From: mtaghavi@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Amir Taghavi)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.iranian
Subject: THE AA-1 IMMIGRANT VISA "LOTTERY" PROGRAM
Date: 19 Aug 92 06:24:37 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: The Ohio State University

I found this article in one of the news group. I thought it would
be interested for some you. I am just reposting it.

Amir


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REGISTRATION FOR THE SECOND YEAR OF THE AA-1 IMMIGRANT VISA PROGRAM

Information on the Application Procedure for the 40,000
Immigrant Visas to be Made Available in the AA-1 Category During
Fiscal Year 1993


THE AA-1 IMMIGRANT VISA "LOTTERY" PROGRAM:

Section 132 of the Immigration Act of 1990 provides 40,000
immigrant visas for each of fiscal years 1992, 1993, and 1994 to
natives of the countries and areas from which immigration was
previously identified as having been "adversely affected" by the
1965 immigration legislation.  This program is identified by the
visa symbol AA-1, and is informally known as the "visa lottery".
The law specifies that THERE MUST BE A SEPARATE REGISTRATION FOR
EACH YEAR'S AA-1 VISAS.  The application period for the first
year's visas was completed during 1991, and those visas are
being issued until September 1992.  This information concerns
the application period during 1992 are visas to be issued during
fiscal year 1993, the second year of the program.


WHO QUALIFIES FOR REGISTRATION UNDER THE AA-1 PROGRAM?

Natives (as that term is explained in question 1 on page 3) of
the following countries and areas are entitled to apply for AA-1
visas:

ALBANIA          FINLAND            HUNGARY         LUXEMBOURG
ALGERIA          FRANCE             ICELAND         MONACO
ARGENTINA        GUADALUPE          INDONESIA       NETHERLANDS
AUSTRIA          NEW CALEDONIA      IRELAND         NORWAY
BELGIUM          GERMANY            ITALY           POLAND
CANADA           GREAT BRITAIN      JAPAN           SAN MARINO
CZECHOSLOVAKIA   NORTHERN IRELAND   LATVIA          SWEDEN
DENMARK          BERMUDA            LIECHTENSTEIN   SWITZERLAND
ESTONIA          GIBRALTAR          LITHUANIA       TUNISIA


HOW AND WHEN WILL APPLICATIONS FOR AA-1 STATUS BE ACCEPTED?

The application period for registration for the visas to be
issued during Fiscal Year 1993 (i.e., from October 1992 through
September 1993) WILL BEGIN AT 12:01 A.M. (Washington, DC time)
ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 1992, AND WILL END AT 12:00 P.M.
(MIDNIGHT) ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 1992.  APPLICATIONS MUST BE
MAILED TO THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS:

      AA-1 PROGRAM
      P.O. BOX 1993
      DULLES, VA  21301-1993
      U.S.A.

TYPED OR CLEARLY PRINTED at the UPPER LEFT HAND CORNER OF THE
FRONT OF THE ENVELOPES must be the applicant's NATIVE COUNTRY OR
AREA (from the list above).  BELOW the country must be the NAME
AND MAILING ADDRESS OF THE APPLICANT as they are shown on the
application.  EXAMPLE:

      NORTHERN IRELAND
      George Q. Public
      1234 Any Street, Apt. 5
      Center City, NJ  10001

ONLY ONE APPLICATION MAY BE SUBMITTED BY OR FOR EACH APPLICANT
DURING THIS REGISTRATION PERIOD.  (SUBMISSION OF MORE THAN ONE
APPLICATION WILL DISQUALIFY THE PERSON FROM REGISTRATION.)
APPLICATIONS FOR REGISTRATION WILL BE SELECTED STRICTLY IN A
RANDOM ORDER FROM AMONG ALL OF THOSE RECEIVED DURING THE
SPECIFIED PERIOD.

Applications must be sent to the address above by regular mail
or air mail, and may be mailed from within the United States or
from abroad.  Any mail requiring signed receipt such as
registered mail, hand- delivered applications, telegrams, or
applications sent by courier or any other means will NOT be
eligible for the visa lottery.  Applications received at the
post office box before or after the application period or
delivered to any other address will NOT be considered for
registration.  ONLY ONE APPLICATION MAY BE INCLUDED IN EACH
ENVELOPE.

