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Consular Chief Anne Simon (left) and Non-Immigrant Visa Assistant Vorleak Tep (right) conducted a press briefing on the 2009 Diversrity Visa Lottery Program.
Consular Chief Discusses the 2009 Diversity Visa Lottery Program
U.S. Embassy Phnom Penh
October 30, 2007
The U.S. Embassy's Consular Chief, Ms. Anne Simon, recently conducted a press briefing on the 2009 Diversity Visa Lottery (DV-2009). The DV-2009 registration period opened on October 3 and will close on December 2, 2007. No entries will be accepted after that time. Applicants for the United States' 2009 Diversity Visa Lottery are encouraged to enter as soon as possible because excessive demand might slow down the system as the deadline nears.
In addition to describing the DV-2009 process, Ms. Simon sounded a warning on visa scams and fraud. Dishonest agencies in Phnom Penh have been extorting money from winners of the Diversity Visa Lottery (DV) program. These companies have assisted Cambodians to apply for the DV program and later charged the winners outrageous fees. Winners DO NOT have to pay money to receive their case number and are warned not to pay high fees to brokers. The Embassy can assist DV winners in contacting the Kentucky Consular Center to continue processing their DV case. People and organizations who claim they can help procure a U.S. visa in exchange for a high fee are dishonest; only a U.S. consular officer at the Embassy can adjudicate a visa application. Applicants are also warned not to enter into fake marriages or use fake documents when applying for a visa; those who do so will be disqualified and be permanently ineligible for a visa to the United States. Please contact the U.S. Embassy at visasphp@state.gov if you are being extorted by a local broker or to report visa scams, fraud, malfeasance, and other illegal activity involving nonimmigrant and immigrant visas.
The Diversity Visa Lottery winners are selected in a computerized random drawing. Persons whose names are selected may apply for one of 50,000 Diversity Immigrant Visas made available each year. The visas will be distributed among six geographic regions, with a greater number of visas going to regions with lower rates of immigration. Natives of the following countries are not eligible to apply because those nations sent a total of more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States over the previous five years: Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.
Registration for the Diversity Visa Lottery is free. Persons seeking to enter the lottery must register online through the designated Web site (www.dvlottery.state.gov/). This is the only official site for the diversity visa lottery registration. Digital photos must be submitted with the registration form. Paper entries will not be accepted.
The Department of State Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky, will notify the lottery winners by mail (NOT e-mail) between May 2008 and July 2008. The winners will be provided instructions on how to apply for DV-2009 visas, which will be issued between October 1, 2008, and September 30, 2009.
Lottery and visa applicants must meet certain education or work experience requirements. These are outlined in the DV-2009 instructions.
More than 6.4 million people submitted entries for the previous visa lottery, DV-2008, during the two-month registration period in late 2006.
