I am getting lots of letters about the DV-2010 green card lottery.
Let us review a few key points.
First, the natives of some countries are excluded from this year’s green card lottery.
Excluded this year are natives of Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, Peru, Poland, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland, whose natives ARE eligible) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.
Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR and Taiwan ARE eligible. In a change from recent years, this year, natives of Russia are eligible.
Information about the lottery, including the definition of “native” for lottery purposes, is available at the U.S. State Department DV-2010 web page. Go to https://www.travel.state.gov/ and click on “Diversity (DV) Lottery Instructions.”
The filing deadline is noon, December 1. You must make entries via the Internet.
You can enter for a friend or relative who is abroad, but you will need a digitized photo. If you win, your spouse and unmarried children under 21 can join you in getting permanent residence.
If you are from a qualifying country but your spouse is not, both of you can enter. That way, if either of you win, you both can get green cards.
Many of you have written asking whether undocumented immigrants can qualify for lottery green cards. That depends on whether you can interview here.
If you must interview at a U.S. Consul abroad, getting a lottery green card may be impossible. That is because individuals who entered the U.S. illegally or who overstayed and who have been here 180 days or more face a bar to permanent residence if they interview abroad.
Some undocumented immigrants can interview here; some cannot. To interview here based on having won the lottery, an undocumented person must have had a relative or employer file for him or her by April 30, 2001.
Some individuals here illegally can interview abroad without facing the “unlawful presence” bar to permanent residence. This exception applies to nonimmigrants that the government granted “Duration of Status” at entry.
If you are not sure about whether you qualify for a lottery green card, go ahead and enter. You need not pay a fee. If the State Department picks your name, you can then check with an expert to see whether you qualify.
Humanitarian visa candidate
Q. My cousin donated a kidney to me. She came here on a visitor’s visa, then overstayed. After all she has done for me, can she stay here on a humanitarian visa? I’d like to help her.
Name withheld, Brooklyn
A. The law doesn’t provide a general humanitarian visa. Individuals abroad can sometimes get humanitarian parole to come to the U.S., but once here, parole isn’t available. USCIS rules do provide for Deferred Action Status, which allows for an otherwise removable (deportable) person to remain in the U.S. Usually it is used as a last resort to prevent deportation.
It is very difficult to get. Your cousin would need to convince the local USCIS district director that she is unusually deserving. It may depend on her current health and whether she will need continuing medical care not available in her country. For your cousin to get Deferred Action Status, she would need to write to Andrea J. Quarantillo, District Director, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, 26 Federal Plaza, New York, N.Y. 10278.
Readers considering applying should first get expert advice. If the district director denies a request, the applicant could be deported.
News Note: USCIS announced last week that it was postponing plans to change the mailing address for form N-400, Application for Naturalization. Applicants should continue to send N-400 forms to their USCIS regional service center. For residents of New York and New Jersey, the address is Vermont Service Center, 75 Lower Welden St., St. Albans, VT 05479-9400.
Allan Wernick is a lawyer and director of the City University of New York Citizenship and Immigration Project. He is the author of “U.S. Immigration and Citizenship - Your Complete Guide, Revised 4th Edition.” Send questions and comments to Allan Wernick, Daily News, 450 West 33rd Street, New York, N.Y. 10001. Professor Wernick’s web site is www.allanwernick.com.
Allan Wernick’s Immigration column is reprinted from the Thursday, October 16 edition of the New York Daily News.