SIZE OF ENVELOPE.  The envelope in which each application is
mailed MUST BE BETWEEN 6 inches and 9 1/2 inches (15 cm to 24
cm) IN LENGTH, and BETWEEN 3 1/2 inches and 4 1/2 inches (9 cm
to 11 cm) IN WIDTH.  This is necessary to assist the automated
processing of the mail.


WHAT INFORMATION MUST BE INCLUDED ON THE APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION?

THERE IS NO SPECIAL APPLICATION FORM; THE REQUEST FOR
REGISTRATION MAY SIMPLY BE A SHEET OF PAPER which provides the
necessary information TYPED OR CLEARLY PRINTED (in the Roman
alphabet) in the following format:

      A.  APPLICANT'S FULL NAME
Last Name, First Name and Middle Name.  (Underline Last
Name/Surname/Family Name) Example: Public, George Quincy

      B.  APPLICANT'S DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH
Date of birth: Day, Month, Year.  Example: 15 November 1961
Place of birth: City/Town, District/County/Province, Country.
Example: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

      C.  NAME, DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH OF APPLICANT'S SPOUSE
          AND CHILDREN, IF ANY.
The spouse and child(ren) of an applicant who is registered for
AA-1 status are automatically entitled to the same status.  The
spouse or child does NOT need to be born in one of the countries
listed above.  To obtain a visa on the basis of this derivative
status, a child must be under 21 years of age and unmarried.
NOTE: Do NOT list parents as they are not entitled to derivative
status.

      D.  APPLICANT'S MAILING ADDRESS
The mailing address must be clear and complete, since it will be
to that address that the notification letter for the persons who
are registered will be sent.  A telephone number is optional.

      E.  UNITED STATES CONSULAR OFFICE TO WHICH VISA
          REGISTRATION SHOULD BE SENT.
Ordinarily, this will be the immigrant visa issuing consular
office nearest the applicant's place of residence.  If the
applicant is in the United States, indicate the immigrant visa
issuing office in the country of last previous residence outside
the U.S.  If the applicant does not know which U.S. consulates
issue immigrant visas, list the city and country of the
applicant's current residence abroad, or the city and country of
last previous residence outside the U.S., and the processing
center will identify the proper immigrant visa issuing consular
office where the visa registration will be sent for processing.

Persons who claim ALTERNATE FOREIGN STATE CHARGEABILITY should
also include a statement to that effect on the application.
(See question No. 1 on page 3.)

ONLY ONE APPLICATION MAY BE SUBMITTED FOR EACH APPLICANT FOR
REGISTRATION APART FROM WHAT IS SPECIFIED ABOVE.  IT IS NOT
NECESSARY TO INCLUDE AN OFFER OF EMPLOYMENT WITH A REGISTRATION
REQUEST.  (Applicants who are REGISTERED for AA-1 status will
need to present an offer of employment in the U.S. at the time
of formal visa interview.  See question 8 on page 3 for more
information on this point.)  THERE IS NO FEE FOR SUBMISSION OF
AN AA-1 REGISTRATION REQUEST.  A SIGNATURE IS NOT REQUIRED ON
THE APPLICATION.


FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE AA-1 REGISTRATION

1.    HOW IS THE TERM "NATIVE" DEFINED?  ARE THERE ANY BASES
      UPON WHICH PERSONS WHO HAVE NOT BEEN BORN IN A QUALIFYING
      COUNTRY MAY QUALIFY FOR REGISTRATION?

      Native means BOTH someone born within one of the countries
listed above AND someone entitled to be "charged" to such
country under the provisions of Section 202(b) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act.  An applicant for AA-1
registration may be charged to the country of birth of a spouse;
a child can be charged to the country of birth of a parent; and
an applicant born in a country of which neither parent was a
native or a resident at the time of his/her birth may be charged
to the country of birth of either parent.  An applicant who
claims the benefit of alternate chargeability must include a
statement to that effect on the application for registration,
and must show the country of chargeability on the upper left
hand corner of the envelope in which the registration request is
mailed.

