuance ONLY DURING Fiscal Year

1996 i.e., from October 1995 through September 1996. There is no carry-

over of benefit into another year for persons who are registered but

who do not obtain visas during FY-1996.

There is absolutely no advantage to mailing early, or mailing from

any particular locale. Every application received during the mail-in

period will have an equal chance of being selected at random within its

region. However more than one application from a person will disqualify

the person from registration. Also, failure to include the applicant's

native country and full name and address on the envelope will

disqualify the application.

Countries of the world divided into the six regions defined in

section 203(c)(1)(F) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1990:

(1) Africa

Algeria

Angola

Benin

Botswana

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cameroon

Cape Verde

Central African Republic

Chad

Comoros

Congo

Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

Djibouti

Egypt

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Ethiopia

Gabon

Gambia, The

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

Zaire

Zambia

Zimbabwe

(2) Asia

Afghanistan

Bahrain

Bangladesh

Bhutan

Brunei

Burma

Cambodia

China-mainland

China-Taiwan (a ``state'' within the meaning of the Act)

Hong Kong (a ``state'' within the meaning of the Act)

India

Indonesia

Iran

Iraq

Israel

Japan

Jordan

Korea, North

Korea, South

Kuwait

Laos

Lebanon

Malaysia

Maldives

Mongolia

Nepal

Oman

Pakistan

Philippines

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Singapore

Sri Lanka

Syria

Thailand

United Arab Emirates

Vietnam

Yemen

(3) Europe

Albania

Andorra

Armenia

Austria

Azerbaijan

Belarus

Belgium

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bulgaria

Croatia

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

France

Georgia

Germany

Greece

Hungary

Iceland

Ireland

Italy

Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan

Latvia

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of

Malta

Moldova

Monaco

Montenegro (a ``state'' for purposes of the Act; Serbia and

Montenegro have proclaimed the formation of a joint independent

state, but this entity has not been formally recognized as a state

by the United States.)

Netherlands

Northern Ireland (a ``state'' within the meaning of the Act)

Norway

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Russia

San Marino

Serbia (a ``state'' for purposes of the Act; Serbia and

Montenegro have proclaimed the formation of a joint independent

state, but this entity has not been formally recognized as a state

by the United States.)

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Tajikistan

Turkey

Turkmenistan

Ukraine

United Kingdom

Uzbekistan

Vatican City (an independent city under the jurisdiction of the

Holy See)

(4) North America

Bahamas, The

Canada

United States

(5) Oceania

Australia

Fiji

Kiribati

Marshall Islands

Micronesia, Federated States of

Nauru

New Zealand

Palau

Papua New Guinea

Solomon Islands

Tonga

Tuvalu

Vanuatu

Western Samoa

(6) South America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean

Antigua and Barbuda

Argentina

Barbados

Belize

Bolivia

Brazil

Chile

Colombia

Costa Rica

Cuba

Dominica

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

El Salvador

Grenada

Guatemala

Guyana

Haiti

Honduras

Jamaica

Mexico

Nicaragua

Panama

Paraguay

Peru

St. Kitts and Nevis

St. Lucia

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Suriname

Trinidad and Tobago

Uruguay

Venezuela

As indicated above, the regulations pertaining to this Notice were

published on March 31, 1994 [59 FR 15303], and contained detailed

information regarding the DV-96 program.

Dated: November 23, 1994.

Mary A. Ryan,

Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs.

[FR Doc. 94-29631 Filed 12-1-94; 8:45 am]

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