DOS Notifies DV-2002 Lottery Winners
Posted Jun 01, 2001

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) announced on May 10, 2001 that it had notified all those chosen in the DV-2002 lottery program. The DV (diversity visa) lottery program provides an opportunity for 50,000 persons per year from countries with low rates of immigration to the U.S. to qualify for the Green Card. Persons can apply from abroad or from within the United States (if here legally) and do not need to have a relative or employer file papers for them. There are some additional eligibility requirements as well, which have been outlined in various articles in the MurthyBulletin.

Each year, DOS designates a month-long application period during which applications for the DV program can be submitted. For the DV-2002 program, the application period was October 2, 2000 to November 1, 2000. DOS notified 90,000 applicants that they had been selected for the DV-2002 program, though only 50,000 visas can be issued, because there are always people who either do not respond or who do not meet the eligibility criteria. Upon receiving the notification letter it is necessary to respond as soon as possible, following the instructions in the letter, so that the permanent visa can be issued (if abroad) or the application for adjustment of status (if in the U.S.) can be filed. While the adjustment of status process can be time consuming, lottery-based applications can generally be expedited because of the limited time frame for the program. All immigrant visa and adjustment of status cases for DV-2002 winners must be completed by September 30, 2002. There is no provision for carry over to the next year's DV program.

No more than 7% of the total number of winners can be from any one country. As part of its news release, DOS issued a list of all eligible countries and the number of winners from each. Based on the data, it appears there was a very high application rate from nationals of several African countries, and also from Eastern European countries. The African countries with the largest number of applicants selected were Ghana (6,531 applicants), Nigeria (6,049), Sierra Leone (5,747), Ethiopia (4,997), Morocco (2,056), Egypt (2,046) and Sudan (1,820). From Eastern Europe, the highest usage countries included Ukraine (5,511), Poland (4,707), Russia (2,754), Bulgaria (2,489) and Albania (2,331).

In Asia, Bangladesh was the highest usage country, with 5,497 applicants selected, followed by Taiwan with 2,261. Please note that persons born in China (People's Republic), India, Pakistan, and South Korea were not eligible for the DV-2002 program, because of the high rates of immigration from those countries to the U.S. by the usual methods. As noted above, the diversity program is to increase immigration from countries that do not generally provide large numbers of immigrants to the U.S.

The application period for the next lottery, the DV-2003 program, will be from October 1, 2001 to October 31, 2001. DOS will issue detailed instructions in July or August of 2001. Stay tuned for updates in our MurthyBulletin, if you or your family or friends are interested in submitting applications for the DV-2003 program.