Recent News Items

Department of State reports that entries are up 63% for the DV 2011 Program from last year. Applicants from around the world have submitted over 900,000 entries in just the first week. The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is open to persons meeting simple, but strict, eligibility requirements. Nationals of countries sending more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States over the period of the past five years are not eligible. Additionally, the law requires that every entrant must have at least a high school education, or qualifying work experience.

Winners of the lottery will receive notification of their selection via mail between May and July, 2010, and will be permitted to commence the Immigrant Visa application process in October 2010. The deadline for visa issuance is September 30, 2011.

There is no fee to enter DV- 2011. Successful entrants, however, will be required to pay all applicable application fees and costs, including those for medical examinations, for themselves and qualifying immediate relatives.

Enter today, the lottery closes on November 30, 2009.

Source: Consular Affairs, Department of State
 

As of October 1, 2009, every candidate for naturalization will have to take the new citizenship test regardless of when the application was filed. The revised test focuses on understanding American values and the meaning of being a U.S. citizen. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services introduced the revised exam one year ago in an effort to streamline the examination process and phase out the old exam. Prior to October 1, 2009, candidates applying for U.S. citizenship had the option of taking the old exam or the new one.

Can you pass the new test? Here is a sample of the questions asked: How many amendments does the Constitution have? The House of Representatives has how many voting members? What is one promise you make when you become a United States citizen? What did Susan B. Anthony do?

Source: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

All signs are pointing towards comprehensive immigration reform in 2010. In an interview, Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Alejandro Mayorkas, said that the agency is under way to prepare for comprehensive immigration reform in 2010. USCIS is getting ready to handle the huge influx of visa applications that would take place if immigration reform is passed in Congress. One focus of the reform movement is a legalization program that would allow approximately 10.8 million illegal immigrants living in this country an opportunity to legalize. Director Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano and other officials around the country are working together to get the agency ready for the comprehensive immigration reform we are all waiting for.

Source: New York Times

Registration for 2011 Diversity Visa Lottery Program has begun. This congressionally mandated program is ran annually by the Department of State and is regulated by INA § 203 (c). The Diversity Visa Lottery Program makes available 55,000 immigrant visas for nationals of countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Paper entries are not accepted. The registration period is open between Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Friday, October 2, 2009 and noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-5), Monday, November 30, 2009. No entries will be accepted after noon EST on November 30, 2009.

For DV-2011, natives of the following countries are not eligible to apply because the countries have sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States 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.
• Note: Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and Taiwan are eligible.

All other foreign nationals are eligible for the 2011 Diversity Visa Lottery Program. Applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.

Source: Department of State, Diversity Visa Lottery

The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India now has a new Consular Section. Ambassador Timothy J. Roemer inaugurated the new section on September 14, 2009. The new section is part of a $10 million dollar, multi-year expansion that will result in better and more efficient service to the Indian community. According to the press release issued by the U.S. Embassy, the new facility doubles the waiting area, triples customer seating, adds a modern queuing system to guide customers through the visa process and adds many new interviewing windows to ensure that visa applicants and American citizens can speak to an officer more quickly and in a convenient, modern environment. In keeping with the spirit of expansion and commitment to better service; expansions are in the works for the U.S. Consulates located in Chennai and Kolkata and a brand new construction is well under way in the northern suburbs in Mumbai.

Source: U.S. Embassy, New Delhi