DOS Cable on DV-99 Lottery Quota Reached
P 172212Z SEP 99
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO ALL DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR POSTS PRIORITY
NVC PORTSMOUTH PRIORITY 0000
Unclas State 175621
Visas, Inform Consuls Electronically
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CVIS
Subject: Diversity Visa Lottery (DV-99) Completed Bangkok For Con Sec., Abu Dhabi Also For Beirut Files
1. Summary: All 55,000 visa numbers for the diversity visa lottery year(DV-99) that ends on September 30, 1999 have been allocated and there are no additional numbers available. End Summary
2. The fiscal year 1999 diversity immigration program (DV-99) made available 55,000 permanent residence visas to persons meeting the eligibility requirements. Applicants for the DV-99 program were initially chosen through a random computer-generated lottery drawing. Visas were apportioned among six geographic regions with a greater number of visas going to regions with lower rates of immigration, and no visas going to countries sending more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. in the past five years. The regional limits are determined by the immigration and naturalization service, according to a formula specified in section 203(c) of the Immigration And Nationality Act. No one country is eligible to receive more than seven percent of the available diversity visas in any one year. For the DV-99 program, natives of the following countries were not eligible to apply:
Canada, China (Mainland and Taiwan, except Hong Kong
S.A.R.), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, India,
Jamaica, Mexico, Philippines, Poland, South Korea, United
Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its Dependent
Territories, and Vietnam.
3. All 55,000 visa numbers for the diversity visa lottery year (DV-99) that ends on September 30, 1999 have been allocated and there are no additional numbers available. There are a number of DV-99 winners, both overseas and in the U.S., who for various reasons will not receive visas. In some cases, the applicants themselves may have postponed appointments or waited until very late to pursue their applications. In other cases, circumstances in the country prevented the applicants from scheduling an interview in a timely manner. This may generate considerable press interest as a result of complaints by registrants who believe they were entitled to one of the 55,000 diversity visas but through no fault of their own will not receive one. The following press guidance may help in responding to those questions. Posts should feel free to draw on it
as necessary.
4. Begin Text:
Q: Is it true that a number of individuals who were registered for the DV-99 lottery will not get visas?
A: Under the Fiscal Year 1999 Diversity Visa Lottery, 55,000 people were eligible to receive immigrant visas to live permanently in the United States.
More than 3.4 million qualified entries were received during the one-month DV-99 lottery mail in period. An additional 2.4 million applications received inside and outside of the mail-in period were disqualified for failing to properly follow directions.
From the large number of eligible entries, over 90,000 winners were selected at random by computer and registered for further processing. However, their further eligibility for visas was dependent on completing the various documentary requirements and qualifying for a visa in all respects under U.S. immigration law.
The number registered for the program was higher than the visa numbers available. This was done to ensure that all the visas available worldwide would be used in Fiscal Year 1999, since many registered applicants do not proceed with their cases and others may be found ineligible for a visa. There are no provisions to carry over any unused visas into the next fiscal year.
Applicants were also advised not to take steps, such as giving up employment, based on the expectation of receiving a visa.
We regret that a number of registrants who pursued their requests for a visa will not receive visas, either because they did not meet the general conditions for immigration under U.S. law, or because the numbers for the DV-99 lottery were fully allocated before a visa could be made available to them.
Those who did not receive visas are, of course, eligible to apply for the upcoming dv-2001 lottery being held between noon on Monday, October 4, 1999 and noon on Wednesday, November 3, 1999.
Q: What about DV applicants who were seeking to adjust status in the U.S.?
A: the same numerical limitation applies to these cases. INS has been informed that the numerical limit has been reached, and there will be no further allocations. I would refer you to ins for any additional information about such cases.
5. End Text.
Madeleine Albright