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Hopes for Poles Rise Again
For the coming visa year 2012-13, Poles qualify for the US Government's Diversity Visa Lottery Program. Under the Diversity Visa Lottery Law, the US State Department establishes a lottery based program in which it will randomly select applicants for 50,000 immigrant visas to citizens from countries from which there is less immigration.
WHO SHOULD FILE
PERSONS LIVING ABROAD who meet the program requirements should file a DV Visa Application if they want to immigrate to the USA. This includes persons who are sponsored for permanent residency through an employer (labor certification) or family member and are waiting for processing of their applications. If they are selected, they will be able to immigrate to the US during the specified period. There are no other sponsorship requirements. The selected applicant will file their applications and documentation with the National Visa Center, go through an interview overseas at the appropriate American Embassy, and will be able to immigrate to the US. It is important to remember - that no one should make specific plans to come to the US under this program UNTIL they have actually been issued a visa to immigrate to the US. There are many complicated requirements that must be met in order to be eligible for a DV Visa.
PERSONS IN THE US WITH A VALID VISA (F-1 Student, H-1B/H-2 Workers, R-1 Religious Workers) should also file for the DV Visa Program if they meet the program requirements and want to stay permanently in the USA. In these circumstances, once selected, a person legally in the US would file an application for adjustment of status with the US Citizenship & Immigration Service. Once an application is granted, the applicant and their eligible family members would receive permanent residence. As with all applicants for adjustment of status, generally it is suggested that they keep to the terms of their original visas (remaining in school for F-1 students, continuing to work for H-1/H-2 workers) until they receive their permanent residency/ adjustment of status is granted. If a person leaves their status, before getting an approval for permanent residency, they are never sure if their application may be rejected and they would find themselves without any status.
Provided they are otherwise eligible to obtain permanent residency in the USA, individuals selected while in the United States may apply for adjustment of status to permanent resident. Applicants must ensure that US Citizenship & Immigration Services can complete action on their cases, including processing of any overseas derivative family members, BEFORE September 30, 2013, since on that date your eligibility for the DV-2013 program expires. No visa numbers for the DV-2013 program will be available after midnight EDT on September 30, 2013. If the main applicant is in the US, and others overseas, the applicant would have to file additional forms with the Immigration Service to inform the US Consulate overseas of the remaining family members.
PERSONS ILLEGALLY IN THE USA should also generally file an application under the DV Program. Applicants illegally in the USA would only receive their permanent residency IF the immigration laws change. However, no one is certain as to the future of Immigration Law. If the Immigration Laws Change from October 1, 2012 to September 30, 2013, and excuse persons who are illegally in the USA, the applicant would obtain their permanent residency under the program. However, if one doesn't apply, they will never have this chance. Given that there is no cost in filing an application, and a person otherwise illegally in the US may be selected in the DV Lottery, they should at least enter and see how the Immigration Laws develop in the future. The only persons who should not file a DV application are those who have been ordered deported from the United States.
EVEN IF YOU ARE ALREADY SPONSORED FOR PERMANENT RESIDENCY through another application, by an employer or family member, you can apply for the DV Visa. If chosen, you may decide by which application you would like to obtain permanent residency faster.
DV REGISTRATION PERIOD
Entries for the program must be submitted using the internet between 12 noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) Tuesday, October 4, 2011, and 12 noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), Saturday, November 5, 2011.
REQUIREMENTS FOR ENTRY
To enter the DV program, you must:1. Be a native of one of the eligible listed countries (including Poland). In most cases, this means the country in which you were born. However, there are two other ways you may qualify: 1) You can claim your spouse’s country of birth—provided that both you and your spouse are on the selected entry, are issued visas, and enter the United States simultaneously or 2) you may claim nativity in one of your parents’ countries of birth if it is a country whose natives qualify for the program. 2. You must meet either the education or work experience requirement You must have either a high school education or equivalent. This means that you successfuly completed a 12-year course of elementary and secondary education (persons from Poland who attended only occupational high-schools must be careful - they need an additional year of schooling to qualify); OR you have two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation (determined by the US Department of Labor) requiring at least two years of training or experience.
