INS ADVISES ON DV-1 ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS
Gregory Siskind
explaining procedures for adjusting status. Up to this point, the process for
lottery winners has been extremely confusing largely because the INS and the
State Department have failed to establish clear, understandable directions for
both its own workers and the DV-1 winners. I hope winners of the lottery find
this information helpful.
Sincerely,
Gregory Siskind
Siskind and Susser
110 30th Avenue North, Suite 1
Nashville, Tennessee 37203
615/320-9109
615/320-5681 (fax)
Email: GSis...@telalink.net
WWW Home Page: http://www.telalink.net/siskind/
INS Cable on Adjustment of Status for FY95 DV-1 Aliens
The Diversity (DV-1) program is the new permanent immigrant visa
lottery under section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(the Act). FY 95 DV-1 "winners" and their derivative family
members may apply for adjustment of status or immigrant visa
issuance beginning October 1, 1994. Many of these aliens are in
the United States and will be applying for adjustment of status
under section 245 of the Act. These applicants may, if they
entered without inspection and/or cannot meet the requirements of
section 245(c) of the Act, also use the adjustment of status
benefits of the new section 245(i) of the Act.
Although the DV-1 lottery program is permanent, immigrant visa
numbers are available to the "winners" and their derivative family
members only during the fiscal year for which the principal has
"won." The Department of State (DOS) recently notified a large
number of aliens that they are "winners." The number of persons
notified is much greater than the 55,000 immigrant visa numbers
available during the fiscal year. Immigrant visa number cut-offs
will most likely be established early in calendar year 1995, and
some aliens who received selection notices may be unable to adjust
status or be issued an immigrant visa under the program. Visa
number cut-offs, if they occur, will be published in the "visa
Bulletin."
Offices should, therefore, process these cases promptly. In many
offices, it will be necessary to establish special procedures to
ensure that these cases are processed to conclusion as soon as
possible and before the end of FY 95. Waiver requests and Forms I-
824 for derivative family members abroad may also require special
handling.
The attachment to this memorandum outlines procedures for
acceptance and processing applications for adjustment of status of
DV-1 principals and their family members.
James A. Puleo
Executive Associate Commissioner
Attachment
1. FY 1995 DV-1 PROGRAM - SIGNIFICANT CHANGES
Some DV-1 program requirements and procedures differ from those
under the AA-1 and earlier immigrant visa lottery programs.
Significant differences include:
- The list of participating countries (selected according to a
formal contained in section 203(c) of the Act) may change from
year to year;
- Applications received by DOS during June 1994 were assigned to
one of six geographical regions of the world, and the FY 95
"winners" were chosen at random from each region's applicant
pool;
- DV-1 principals and their derivative family members are
subject to regional and to per country visa number
limitations, in addition to the overall 55,000 limitation;
- DV-1 principals must prove that they have the statutorily
required education or employment experience when they apply
for adjustment of status or immigrant visa issuance;
- DV-1 principals and their derivative family members ar not
required to have a specific job offer or prearranged
employment, although they, like other adjustment or immigrant
visa applicants, must show that they are not likely to become
public charge in the United States;
- No waivers of excludability have been provided for DV-1
aliens, although they are not precluded from applying for any
waiver for which they qualify;
- DV-1 aliens who apply for adjustment of status are not
required to pay a registration or other fee to DOS;
- Applications for registration are restricted to one per
registrant per application period (multiple applications will
disqualify the applicant, although the principal and family
members may each have filed separate applications and
applicants may apply again next year).
2. NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE
"Winners" were recently notified by mail of their selection for the
program. The National Visa Center (NVC) sent each principal a
package of forms, which included a cover letter showing the
principal's case rank number (priority date).
"Winners" who will adjust status should return to NVC the form
which advises NVC of their intention to adjust as well as
information on derivative family members residing abroad. Nothing
else needs to be returned to NVC by a winner who will be adjusting;
however, if he or she has derivative family members abroad, any
forms received from NVC should be forwarded to those family members
for completion and return with required documents to NVC.
