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Frequently Asked Questions Continue…. Page 2

17. HOW MANY APPLICANTS WILL BE SELECTED?

There are 50,000 DV visas available for DV-2006, but more than that number of individuals will be selected. Because it is likely that some of the first 50,000 persons who are selected will not qualify for visas or pursue their cases to visa issuance, more than 50,000 entries will be selected by the Kentucky Consular Center to ensure that all of the available DV visas are issued. However, this also means that there will not be a sufficient number of visas for all those who are initially selected. All applicants who are selected will be informed promptly of their place on the list. Interviews with those selected will begin in early October 2005. The Kentucky Consular Center will send appointment letters to selected applicants four to six weeks before the scheduled interviews with U.S. consular officers at overseas posts. Each month visas will be issued, visa number availability permitting, to those applicants who are ready for issuance during that month. Once all of the 50,000 DV visas have been issued, the program for the year will end. In principle, visa numbers could be finished before September 2006. Selected applicants who wish to receive visas must be prepared to act promptly on their cases. Random selection by the Kentucky Consular Center computer does not automatically guarantee that you will receive a visa.
18. IS THERE A MINIMUM AGE FOR APPLICANTS TO APPLY FOR THE DV PROGRAM?

There is no minimum age to apply for the program, but the requirement of a high school education or work experience for each principal applicant at the time of application will effectively disqualify most persons who are under age 18.

19. ARE THERE ANY FEES FOR THE DV PROGRAM?

There is no fee for submitting an entry. A special DV case processing fee will be payable later by persons whose entries are actually selected and processed at a U.S. consular section for this year's program. DV applicants, like other immigrant visa applicants, must also pay the regular visa fees at the time of visa application. Details of required fees will be included with the instructions sent by the Kentucky Consular Center to applicants who are selected.

20. ARE DV APPLICANTS SPECIALLY ENTITLED TO APPLY FOR A WAIVER OF ANY OF THE GROUNDS OF VISA INELIGIBILITY?

No. Applicants are subject to all grounds of ineligibility for immigrant visas specified in the Immigration and Nationality Act. There are no special provisions for the waiver of any ground of visa ineligibility other than those ordinarily provided in the Act.

21. MAY PERSONS WHO ARE ALREADY REGISTERED FOR AN IMMIGRANT VISA IN ANOTHER CATEGORY APPLY FOR THE DV PROGRAM?

Yes, such persons may apply for the DV program.

22. HOW LONG DO APPLICANTS WHO ARE SELECTED REMAIN ENTITLED TO APPLY FOR VISAS IN THE DV CATEGORY?

Persons selected in the DV-2006 lottery are entitled to apply for visa issuance only during fiscal year 2006, i.e., from October 2005 through September 2006. Applicants must obtain the DV visa or adjust status by the end of the Fiscal Year (September 30, 2006). There is no carry-over of DV benefits into the next year for persons who are selected but who do not obtain visas during FY-2006. Also, spouses and children who derive status from a DV-2006 registration can only obtain visas in the DV category between October 2005 and September 2006. Applicants who apply overseas will receive an appointment letter from the Kentucky Consular Center four to six weeks before the scheduled appointment.

23. WHEN WILL E-DV ONLINE BE AVAILABLE?

Online entry will become available at 12:00 pm EST (GMT-5) on November 5, 2004 and will end at 12:00 pm EST (GMT-5) on January 7, 2005.

24. WILL I BE ABLE TO DOWNLOAD AND SAVE THE E-DV ENTRY FORM TO A MICROSOFT WORD PROGRAM (OR OTHER SUITABLE PROGRAM) AND THEN FILL IT OUT?

No, you will not be able to save the form into another program for completion and submission later. The E-DV Entry Form is a Web form only. This makes it more "universal" than a proprietary word processor format. Additionally, it does require that the information be filled in and submitted while on-line.

25. IF I DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO A SCANNER, CAN I SEND PHOTOS TO MY RELATIVE IN THE U.S. TO SCAN THE PHOTOS, SAVE THE PHOTOS TO A DISKETTE, AND THEN MAIL THE DISKETTE BACK TO ME TO APPLY?