2.    CAN NATIVES OF CANADA APPLY FOR AA-1 REGISTRATION?
      Yes, for this and the next registration period, natives of
Canada are entitled to apply for registration for AA-1 visas.

3.    WHAT IF A PERSON'S BIRTH PLACE WAS IN AN "AA-1" COUNTRY AT
      THE TIME OF BIRTH, BUT DUE TO CHANGES IN BOUNDARIES IS NO
      LONGER WITHIN A QUALIFYING COUNTRY?
      For a person to be considered to have been born in a
qualifying country, the place of birth must be within the
boundaries currently recognized by the U.S.

4.    MAY PERSONS WHO ARE IN THE U.S. APPLY FOR REGISTRATION?
      Yes, an applicant may be in the U.S. or in another
country, and the application may be mailed in the U.S. or
abroad.

5.    IS EACH APPLICANT LIMITED TO ONLY ONE APPLICATION DURING
      THIS AA-1 REGISTRATION PERIOD?
      Yes, for this and for the next AA-1 registration, the law
allows only ONE application BY OR FOR each person; SUBMISSION OF
MORE THAN ONE APPLICATION WILL DISQUALIFY THE PERSON FROM
REGISTRATION.

6.    MAY A HUSBAND AND A WIFE EACH SUBMIT A SEPARATE APPLICATION?
      Yes, a husband and a wife may each submit one application
for registration; if either is registered, the other would be
entitled to derivative status.

7.    MUST EACH APPLICANT SUBMIT HIS/HER OWN REQUEST, OR MAY
      SOMEONE ACT ON BEHALF OF AN APPLICANT?
      Applicants may prepare and submit their own request for
registration, or have someone act on their behalf.  Regardless
of whether an application is submitted by the applicant
directly, or by a relative, friend, attorney, etc., ONLY ONE
APPLICATION MAY BE SUBMITTED IN THE NAME OF EACH PERSON.  There
is no requirement that an applicant sign the registration
request.  Only one notification letter will be sent for each
case registered, to the address on the application.

8.    WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR AN OFFER OF EMPLOYMENT IN THE
      UNITED STATES?
      An offer of employment should NOT be submitted as part of
the registration application.  Applicants who are successfully
registered for AA-1 status will need to present an employment
offer at the time of visa issuance.  Applicants must submit
evidence of a commitment for FULL-TIME employment in the U.S. at
the visa interview.  Two or more part-time jobs will meet this
requirements if, taken together, they constitute full-time
employment, as long as the applicant submits letters from each
employer supporting the job offer.  The offer may come from a
businesses or any other institution or organization in the
United States, or from a private individual.  Evidence of
existing self-employment in the United States CAN meet the offer
of employment requirement; a plan to create one's own business
in the future, even in the immediate future, would NOT qualify,
however.

9.    HOW WILL CASES BE REGISTERED?
      All mail received will be individually numbered.  After
the end of the application period, a computer will randomly
select cases from among all the mail received.  The first letter
randomly selected will be the first case registered, the second
letter selected the second registration, etc.  It makes no
difference whether an application is received early or late in
the application period.  When a case has been registered, the
applicant will immediately be sent a notification letter, which
will provide appropriate visa application instructions.  The
registration will at the same time be forwarded to the consular
office which will process the case; all subsequent visa
processing information will be obtained by the applicant
directly from that consular office.

10.   WILL APPLICANTS WHO ARE NOT REGISTERED BE INFORMED?
      No, applicants who are not registered will receive no
response to their registration request.  Only those who are
registered will be informed.  All notification letters are
expected to be sent within about three months of the end of the
application period.  Anyone who does NOT receive a letter will
know that his/her application has not been registered.

