News Update - October 2, 2009

By Alan Lee, Esq.^†‡

Diversity Lottery Program Open from October 2- November 30, 2009

The 2011 Diversity Visa Lottery Program will be open from noon October 2, 2009 EDT to noon EST on November 30, 2009. The Diversity Visa Lottery Program is a random drawing to grant visas to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the U.S.

Eligibility for the lottery is determined by 2 factors country of origin and requisite education. If you are from the following countries, you are ineligible to register for the lottery:

BRAZIL, CANADA, CHINA (mainland-born), COLOMBIA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, ECUADOR, EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HAITI, INDIA, JAMAICA, MEXICO, PAKISTAN, PERU, PHILIPPINES, POLAND, SOUTH KOREA, UNITED KINGDOM (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and VIETNAM. Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and Taiwan are eligible.

If you are from a country not excluded and have a high school education (or equivalency) or have been working in a job that requires 2 years of training or experience for a period of at least 2 years, you are eligible to apply for a diversity visa.

In order to apply for a diversity visa, you will need to log on to www.dvlottery.state.gov. There is no fee to apply and no mailed applications will be accepted. Logging on to the website above is the only method to register for the lottery. Once you have registered, you can check your status online. If you do not win the lottery, you will not receive a rejection notice.

† The author is a 26+ year practitioner of immigration law based in New York City. He was awarded the Sidney A. Levine prize for best legal writing at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1977 and has written extensively on immigration over the past years for the ethnic newspapers, World Journal, Sing Tao, Pakistan Calling, Muhasha and OCS. He has testified as an expert on immigration in civil court proceedings and was recognized by the Taiwan government in 1985 for his work protecting human rights. His article, "The Bush Temporary Worker Proposal and Comparative Pending Legislation: an Analysis" was Interpreter Releases' cover display article at the American Immigration Lawyers Association annual conference in 2004, and his victory in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in a case of first impression nationwide, Firstland International v. INS, successfully challenged INS' policy of over 40 years of revoking approved immigrant visa petitions under a nebulous standard of proof. Its value as precedent, however, was short-lived as it was specifically targeted by the Administration in the Intelligence Reform Act of 2004.

‡ This article © 2009 Alan Lee, Esq.

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The information provided here is of a general nature and may not apply to any particular set of facts or circumstances. It should not be construed as legal advice and does not constitute an engagement of the Law Office of Alan Lee or establish an attorney-client relationship.