DOS Announces Diversity Visa Lottery Results for FY 2008

Media Note

Office of the Spokesman

Washington, DC

November 30, 2007

Results of DV-2008 Visa Lottery

The Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky, has registered and notified the winners of the DV-2008 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 96,000 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-2008 numbers will be used during fiscal year 2008 (October 1, 2007 until September 30, 2008).

Applicants registered for the DV-2008 program were selected at random from over 6.4 million qualified entries received during the 60-day application period that ran from 12:00 AM on October 4, 2006, until midnight, December 3, 2006. 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.

Registrants living legally in the United States who wish to apply for adjustment of their status must contact the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services for information on the requirements and procedures. Once the total *50,000 visa numbers have been used, the program for fiscal year 2008 will end. Selected applicants who do not receive visas by September 30, 2008 will derive no further benefit from their DV-2008 registration. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2008 principal applicants are only entitled to derivative diversity visa status until September 30, 2008.

The application period for the DV-2009 lottery ends at 12:00 pm Eastern time on December 2, 2007. Applicants must apply electronically through the form available at dvlottery.state.gov. Results will be announced in the fall of 2008.

* The Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) passed by Congress in November 1997 stipulated that up to 5,000 of the 55,000 annually-allocated diversity visas be made available for use under the NACARA program. The reduction of the limit of available visas to 50,000 began with DV-2000.

The following is the statistical breakdown by foreign-state chargeability of those registered for the DV-2008 program:

AFRICA

ALGERIA 1,926

ETHIOPIA 5,241

NIGER 165

ANGOLA 27

GABON 37

NIGERIA 8,773

BENIN 438

GAMBIA, THE 57

RWANDA 138

BOTSWANA 22

GHANA 5,914

SENEGAL 917

BURKINA FASO 186

GUINEA 463

SIERRA LEONE 1,137

BURUNDI 39

GUINEA-BISSAU 4

SOMALIA 214

CAMEROON 3,152

KENYA 4,547

SOUTH AFRICA 713

CAPE VERDE 13

LESOTHO 4

SUDAN 1,147

CENTRAL AFRICAN REP. 8

LIBERIA 2,148

SWAZILAND 4

CHAD 47

LIBYA 88

TANZANIA 218

COMOROS 5

MADAGASCAR 43

TOGO 1,509

CONGO 1,206

MALAWI 53

TUNISIA 150

CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE 111

MALI 171

UGANDA 370

COTE D'IVOIRE 614

MAURITANIA 27

WESTERN SAHARA 1

DJIBOUTI 20

MAURITIUS 62

ZAMBIA 214

EGYPT 4,392

MOROCCO 5,017

ZIMBABWE 167

EQUATORIAL GUINEA 7

MOZAMBIQUE 8

ERITREA 878

NAMIBIA 12

ASIA

AFGHANISTAN 57

ISRAEL 150

QATAR 6

BAHRAIN 11

JAPAN 382

SAUDI ARABIA 61

BANGLADESH 5,983

JORDAN 56

SINGAPORE 70

BHUTAN 10

NORTH KOREA 4

SRI LANKA 675

BRUNEI 2

KUWAIT 46

SYRIA 94

BURMA 653

LAOS 7

THAILAND 108

CAMBODIA 187

LEBANON 190

TAIWAN 446

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMIN. REGION 69

MALAYSIA 87

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 27

INDONESIA 266

MONGOLIA 259

YEMEN 70

IRAN 1,435

NEPAL 2,562

IRAQ 164

OMAN 5

EUROPE

ALBANIA 2,862

GERMANY 1,469

NORTHERN IRELAND 34

ANDORRA 1

GREECE 77

NORWAY 43

ARMENIA 1,130

HUNGARY 182

PORTUGAL 48

Macau 19

AUSTRIA 70

ICELAND 13

ROMANIA 1,526

AZERBAIJAN 271

IRELAND 162

SERBIA 557

BELARUS 1,072

ITALY 363

SLOVAKIA 157

BELGIUM 89

KAZAKHSTAN 304

SLOVENIA 12

BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA 73

KYRGYZSTAN 180

SPAIN 135

BULGARIA 1,567

LATVIA 75

SWEDEN 118

CROATIA 41

LITHUANIA 334

SWITZERLAND 132

CYPRUS 16

LUXEMBOURG 12

TAJIKISTAN 126

CZECH REPUBLIC 158

MACEDONIA 343

TURKEY 2,188

DENMARK 58

MALTA 5

TURKMENISTAN 124

ESTONIA 37

MOLDOVA 474

UKRAINE 5,018

FINLAND 59

MONACO 4

UZBEKISTAN 3,101

FRANCE 603

French Guiana 6

French Polynesia 6

Guadeloupe 4

Martinique 4

MONTENEGRO 22

GEORGIA 516

NETHERLANDS 123

Aruba 8

Netherlands Antilles 18

NORTH AMERICA

BAHAMAS, THE 17

OCEANIA

AUSTRALIA 649

NEW ZEALAND 260

Niue 5

SAMOA 27

FIJI 630

PALAU 7

SOLOMON ISLANDS 2

KIRIBATI 9

PAPUA NEW GUINEA 4

TONGA 120

SOUTH AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA 1

DOMINICA 9

PARAGUAY 26

ARGENTINA 106

ECUADOR 217

SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS 1

BARBADOS 17

GRENADA 1

SAINT LUCIA 5

BELIZE 14

GUATEMALA 74

SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES 1

BOLIVIA 148

GUYANA 24

SURINAME 3

CHILE 26

HONDURAS 42

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 82

COSTA RICA 22

NICARAGUA 39

URUGUAY 23

CUBA 691

PANAMA 17

VENEZUELA 256

Natives of the following countries were not eligible to participate in DV-2008: Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born, excluding Hong Kong S.A.R. and Taiwan), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Korea, the United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.

2007/1073

Released on November 30, 2007