IIRI Assists in Processing 2012 Diversity Visa Lottery Applications

IIRI Assists in Processing

2012 Diversity Visa Lottery Applications

Registration for the 2012 Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery will end at noon Eastern Standard Time on Sunday, November 3rd, 2010. The Diversity Visa Lottery makes available 50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. The Diversity Visa Lottery for 2012 will be accepting applications ONLY at: www.dvlottery.state.gov There is no fee to apply for this lottery directly.

The International Institute of Rhode Island will be assisting people apply for the 2012 Diversity Visa Lottery until Friday, October 29th. The International Institute is located at 645 Elmwood Avenue, Providence. To make an appointment, please call Carlos Ospina at 784-8636 or Kinga Correa at 784-8631. The fee for this service is $50 for the first applicant plus $10 for each additional family member.

Natives of the following countries are not eligible to apply because the countries sent a total of more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. in the previous five years:

BRAZIL, CANADA, CHINA (mainland-born), COLOMBIA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, ECUADOR, EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HAITI, INDIA, JAMAICA, MEXICO, PAKISTAN, PERU, PHILIPPINES, POLAND, SOUTH KOREA, UNITED KINGDOM (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and VIETNAM. Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and Taiwan are eligible.

Eligibility Requirements:
• Applicant or spouse of applicant must be a native of one of the eligible countries. Go to: http://travel.state.gov/pdf/1318-DV2012Instructions-ENGL.pdf to see “List Of Countries By Region Whose Natives Qualify.

• Applicant must meet either the education or training requirement of the DV program.

• Education or Training: An applicant must have EITHER a high school education or its equivalent, defined as successful completion of a 12-year course of elementary and secondary education; OR two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience to perform. A GED does not satisfy this requirement.

• For more information, including requirements for photographs please visit: http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/ and http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/photo.aspx