Each year the U.S. State Department conducts a green card lottery, and selects 55,000 applicants for green cards from the hundreds of thousands who apply. The lottery for this year (called the DV-2001 program) will accept applications from October 4, 1999 to November 3, 1999. Any applications received before or after these dates will not be considered, regardless of the postmark date. There is no advantage to mailing early since every application received during the application period will have an equal chance of being selected.
The procedure for registering is simple, and you do not need an attorney or other agent to assist you to apply (but may wish to hire an attorney to assist you if you win).
Everyone is eligible to participate except those born in the following countries: Canada, China (PRC and Taiwan), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, India, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Philippines, Poland, South Korea, United Kingdom and Vietnam. Those born in Hong Kong and Northern Ireland are eligible to participate. The applicant must also have either a high school education or two years of work experience within the past five years, in an occupation that requires at least two years of training.
Only one application per applicant is allowed, and those who submit more than one application will be disqualified.
The application should be mailed (regular mail or air mail only) to: DV-2001 Program, National Visa Center, Portsmouth, NH. The zip code you use depends on the continent on which the applicant was born: 00210 for Asia; 00211 for South America; 00212 for Europe; 00213 for Africa; 00214 for Oceania1; and 00215 for North America (Bahamas).
The envelope containing the application must be a regular letter or business-size envelope (between 6 and 10 inches in length and between 3 ½ and 4 ½ inches in width). The applicant's country of nativity2, name and mailing address, and country of residence must be typed or printed in the upper left corner of the envelope. Postcards are not acceptable.
There is no special application form. On a plain sheet of paper type or print the following:
1) applicant's full name;
2) applicant's date and place of birth;
3) applicant’s place of nativity if different from place of birth (see footnote);
4) name and date and place of birth of the applicant's spouse and minor children, if any; and
5) applicant's mailing address.
The application must be signed by the applicant, and a recent 1 ½" X 1 ½" photograph of the applicant must be attached. The applicant's name must be printed on the back of the photograph.
There is no fee for the application. Winners will be notified between April and July, 2000.
Questions can be answered by telephoning the State Department at (202) 331-7199.
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In our July 1999 Newsletter we reported that the cutoff date for all professional employment categories (EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3) had become current, despite an actual backlog of several years for those born in China and India. As of this writing, that situation has not changed, and every professional worker who has an approved immigrant visa petition (I-140) is eligible to submit an application for adjustment of status (I-485), regardless of country of birth.
The consequence of this sudden jump in the cutoff dates is that the INS is currently receiving hundreds of thousands of applications for adjustment of status (I-485s). These new applications add to an existing backlog in I-485 applications of approximately one million cases. The INS continues to approve I-485s very slowly or not at all, so the total processing time could reach several years (even without the delay caused by the per-country quota).
However, I-485 applicants are entitled to an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) and an international travel document ("advanced parole") until the I-485 is approved. They therefore have most of the rights and benefits of a green card holder, with the notable exception that they cannot change employers if the I-485 is based on the employer’s petition. The EAD and advanced parole must be renewed each year, and we strongly recommend applying for renewal six months in advance to anticipate INS processing delays.
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With some exceptions, the labor certification processing times are now very favorable throughout the United States, especially those based on "reduction in recruitment" (RIR). For example, we are currently receiving approvals in RIR cases in California in approximately three months after filing. Also, the INS has promised to reduce the I-140 processing time (which now is backlogged about one year) to less than sixty days by the end of November 1999.
1 Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and all countries and islands in the South Pacific.
2 Usually the country of birth. However, if a person was not born in an eligible country, but his or her spouse was, the country of birth of the spouse can be claimed as the country of nativity.
* The purpose of this newsletter is to inform potential clients of the type of legal issues our firm handles. It is not intended to establish any attorney/client relationship, and we accept no responsibility for the accuracy of the information provided. We cannot discuss or clarify any of the information contained in our newsletters, except with our existing clients.
Copyright © 1999 BACH AND SMALL