Pursue FY2005 Diversity Visa Case Now!

Fiscal Year (FY) 2005 will end September 30, 2005. This will be the last day for “winners” of the FY2005 Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery to obtain the “green card.” These individuals entered the DV 2005 lottery and received notification they were selected in late July 2004. [See our August 6, 2004 MurthyBulletin article, Diversity Lottery 2005 “Winner” Letters Issued, available on MurthyDotCom]. Eligible persons who have received winner letters, but have not already filed for their green cards, should do so now and request expedited processing based on the DV deadline date to obtain approval by September 30, 2005. It is important to prominently indicate that a case is a DV case. Failure to take advantage of the lottery win and acquire a green card before September 30, 2005, will allow the opportunity to be lost for this year with no guarantee of being selected again in a future year. The lottery requires the selected persons’ cases be approved before September 30 of each lottery year, or eligibility for that year ends for those winners.

Security Checks Can Cause Ineligibility

If security checks are not completed before September 30, 2005, then the green card cannot be approved and eligibility for the green card will be lost. If a DV case has been pending a security check, it is best to regularly inquire about the case with the concerned authorities to encourage clearance by providing all required information. While there is no guarantee that the security check will be completed in time, if it is simply stuck in the system this is more likely to be discovered if an inquiry is made now, rather than at the last minute in September.