3. ACCEPTANCE OF DV-1 ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS APPLICATIONS
FY 95 DV-1 "winners" and their derivative family members who are in
the United States may apply for adjustment of status under section
245 of the Act. DV-1 adjustment applicants who entered without
inspection and/or who are described in section 245(c) of the Act
may adjust status under the new adjustment provisions of section
245 (i) of the Act. Those filing under section 245(i) must
complete Supplement A to Form I-485 (Supplement A) and must pay the
additional sum, if required.
Visas under the program are numerically limited by geographical
region and by country. The principals' case rank order number
(priority date) must be current and a DV-1 visa number immediately
available when the DV-1 applicant files for adjustment of status
and when the adjustment is granted.
DV=-1 adjustment applicants must submit the I-485 application form,
the I-485 supporting documents, the basic adjustment of status
filing fee, and also provide:
A. Supplement A and any required additional sum, if applying
under section 245(i) of the Act;
B. a copy of the principal's Fy-95 DV-1 selection notice
showing a current DV-1 case rank number;
C. evidence that the principal has the required education or
job experience (not required for derivative family
members);
- Derivative spouses and children are not required to meet the
education or employment experience requirements
- There is no minimum age for principal applicants, although the
education or work experience requirements effectively
disqualifies most principals who are less than 18 years old.
- Persons who applied for registration under other lottery
programs will not be awarded FY 95 DV-1 visa numbers unless
they applied for and are "winners" under the FY 95 DV-1
program.
- If the DV-1 alien claims to have lost the cover letter showing
the principal's case rank number, he or she should be
instructed to request a duplicate by calling NVC at: (603)
334-0700. INS does not have a list of the "winners" at this
time and does not know when the list will be available.
4. CASH RANK ORDER NUMBER (PRIORITY DATE)
The principal's case rank order number will be shown on the
principal's notice of selection. The case rank order number will
begin with two letters corresponding to the principal's region of
chargeability: AS (Asia); EU (Europe); NA (North America); OC
(Oceana); or SA (South America). The two letters will be followed
by five digits.
"AS 00005," for example, would be the case rank order number of the
fifth "winner" chosen from the Asian region. The most favorable
number in any region is: 00001. There will be a "0001" for each
geographical region; therefore, both the letters and the digits
must be shown on the Form I-181 and reported to DOS when requesting
immigrant visa number issuance.
5. EDUCATION OR EMPLOYMENT EXPERIENCE
Each DV-1 principal must show that he or she has at least a high
school education or its equivalent or, within the five years
preceding the date of application for adjustment of status, has two
years of work experience in an occupation requiring at least two
years training or experience. Although all applicants were
notified that they must be able to meet these requirements when
applying for adjustment of status or immigrant visa issuance
abroad, DOS has not pre-screened applicants. Principals who cannot
meet these requirements do not qualify for DV-1 adjustment of
status. Failure to qualify will necessitate denial of the
principal's adjustment application and the adjustment applications
of any DV-1 derivative family members.
EDUCATION
High school education or its equivalent means successful completion
of a twelve-year course of elementary and secondary education in
the United States or successful completion in another country of a
formal course of elementary and secondary education comparable to
completion of twelve years' elementary and secondary education in
the United States. Passage of the "G.D.E." (General Educational
Development) test or its foreign counterparts will not meet this
requirement.
Primary documentation would be a certification of completion, such
as a high school diploma. School transcripts may also be used for
this purpose. In general, any documentation on this point will be
acceptable, provided that it was issued by the person or
organization responsible for maintaining such records and describes
with specificity the course of study completed.
Adjudicators may also accept college or university diplomas or
transcripts, unless the adjudicator suspects that the applicant did
not successfully complete a formal course of study comparable to
twelve year's elementary and secondary education in the United
States. (For example, an "honorary" college degree or one based
solely on work experience would not be evidence of completion of a
formal course of elementary and secondary education.)
