INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE 2001 DIVERSITY IMMIGRANT VISA PROGRAM (DV-2001)

The U.S. diversity immigration program makes available a maximum of 55,000* permanent residence visas each year to persons meeting the eligibility requirements. Applicants for diversity visas are initially chosen through a random computer-generated lottery drawing. Visas are apportioned among six geographic regions with a greater number of visas going to regions with lower rates of immigration, and no visas going to countries sending more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. in the past five years. No one country can receive more than seven percent of the available diversity visas in any one year. For DV-2001, natives of the following are not eligible to apply:

CANADA, CHINA (mainland and Taiwan, except Hong Kong S.A.R.), COLOMBIA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, EL SALVADOR, HAITI, INDIA, JAMAICA, MEXICO, PHILIPPINES, POLAND, SOUTH KOREA, UNITED KINGDOM (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and VIETNAM. 

ENTRIES FOR THE DV-2001 DIVERSITY VISA LOTTERY MUST BE RECEIVED BETWEEN NOON ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1999 AND NOON ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1999. Entries received before or after these dates will be disqualified regardless of when they are postmarked. Also, entries sent to an incorrect address will be disqualified.

REQUIREMENTS: To enter, an applicant must be able to claim nativity in an eligible country, AND must meet either the education or training requirement of the DV program. Nativity in most cases is determined by the applicant's place of birth. However, if a person was born in an ineligible country but his/her spouse was born in an eligible country, such person can claim the spouse's country of birth rather than his/her own. Also, if a person was born in an ineligible country, but neither of his/her parents was born there or resided there at the time of the birth, such person may be able to claim nativity in one of the parents' country of birth.
Education or Training: To enter, an applicant MUST have EITHER a high school education or its equivalent, defined in the U.S. 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. U.S. Department of Labor definitions will apply. If a person does not meet these requirements, he/she should NOT submit an entry to the DV program.

PROCEDURES FOR SUBMITTING AN ENTRY FORM

Only ONE entry form may be submitted by or for each applicant during the registration period. Submission of more than one entry will disqualify the person. The applicant must personally sign the entry, preferably in his/her native alphabet. Failure of the applicant to personally sign his/her own entry will result in disqualification.

COMPLETING THE ENTRY FORM

There is no specific format for the entry. Simply use a plain sheet of paper and type or clearly print in the English alphabet (preferably in the following order):

*The Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NCARA) passed by Congress in November 1997 stipulates that beginning with DV-99, and for as long as necessary, 5,000 of the 55,000 annually-allocated diversity visas will be made available for use under the NCARA program.


ON A PLAIN SHEET OF PAPER INCLUDE:
The following information must appear on the entry. Failure to provide all of this information will disqualify the applicant.


1. FULL NAME, with the last (surname/family) name underlined
EXAMPLES: Public, Sara Jane (or) Lopez, Juan Antonio

2. DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH
Date: Day, Month, Year
EXAMPLE: 15 November 1961

Place: City/Town, District/County/Province, Country
EXAMPLE: Munich, Bavaria, Germany

The name of the country should be that which is currently in use for the place where the applicant was born (Slovenia, rather than Yugoslavia; Kazakstan rather than Soviet Union, for example).


3. THE APPLICANT'S NATIVE COUNTRY IF DIFFERENT FROM COUNTRY OF BIRTH 
If the applicant is claiming nativity in a country other than his/her place of birth, this must be clearly indicated on the entry. This information must match with what is put on the upper left corner of the entry envelope. (See "MAILING THE ENTRY" below.) If an applicant is claiming nativity through spouse or parent, please indicate this on the entry. (See "REQUIREMENTS" section on page 1 for more information on this item.)


4. NAME, DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH OF THE APPLICANT'S SPOUSE AND CHILDREN (IF ANY) Failure to provide all of this information will disqualify the applicant. (see question 10 on the list of Frequently Asked Questions)

5. FULL MAILING ADDRESS 
This must be clear and complete, as any communications will be sent there. A telephone number is optional, but useful.


