Visa(green cards) lottery to open Oct. 4

[ludo lamy]

Visa lottery to open Oct. 4
Chance for immigrants to apply for green cards
Entries for the next diversity visa lottery,
in which winners may be able to apply for coveted green cards, will be
accepted from noon Oct. 4 through noon Nov. 3, the State Department
announced Monday.
Up to 50,000 green cards are available under the visa lottery program,
which promotes legal immigration from countries that the State
Department
determines are underrepresented in the U.S. population. The green cards
confer legal permanent resident status on immigrants.
Some nations off list
Not allowed to enter this year are natives of Canada, China (not
including
Hong Kong),Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India,
Jamaica, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, South Korea, Taiwan, the
United
Kingdom and its dependentterritories (not including Northern Ireland),
and
Vietnam.
Typically, 6 million to 8 million entries are received every year for
the
program. Beingselected in the lottery does not guarantee a green card
but
makes the person eligible to apply for one.
To qualify for the program, the entrant must have either a high school
education or itsequivalent or within the past five years have two years
of
work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of
training or experience.
 Participants must write down and mail in some basic information such as
name, date and place of birth, and mailing address.
No fees are required, and anyone who sends more than one entry is
disqualified. Those selected will be notified between April and July.
 No way to assure winning
The State Department says winners are selected at random, and no outside
service can improve a person's chance of being chosen or guarantee a
win.
``Unfortunately,fraudulent immigrant service providers see the lottery
as
an opportunity to make falsepromises to immigrants and charge thousands
of
dollars for unnecessary services,'' said New York City Consumer Affairs
Commissioner Jules Polonetsky.
 Regulations on submitting an entry may be obtained on the State
Department
Web site (http://travel.state.gov) or by calling the agency at (202)
331-7199.


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