DUSHANBE, December 20, Asia-Plus – More than 6.4 million people have applied for the Diversity Visa-2008 (DV-2008), according to the US Embassy in Dushanbe.
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.
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.
Africa accounts for 41 percent of all applications for DV-2008 sent by e-mail during a 60-day application, from 12:00 AM. on October 4, 2006, until midnight, December 3. Asia accounts for 38 percent of the applications, Europe for 19 percent, South and Central America and Caribbean region for 2 percent.
We will recall that applicants registered for the DV-2007 program were selected at random from over 5.5 million qualified entries received during the 60-day application period that ran from 12:00 AM on October 5, 2005, until midnight, December 4, 2005. Out of this number, and based on Tajikistan’s percentage of the eligible world population, 84 Tajik principle applicants were selected.
