Publications

October 2005

DIVERSITY VISA LOTTERY (DV - 2007)

This new lottery Act makes available 50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.

The annual DV program makes permanent residence visas available to persons meeting a strict, eligibility requirement.

The DV-2007 diversity visa lottery must be submitted electronically between Wednesday, October 5, 2005 and Sunday December 4, 2005. No entries will be accepted after noon on December 4, 2005.

If a person was born in a country whose natives are ineligible but his/her spouse was born in a country whose natives are eligible, such person can claim the spouse’s country of birth provided both the applicant and spouse are issued visas and enter the U.S. simultaneously. If a person was born in a country whose natives are ineligible, but neither of his/her parents was born there or resided there at the time of his/her birth, such person may claim nativity in one of the parents’ countries of birth if it is a country whose natives qualify for the DV-2007 program.

An applicant must have either a high school education or its equivalent, defined as successful completion of a 12-year course of elementary and secondary education; or two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience to perform the duties of the occupation.
The Department of State will only accept completed Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Forms submitted electronically beginning at 12:00 pm EST (GMT-5) on October 5, 200 5 and ending at 12:00 pm EST (GMT-5) on December 4, 2005.

All entries by an applicant will be disqualified if more than ONE entry for the applicant is received.

Successfully registered entries will result in the display of a confirmation screen containing the applicant’s name, date of birth, country of chargeability, and a date/time stamp. The applicant may print this confirmation screen for his/her records using the print function of the web browser.

The entry will be disqualified if all required photos are not submitted.

A digital photo (image) of each applicant, his/her spouse, and children must be submitted on-line with the EDV Entry Form.

Applicants will be selected at random by computer from among all qualified entries. Those selected will be notified by mail between May and July 2006 and will be provided further instructions.

For DV-2007, natives of the following countries are not eligible to apply because they sent a total of more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. in the previous five years:

CANADA, CHINA (mainland-born), COLOMBIA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, EL SALVADOR, HAITI, INDIA, JAMAICA, MEXICO, PAKISTAN, PHILIPPINES, POLAND, RUSSIA, SOUTH KOREA, UNITED KINGDOM (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and VIETNAM. Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR and Taiwan are eligible.

LABOR CERTIFICATIONS, FINANCIAL ABILITY OF EMPLOYER TO PAY SALARY

The Administrative Appeals Office has recently issued several important decisions:

I. Proof of a sponsor’s capacity to pay a prevailing wage is essential to the success of a Labor Certification. A sponsor must demonstrate an ability to pay the required wage at the time of the job offer and at all the times an application is pending. The Department of Labor has the right to examine the income of the employer by reference to the sponsor’s tax return to verify an appropriate income to assure that sufficient resources are available to pay the offered wage. A line of credit of the sponsor is not proof of the employer’s ability to pay the wage since a bank is not obliged to honor the line of credit as a legal obligation.

II. Even if an employer has not earned enough to pay a prospective employee the required salary in a particular year, still the employer may succeed if the employer can show sufficient assets to pay the salary difference between what an employer earned in a particular year and the salary that had to be paid. In other words the Department of Labor may assess the totality of the circumstances of the employer’s income to determine the financial viability to pay the wage. If an employer cannot show adequate assets or revenues, the size and gross receipts of the business may be considered because if an employer has paid substantial wages to its employees in the past, the employer may secure a labor certification for its employee based on a pattern of financial solvency.

If you need help or advise, call us at 212-944-9420.

Our assistance is only a phone call, or e-mail communication away!

New York Immigration Lawyers > Immigration Publications > May 2005