11.   HOW MANY APPLICANTS WILL BE REGISTERED?
      A total of about 50,000 persons, both principal applicants
and their spouses and children, will be registered.  Since it is
likely that some of the first 40,000 persons who are registered
will not pursue their cases to visa issuance, this larger figure
should ensure use of all AA-1 numbers, but it also risks some
registrants' being left out.  All applicants who are registered
will be informed promptly of their place on the list.  Each
month visas will be issued, according to registration lottery
rank order, to those applicants who are ready for visa issuance
during that month.  Once all of the fiscal year 1993 visas have
been issued, the program for the year will end.  (In the event
there are any numbers from the worldwide or Ireland 1992 AA-1
limits which are unused for visa issuance during that fiscal
year, such numbers will be added to the AA-1 limits for fiscal
year 1993.)  Registered applicants who wish to receive visas
must be prepared to ACT PROMPTLY on their cases.
      The law specifies that at least 40% (i.e., 16,000) of each
year's AA-1 visas are to be made available to natives of
Ireland.  Natives of Northern Ireland are entitled to benefit
from the 40% of the AA-1 numbers provided for Ireland.  So that
Northern Ireland natives are properly identified during
registration processing, they should show their area of birth as
NORTHERN IRELAND on their application and envelope.

12.   IS THERE A MINIMUM AGE FOR APPLICANTS FOR REGISTRATION
      UNDER THE AA-1 PROGRAM?
      There is NO minimum age for submission of an application
for registration, but the requirement of a firm commitment of
employment for each principal applicant at the time of visa
issuance will effectively disqualify anyone who is under the
legal working age.

13.   WILL THERE BE ANY SPECIAL FEE FOR REGISTRATION IN THE AA-1
      CATEGORY?
      There is NO FEE FOR SUBMITTING A REQUEST FOR REGISTRATION,
and NO FEE should be included with the letter sent to the post
office box indicated above.  There will be a special fee of
US$25.00 per case registered, however, to cover the cost of
processing the AA-1 registrations.  This fee will be collected
by the consular office to which the case is sent for processing,
when the applicant responds to the registration notification
letter.

14.   ARE AA-1 APPLICANTS SPECIALLY ENTITLED TO APPLY FOR A
      WAIVER OF ANY OF THE GROUNDS OF VISA INELIGIBILITY?
      The law states that, for AA-1 visa applicants, the
Immigration and Naturalization Service shall waive the ground of
visa ineligibility based on misrepresentation on an application
for a visa or for entry into the U.S. (INA 212(a)(6)(C)), unless
there is a finding that such waiver is not in the national
interest.  In addition, the law automatically waives the two
year foreign residence requirement on certain former exchange
visitor ("J") visa holders under INA 212(e).  Also, the
requirement for a labor certification (INA 212(a)(5)(A)) does
not apply.  In all other respects, persons registered under the
AA-1 program must meet the standard eligibility requirements
before a visa can be issued.

15.   MAY APPLICANTS WHO ARE ALREADY REGISTERED FOR AN IMMIGRANT
      VISA IN ANOTHER CATEGORY APPLY IN THIS REGISTRATION FOR
      THE AA-1 CATEGORY?
Yes, such persons may seek AA-1 status as well.

16.   HOW LONG DO APPLICANTS WHO ARE REGISTERED ON THE BASIS OF
      THIS APPLICATION PERIOD REMAIN ENTITLED TO APPLY FOR VISAS
      IN THE AA-1 CATEGORY?
      Under the law, persons registered following this AA-1
application period are entitled to apply for visa issuance ONLY
DURING FISCAL YEAR 1993, i.e., from October 1992 through
September 1993.  There is no carry-over of benefit into another
year for persons who are registered but who do not obtain visas
during FY-1993.  A separate application period must be held for
each year's AA-1 visas prior to the start of the respective
fiscal year.  There is no restriction on a person's applying for
AA-1 status during each of the three application periods.

      NOTE: THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO ADVANTAGE TO MAILING EARLY,
OR MAILING FROM ANY PARTICULAR LOCALE.  EVERY APPLICATION
RECEIVED DURING THE MAIL-IN PERIOD WILL HAVE AN EQUAL RANDOM
CHANCE OF BEING SELECTED.  HOWEVER MORE THAN ONE APPLICATION PER
PERSON WILL DISQUALIFY THE PERSON FROM REGISTRATION.
________________


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