SELECTION OF WINNERS
A computer will randomly select winners individuals from among qualified entries. You must check yourself whether you have been selected for the Diversity Visa Lottery by entering your confirmation number on the State Department Website after May 1, 2012. If you do not have your confirmation number, you cannot check the status of your application. Those selected will NOT be notified by US mail or e-mail. A selected applicant will be able to apply for their immigrant visas between October 1, 2012, and September 30, 2013.
In order to be receive permanent residency, the application must be fully approved by September 30, 2013. Under no circumstances can DVs be issued or adjustments approved after this date, nor can family members obtain DVs to follow-to-join the principal applicant after this date. Family members must also immigrate by that date.
Each year, millions of people apply for the program during the registration period. Persons should definitely apply as early as possible to ensure that the system is available for them.
INTERVIEWS FOR PERMANENT RESIDENCY
Interviews will begin in October 2012. Each month, visas will be issued to those applicants who are ready for issuance during that month, visa-number availability permitting. Once all of the 50,000 DV visas have been issued, the program will end. In principle, visa numbers could be finished before September 2013. Selected applicants who wish to receive visas must be prepared to act promptly on their cases. Random selection as a selectee does not guarantee that you will receive a visa. Selection merely means that you are eligible to apply for a Diversity Visa, and if qualified, issued a Diversity Visa. Only the first 50,000 selected applicants to qualify will be issued visas.
DV APPLICANTS WILL NOT RECEIVE WAIVERS OR SPECIAL PROCESSING FOR WAIVERS
Applicants are subject to all grounds of ineligibility for immigrant visa. There are no special provisions for the waiver of any ground of visa ineligibility, nor is there special processing for waiver requests. Some general waiver provisions for people with close relatives who are U.S. Citizens or Lawful Permanent Resident aliens may be available to DV applicants as well, but the time constraints in the DV program will make it difficult for applicants to benefit from such provisions.
IF YOU ARE SELECTED FOR A DV VISA – YOU MUST HAVE SUFFICIENT RESOURCES TO LIVE IN THE USA -
You will be required to provide evidence that you will not become a public charge in the United States before being issued a visa. This evidence may be in the form of a combination of your personal assets, an Affidavit of Support (Form I-134) from a relative or friend residing in the United States, and/or an offer of employment from an employer in the United States.
CONCLUSION
Although there are many requirements in the DV Program, Poles inclusion in the program will give many persons a chance to Immigrate to the USA or speed up the time that they were waiting to be able to obtain their permanent residency. Please be sure to consult as to all of the program requirements before making any decisions based on the DV Program.
We are here to serve you and answer any questions that you may have. Please feel free to contact our office at (773) 774-0000 for more information.
Christopher Kurczaba
The Polish Language Version is now being translated and will be posted soon.
LIST OF EUROPEAN COUNTRIES NATIVES ARE ELIGIBLE FOR DV-2013
Albania
Andorra
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark (including components and
dependent areas overseas)
Estonia
Finland
France (including components and
areas overseas)
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Kazakhstan
Kosovo
Kyrgyzstan
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macau Special Administrative Region
Macedonia
Malta
Moldova
Monaco
Montenegro
Netherlands (including components and
dependent areas overseas)
Northern Ireland
Norway
Poland
Portugal (including components and
dependent areas overseas)
Romania
Russia
San Marino
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Tajikistan
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Ukraine
Uzbekistan
Vatican City
Natives of the following European countries are not eligible for this year’s DV program: Great Britain (United Kingdom). Great Britain (United Kingdom) includes the following dependent areas: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St. Helena, and Turks and Caicos Islands. Note that for purposes of the diversity program only, Northern Ireland is treated separately; Northern Ireland does qualify and is listed among the qualifying areas.
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