Burning Atlanta

The Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky has registered and notified the winners of the DV-2009 diversity Lottery. The diversity Lottery was conducted under the terms of section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and makes available *50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Approximately 99,600 applicants have been registered and notified and may now make an application for an immigrant visa. Since it is likely that some of the first *50,000 persons registered will not pursue their cases to visa issuance, this larger figure should insure that all DV-2009 numbers will be used during fiscal year 2009 (October 1, 2008 until September 30, 2009).

Applicants registered for the DV-2009 program were selected at random from the approximately 9.1 million qualified entries received. The visas have been apportioned among six geographic regions with a maximum of seven percent available to persons born in any single country. During the visa interview, principal applicants must provide proof of a high school education or its equivalent, or show two years of work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience within the past five years. Those selected will need to act on their immigrant visa applications quickly. Applicants should follow the instructions in their notification letter and must fully complete the information requested.