Starting at noon (EDT) on Tuesday, October 2, 2012, the Dept. of State will begin accepting applications for the 2014 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program.  The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is administered annually to allow a class of immigrants known as “diversity immigrants” to immigrant to the U.S. The diversity immigrants are ones who otherwise may not have an immigrant visa option available to them or are located in a native country with low rates of immigration to the U.S.
For the 2014 fiscal year, 50,000 diversity visas (DV) will be available to applicants from certain countries. During the registration period (October 2-November 3), the Dept. of State will accept applications via their electronic-based system for those who met the strict eligibility requirements. A computer generated random drawing will choose selectees for DVs.  Official notifications of selection will be made through Entrant Status Check, available starting May 1, 2013, through at least June 30, 2014, on the E-DV website www.dvlottery.state.gov.
Please note: if you are from the following countries you are NOT eligible for a DV: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and Vietnam.  Natives of Guatemala, previously ineligible, are eligible for selection in the 2014 program.
Berardi Immigration Law has helped numerous clients achieve their dream of permanent residency in the U.S. through the DV program. In fact, one recent client contacted us at the end of August because he was a chosen 2012 DV selectee. This client only had until September 30th to be approved for his 2012 DV because that is when the 2012 DV program would expire. With only a few weeks available, the BIL team moved quickly and efficiently and on Monday, September 17th our client was approved for his Diversity Lottery and now he and his family will soon be immigrating to the U.S.
So what is an individual’s change of winning the Diversity Lottery?  For the fiscal year 2013 program, 7,941,400 individual registrations (not counting derivatives) were entered in the 30-day acceptance period.
To see if you are eligible for the 2014 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program please contact us today.