6. PHOTOGRAPH. Attach a recent, preferably less than 6 months old, photograph of the applicant, 1.5 inches (37 mm) square in size, with the applicant's name printed on the back. The photograph (not a photocopy) should be attached to the entry with clear tape--do NOT use staples or paperclips, which can jam the mail processing equipment.

7. SIGNATURE. Failure to personally sign the entry will disqualify the applicant.

MAILING THE ENTRY

Submit the entry by regular or air mail to the address matching the region of the applicant's country of nativity. Entries sent by express or priority mail, fax, hand, messenger, or any means requiring receipts or special handling will not be processed.

The envelope must be between 6 and 10 inches (15 to 25 cm) long and 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 inches (9 to 11 cm) wide. Postcards are NOT acceptable, nor are envelopes inside express or oversized mail packets. In the upper left hand corner of the envelope the applicant must show his/her country of nativity (see instruction 3 above), followed by the applicant's name and full return address. The applicant must provide both the country of nativity and the country of the address, even if both are the same. Failure to provide this information will disqualify the entry. The mailing address for all entries is the same, except for the ZIP (POSTAL) CODE. The address is:


DV-2001 Program
National Visa Center
Portsmouth, NH ZIP CODE (see list of zip codes to follow)
U.S.A.
Use the correct ZIP (POSTAL) CODE for the applicant's region of nativity. For the DV program, the regions are divided as follows: Africa includes all countries on the African continent and adjacent islands; Asia extends from Israel to the northern Pacific islands, and includes Indonesia; Europe extends from Greenland to Russia, and includes all countries of the former USSR; North America includes the Bahamas; Oceania includes Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and all countries and islands of the South Pacific; South America/Central America/Caribbean extends from Central America (Guatemala) and the Caribbean nations to Chile. 

The ZIP (POSTAL) CODES are:

ASIA: 00210
SOUTH AMERICA/CENTRAL AMERICA/CARIBBEAN: 00211
EUROPE: 00212
AFRICA: 00213
OCEANIA: 00214
NORTH AMERICA: 00215

EXAMPLE: An applicant who was born in Australia and now lives in France may submit one entry to the appropriate Zip (postal) code for Oceania; the envelope should look like this:
(6" - 10" or 15 cm - 25 cm in length)

Australia
Applicant's Full Name (3 1/2" - 4 1/2"
Street Address or
City, Province, Postal Code 9 cm - 11 cm
France in width) 

DV-2001 Program
National Visa Center
Portsmouth, NH (see above for appropriate zip)
U.S.A.
(If, for instance, the applicant's country is Australia (in Oceania), the Zip (postal) code for Australia would be used, that is, 00214.)

Registrants will be selected at random by computer from among all qualified entries. Those selected will be notified by mail during April to July 2000 and will be provided further instructions, including information on fees connected with immigration to the U.S. Persons not selected will NOT be notified. U.S. embassies and consulates will not be able to provide a list of successful applicants. Spouses and unmarried children of successful applicants under age 21 may also apply for visas to accompany or follow to join the principal applicant. DV-2001 visas will be issued between October 1, 2000 and September 30, 2001.

Applicants must meet ALL eligibility requirements under U.S. law in order to be issued visas.

Processing of applications and issuance of diversity visas to successful applicants and their eligible family members MUST occur by September 30, 2001. Family members may not obtain diversity visas to follow to join the applicant in the U.S. after this date.

Important Notice: There is NO initial fee, other than postage, required to enter the DV-2001 program. The use of an outside intermediary or assistance to prepare a DV-2001 entry is entirely at the applicant's discretion. Qualified entries received directly from applicants or through intermediaries have equal chances of being selected by computer. There is no advantage to mailing early, or mailing from any particular locale. Every application received during the mail-in period will have an equal random chance of being selected within its region. However, more than one application per person will disqualify the person from registration.