Yes, this can be done as long as the photo meets the photo requirements in the instructions, and the photo is electronically submitted with, and at the same time the E-DV online entry is submitted. The applicant must already have the scanned photo file when they submit the entry on-line. The photo cannot be submitted separate from the online application. Only one on-line entry by or for each person can be submitted. Multiple submissions will disqualify the entry for that person for DV-2006. The entire entry (photo and application together) can be submitted electronically from the United States.

26. CAN I SAVE THE FORM ON-LINE SO THAT I CAN FILL OUT PART AND THEN COME BACK LATER AND COMPLETE THE REMAINDER?

No, this cannot be done. The E-DV Entry Form is designed to be completed and submitted at one time. However, because the form is in two parts, and because of possible network interruptions and delays, the E-DV system is designed to handle up to sixty (60) minutes between downloading of the form and when the entry is received at the E-DV web site after being submitted online. If more than sixty minutes elapses, and the entry has not been electronically received, the information received so far is discarded. This is done so that there is no possibility that a full entry could accidentally be interpreted as a duplicate of a previous partial entry. For example, suppose an applicant with a wife and child sends a filled in E-DV Entry Form Part One and then receives Form Part Two, but there is a delay before sending Part Two because of trouble finding the file which holds the child's photograph. If the filled in Form Part Two is sent by the applicant and received by the E-DV website within sixty (60) minutes then there is no problem, but if the Form Part Two is received after sixty (60) minutes has elapsed then the applicant will be informed that they need to start over for the entire entry. The DV-2006 instructions explain clearly and completely what information needs to be gathered to fill in the form. This way you can be fully prepared, making sure you have all of the information needed, before you start to complete the form on-line.

27. IF THE SUBMITTED DIGITAL IMAGES DO NOT CONFORM TO THE SPECIFICATIONS, THE PROCEDURES STATE THAT THE SYSTEM WILL AUTOMATICALLY REJECT THE E-DV ENTRY FORM AND NOTIFY THE SENDER. DOES THIS MEAN I WILL BE ABLE RE-SUBMIT MY ENTRY?

Yes, the entry can be resubmitted. Since the entry was automatically rejected it was not actually considered as submitted to the E-DV website. It does not count as a submitted E-DV entry, and no confirmation notice of receipt is sent. If there are problems with the digital photograph sent because it does not conform to the requirements, it is automatically rejected by the E-DV website. However, the amount of time it takes the rejection message to reach the sender is unpredictable due to the nature of the Internet. If the problems can be fixed by the applicant, and the Form Part One or Two re-sent within sixty (60) minutes then there is no problem. Otherwise the submission process will have to be started over. An applicant can try to submit an application as many times as is necessary until a complete application is received and the confirmation notice sent.

28. WILL THE ELECTRONIC CONFIRMATION NOTICE THAT THE COMPLETED E-DV ENTRY FORM HAS BEEN RECEIVED THROUGH THE ONLINE SYSTEM BE SENT IMMEDIATELY AFTER SUBMISSION?

The response from the E-DV website which contains confirmation of the receipt of an acceptable E-DV Entry Form is sent by the E-DV website immediately, but how long it takes the response to reach the sender is unpredictable due to the nature of the Internet. If many minutes have elapsed since pressing the ‘Submit' button there is no harm in pressing the ‘Submit' button a second time. The E-DV system will not be confused by a situation where the ‘Submit' button is hit a second time because no confirmation response has been received. An applicant can try to submit an application as many times as is necessary until a complete application is received and the confirmation notice sent.

LIST OF  COUNTRIES BY REGION WHOSE NATIVES QUALIFY

The lists below show the countries whose natives are QUALIFIED within each geographic region for this diversity program. The determination of countries within each region is based on information provided by the Geographer of the Department of State. The countries whose natives do not qualify for the DV-2006 program were identified by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) according to the formula in Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Dependent  areas  overseas are included within the region of the governing country. The countries whose natives do NOT qualify for this diversity program (because they are the principal source countries of Family-Sponsored and Employment-Based immigration, or "high admission" countries) are noted after the respective regional lists.

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