DOS Cable on DV Disqualifications if Dependent Details Missing

R 032300Z JUN 98
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO ALL IMMIGRANT VISA PROCESSING POSTS
AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
INFO NVC PORTSMOUTH 0105

Unclas State 099723

Visas

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CVIS
Subject: DV Entries: Disqualified If Dependent Details Missing/Inaccurate

1. The Visa Office has recently received several inquiries from the field concerning the appropriate disposition of DV entries which fail to provide accurate information on the spouse and children of the applicant. The following guidance seeks to clarify the appropriate course of action in such circumstances.

2. 9 FAM 42.33 (B)(1) States that "A DV petition shall consist of a sheet of paper on which shall be typed or legibly printed in the Roman alphabet the petitioner's name, date and place of birth, the country of which the alien claims to be native, if other than the country of birth, name(s) and date(s) of birth of spouse and child(ren), if any…" Additional requirements such as the inclusion of a photograph and the alien's signature are also outlined in 9 FAM 42.33 (B).

3. Failure to include the required biographic details of a spouse and children in a DV entry is cause for the entry's disqualification. Applicants who later claim at the DV visa interview that they failed to accurately represent their family's biographic details should be informed that such an omission mandates automatic disqualification of their entry. Post has discretion to continue processing cases where the applicant can convincingly explain a minor discrepancy in dates of birth on original entries and subsequently submitted OF-230's. (However the complete omission of a DOB or some general statement of age such as "child" or "adult" on an entry are grounds for disqualification).

4. Spouses and/or children acquired subsequent to the DV entry submission remain eligible for derivative diversity visas provided that all concerns of fraud and of marriage for immigration purposes have been sufficiently addressed.

5. Minimize considered.

Strobe Talbott