Aug 25 2002

Instructions for the 2004 Diversity Visa Lottery Have Been Announced

The deadline for entries for the 2004 Diversity Visa Lottery (DV-2004) is soon arriving. All entries must be received at one of the six Kentucky Consular Center Mailing Addresses between noon on Monday, October 7, 2002 and noon on Wednesday, November 6, 2002. Entries received before or after these posted dates will be automatically disqualified. There will be no exceptions to this rule, including entries postmarked between the applicable dates.

Diversity visas are divided among the six geographic regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, South America/Central America/Caribbean, Oceania and North America. Regions with lower immigration rates will be apportioned a higher number of visas. No visas will be offered to nations that have sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. in the past five years.

55,000 Diversity Visas are offered each year. However, since 1999, 5,000 of these visas have been allocated for the Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act. This allocation will remain in place for DV-2004.

Because their nations sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. in the past five years, natives of the following countries will not be eligible for DV-2004: Canada, China (mainland-born), Columbia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam. Individuals born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR and Taiwan, however, are eligible for DV-2004.

To be eligible for the Diversity Lottery Program, you should have either a high school education, its equivalent or two years work experience within the last five years in a job which demands two years training. You or your spouse must be a native of a nation eligible for the Diversity Lottery Program. You may be eligible if your parent was born in a country eligible to participate in the lottery.

Entries should be submitted by regular or airmail to one of the six addresses below. Choose the address that matches the region of your native country. Do not send entries by express or priority mail, second day airmail, fax, hand, messenger or any other means that require a receipt or special handling. The envelope you mail your entry in must be between 6 and 10 inches long and 3.5 and 4.5 inches wide. In the upper left-hand corner of the envelope, write your country of nativity, along with your name and full return address. Postcards, envelopes inside express or oversized packages, and lack of complete information will all lead to disqualification.

For more information on DV-2004, click here to visit the Department of State's "Instructions for the 2004 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program".

The following are the mailing addresses for the six geographical regions:

Africa
(Includes all countries on the African continent and adjacent islands)
DV Program, Kentucky Consular
Center, 1001 Visa Crest,
Migrate, KY 41901-1000, USA

Asia
(Extends from Israel to the Northern Pacific Islands, and includes Indonesia)
DV Program Kentucky Consular
Center, 2002 Visa Crest,
Migrate, KY 41902-2000, USA

Europe
(Extends from Greenland to Russia, and includes all countries of the former USSR)
DV Program Kentucky Consular
Center, 3003 Visa Crest,
Migrate, KY 41903-3000, USA

South America/Central America/Caribbean
(Extends from Central America (Guatemala) and the Caribbean nations to Chile)
DV Program Kentucky Consular
Center, 4004 Visa Crest,
Migrate, KY 41904-4000, USA

Oceania
(Includes Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and all countries and islands of the South Pacific)
DV Program Kentucky Consular
Center, 5005 Visa Crest,
Migrate, KY 41905-5000, USA

North America
(Includes the Bahamas)
DV Program Kentucky Consular
Center, 6006 Visa Crest,
Migrate, KY 41906-6000, USA