WORK EXPERIENCE
DV-1 principals who meet the DV-1 educational requirements do not
need to have any specific type of work experience.
The two years of qualifying work experience must have occurred
within the five year immediately preceding the date the adjustment
application was filed. The qualifying work experience must be in
an occupation that requires at least two years of work experience
or training.
The most recent edition of the Dictionary of Occupational Titles
(DOT) published by the Employment and Training Administration
United States Department of Labor, shall be controlling in
determining whether a particular occupation is one "which requires
at least 2 years of training or experience" as provided in section
203(c) of the Act.
An SVP (Specific Vocational Preparation) of seven will be required.
The SVP is the amount of lapsed time required by a typical worker
to learn the techniques, acquire the information, and develop the
facility needed for average performance in a specific job-worker
situation. The DOT lists the SVP number for each type of
occupation reported. The DV-1 applicant does not need to have
spent time in formal training courses; two or more years of
employment in an occupation with an SVP rating of seven or more
will be sufficient.
If the occupation is of such recent vintage (because of
technological change) that it is not listed in the most recent
edition of the DOT, documentation submitted by the applicant
concerning whether the occupation requires two years of training or
experience may be considered.
6. PROCESSING ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS APPLICATIONS
The applicant's priority date must be current when the application
is approved. State Department authorization for visa number
allocation must be obtained before any FY DV-1 adjustment of status
application can be approved.
All FY-95 cases must be completed before October 1, 1995. Visa
numbers are now current for the DV-1 category; however, there is no
assurance that they will continue to be current, especially in the
latter months of FY-95. These cases should, therefore, be
scheduled and completed as soon as possible. Where necessary,
offices should expedite adjustment of status interview scheduling,
application processing, waiver application processing, and Form I-
824 processing for DV-1 principals and dependents.
Adjustment of status codes are:
DV6 - Principal Diversity Transition Alien
DV7 - Spouse of DV6 or DV!
DV8 - Child of DV6 or DV1
7. DUPLICATE REGISTRATION
FY-95 applicants will be disqualified if they have submitted more
than one application for registration per individual. (Please note
that a husband, wife, and minor children may each have submitted an
application without being subject to disqualification.) In any
case where the INS officer has evidence or good reason to believe
that more than one application for registration was submitted for
any one winner, do not take final action on the adjustment of
status application and contact Rita Arthur, HQADN at (202) 514-
5014.
8. WAIVERS
DV-1 "winners" and derivative family members may apply for any
immigrant waiver for which they are able to establish eligibility.
No additional waivers have been provided for "winners" of the DV-1
visa lottery.
9. DERIVATIVE FAMILY MEMBERS AND FORM i-824 PROCESSING
Derivative family members who will be adjusting status or applying
for immigrant visa issuance abroad must meet the requirements of
section 203(d) of the Act.
The DV-1 principal's family members who will be following-to-join
the principal must adjust status or be issued immigrant visas while
the principal's case rank number (priority date) is current and
before the end of FY 1995. Delays in notifying DOS of the
principal's adjustment may result in the family members being
unable to immigrate.
In order to expedite processing for these family members, the
Service has agreed to fax copies of the principal's Form I-181
(completed in accordance with OI 245.7) to NVC. The NVC fax number
is (603) 334-0759. This fax must be sent as soon as the adjustment
is completed.
If the principal notifies the Service after adjustment that family
members will apply for derivative immigrant visa issuance abroad,
the Form I-824 processing should be completed as soon as possible.
The copy of the principal's Form I-181 (completed in accordance
with OI 245.7) must be faxed to NVC as soon as the Form I-824
processing has been completed.
10. FURTHER INFORMATION
A copy of the Department of State's final rule implementing the DV-
1 program and the Public Notice published in the Federal Register
on March 31, 1994, at 59 FR 15298-15306 is attached for your
reference.
Questions may be directed, through proper channels, to HQADN,
attention Rita Arthur.