50,000 U.S visas up for grasp

50,000 visas of the United States of America is up for grab worldwide as the entries for the 2013 Diversity Visa lottery (DV lottery) is open starting from 4^th October to  5^th November this year, the US Embassy in Banjul has announced.

The annual DV lottery program is a “good” opportunity for potential immigrants to become permanent legal resident of the USA. This program runs each year and provides 50,000 "Green Cards" to applicants randomly selected in a lottery process otherwise known as Green Card Lottery.

A Green Card is a permanent residence visa and gives a person the legal right to live, work, and study permanently in the United States and to enter and leave the country freely.

“We strongly encourage you to enter early in the registration period,” said Andy Utschig, Consular Officer of the U.S Embassy in Banjul during a press conference held at the American Corner organized to provide Gambia media practitioners the information about the program for onward distribution to the public.  

Mr Utschig recommended that interested applicants should register early as excessive demand at end of the registration period may slow the system down and no entries whatsoever will be accepted after November 5, 2011.  Application to this program is open for all individuals worldwide.

The DV lottery has been established in the 1990 Immigration Act in order to give immigration opportunity to natives from countries other than the main source of immigration to the U.S.A.

The program aims to diversify the American population by creating an immigration opportunity to under-represented countries. 

Eligibility for the program and how to apply

U.S Consular Officer in Banjul explained that the law and regulations governing the program require       e that every entrant must have at least a high school education or its equivalent or have, within the past five years, two years of work experience in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience.  

Documentary proof of education or work experience must be presented to the consular officer at the time of the visa interview.

“On your entry, you must list your spouse (husband or wife) and all unmarried children under 21 years of age, regardless of whether or not they are living with the petitioner or intend to accompany or follow to join the petitioner, should the petitioner immigrate to the United States,” Mr Utschig said.

Adding:  “You must list your spouse even if you are currently separated from him/her, unless you are legally separated.”

He said applicants should list all their children who are unmarried and under 21 years of age at the time of your application.  He whether the children are your natural children, your spouse's children, or children you have formally adopted in accordance with the laws of your country all should be listed.

However, he was quick to add that this only applies to those who were family members at the time the original application was submitted, not those acquired at a later date.

According to him the laws of the program allows only one entry by or for each person during each registration period.  “Individuals for whom more than one entry is submitted will be disqualified,” he warned.

Consular Utschig said people who apply for DV 2013 should keep their confirmation screen page until at least June 30, 2013.  You will need your confirmation number to access information through the Entrant Status Check available on the E-DV website www.dvlottery.state.gov, he explained.

Entrant Status Check will be the sole means by which DV- 2013 entrants are notified of their selection, provided instructions on how to proceed with their application, and notified of their immigrant visa interview appointment date and time.

Randomly selected entrants will receive notification instructions for the DV visa application process on the selectee confirmation screen page available through Entrant Status Check on the E-DV website www.dvlottery.state.gov.  

The instructions will detail how applicants should pay all DV and immigrant visa fees.  Selected applicants applying for an immigrant visa at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate should never send money for DV fees through the mail, Western Union, or any other delivery service.  

The E-DV entries are submitted on the Internet, on the official U.S. government E-DV website at www.dvlottery.state.gov.  

Selectees will only receive e-mail communications from the Department directing them to check their interview appointment details on Entrant Status Check.  These notifications will not contain information on the actual appointment date and time, nor will they provide any entry status information.

He warned that posited that only Internet sites ending with the ".gov" domain suffix are official U.S. government websites.  

“Many other non- governmental websites (e.g., those that use the suffixes ".com," ".org," or ".net") provide immigration and visa- related information and services.  Regardless of the content of non-governmental websites, the Department of State does not endorse, recommend, or sponsor any information or material shown at these other websites,” he reiterated.

He explained that some websites may try to mislead customers and members of the public into thinking they are official websites and may contact you by e-mail to lure you to their offers.

He said these websites may attempt to require you to pay for services and information about immigration procedures that are free on the Department of State website or through U.S. Embassy or Consulate websites. 

Additionally, he went on, these other websites may require you to pay for services you are unlikely to receive (such as fees for DV immigration applications and visas) in an effort to steal your money.

“If you send in money to one of these scams, you are unlikely to get it back.  Also, you should be wary of sending any personal information to these websites, which might be used for identity fraud/theft,” he remarked.