[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 22, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 22CFR42.33]

[Page 228-231]
 
                       TITLE 22--FOREIGN RELATIONS
 
                     CHAPTER I--DEPARTMENT OF STATE
 
PART 42_VISAS: DOCUMENTATION OF IMMIGRANTS UNDER THE IMMIGRATION AND 
NATIONALITY ACT, AS AMENDED--Table of Contents
 
          Subpart D_Immigrants Subject to Numerical Limitations
 
Sec. 42.33  Diversity immigrants.

    (a) General--(1) Eligibility to compete for consideration under 
section 203(c). An alien will be eligible to compete for consideration 
for visa issuance under INA 203(c) during a fiscal year only if he or 
she is a native of a low-admission foreign state, as determined by the 
Secretary of Homeland Security pursuant to INA 203(c)(1)(E), with 
respect to the fiscal year in question; and if he or she has at least a 
high school education or its equivalent or, within the five years 
preceding the date of application for a visa, has two years of work 
experience in an occupation requiring at least two years training or 
experience. The eligibility for a visa under INA 203(c) ceases at the 
end of the fiscal year in question. Under no circumstances may a 
consular officer issue a visa or other documentation to an alien after 
the end of the fiscal year during which an alien possesses diversity 
visa eligibility.
    (2) Definition of high school education or its equivalent. For the 
purposes of this section, the phrase high school education or its 
equivalent means the 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.
    (3) Determinations of work experience. For all cases registered for 
the 2003 Diversity Visa Program and Diversity

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Visa Programs occurring in subsequent fiscal years, consular officers 
must use the Department of Labor's O*Net On Line to determine qualifying 
work experience.
    (4) Limitation on number of petitions per year. No more than one 
petition may be submitted by or on behalf of, any alien for 
consideration during any single fiscal year. If two or more petitions 
for any single fiscal year are submitted by, or on behalf of, any alien, 
all such petitions will be void pursuant to INA 204(a)(1)(I)(i) and the 
alien by or for whom the petition has been submitted will not be 
eligible for consideration for diversity visa issuance during the fiscal 
year in question.
    (5) Northern Ireland. For purposes of determining eligibility to 
file a petition for consideration under INA 203(c) for a fiscal year, 
the districts comprising that portion of the United Kingdom of Great 
Britain and Northern Ireland, known as ``Northern Ireland'', will be 
treated as a separate foreign state. The districts comprising ``Northern 
Ireland'' are Antrim, Ards, Armagh, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge, 
Belfast, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon, 
Down, Dungannon, Fermanagh, Larne, Limavady, Lisburn, Londonderry, 
Magherafelt, Moyle, Newry and Mourne, Newtownabbey, North Down, Omagh, 
and Strabane.
    (b) Petition requirement. An alien claiming to be entitled to 
compete for consideration under INA 203(c) must file a petition with the 
Department of State for such consideration. At the alien petitioner's 
request, another person may file a petition on behalf of the alien. The 
petition will consist of an electronic entry form that the alien 
petitioner or a person acting on the behalf of the alien petitioner must 
complete on-line and submit to the Department of State via a Web site 
established by the Department of State for the purpose of receiving such 
petitions. The Department will specify the address of the Web site prior 
to the commencement of the 30-day or greater period described in 
paragraph (b)(3) of this section using the notice procedure prescribed 
in that paragraph.
    (1) Information to be provided in the petition. The website will 
include the electronic entry form mentioned in paragraph (b) of this 
section. The entry form will require the person completing the form to 
provide the following information, typed in the Roman alphabet, 
regarding the alien petitioner:
    (i) The petitioner's full name;
    (ii) The petitioner's date and place of birth (including city and 
country, province or other political subdivision of the country);
    (iii) The petitioner's gender;
    (iv) The country of which the petitioner claims to be a native, if 
other than the country of birth;
    (v) The name[s], date[s] and place[s] of birth and gender of the 
petitioner's spouse and child[ren], if any, (including legally adopted 
and step-children), regardless of whether or not they are living with 
the petitioner or intend to accompany or follow to join the petitioner 
should the petitioner immigrate to the United States pursuant to INA 
203(c), but excluding a spouse or a child[ren] who is already a U.S. 
citizen or U.S. lawful permanent resident;
    (vi) A current mailing address for the petitioner;
    (vii) The location of the consular office nearest to the 
petitioner's current residence or, if in the United States, nearest to 
the petitioner's last foreign residence prior to entry into the United 
States;
    (2) Requirements for photographs. The electronic entry form will 
also require inclusion of a recent photograph of the petitioner and of 
his or her spouse and all unmarried children under the age of 21 years. 
The photographs must meet the following specifications:
    (i) A digital image of the applicant from either a digital camera 
source or a scanned photograph via scanner. If scanned, the original 
photographic print must have been 2[sec] by 2[sec] (50mm x 50mm). 
Scanner hardware and digital image resolution requirements will be 
further specified in the public notice described in paragraph (b)(3) of 
this section.
    (ii) The image must be in the Joint Photographic Experts Group 
(JPEG) File Interchange Format (JFIF) format.
    (iii) The image can be either in color or black and white.

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    (iv) The person being photographed must be directly facing the 
camera with the head neither tilted up, down, or to the side. The head 
must cover about 50% of the area of the photograph.
    (v) The photograph must be taken with the person in front of a 
neutral, light-colored background. Photos taken with very dark or 
patterned, busy backgrounds will not be accepted.
    (vi) The person's face must be in focus.
    (vii) The person in the photograph must not wear sunglasses or other 
paraphernalia that detracts from the face.
    (viii) A photograph with the person wearing a head covering or a hat 
is only acceptable if the covering or hat is worn specifically due to 
that person's religious beliefs, and even then, the hat or covering may 
not obscure any portion of the face. A photograph of a person wearing 
tribal, military, airline or other headgear not specifically religious 
in nature will not be accepted.
    (3) Submission of petition. A petition for consideration for visa 
issuance under INA 203(c) must be submitted to the Department of State 
by electronic entry to an Internet website designated by the Department 
for that purpose. No fee will be collected at the time of submission of 
a petition, but a processing fee may be collected at a later date, as 
provided in paragraph (i) of this section. The Department will establish 
a period of not less than thirty days during each fiscal year within 
which aliens may submit petitions for approval of eligibility to apply 
for visa issuance during the following fiscal year. Each fiscal year the 
Department will give timely notice of both the website address and the 
exact dates of the petition submission period, as well as other 
pertinent information, through publication in the Federal Register and 
such other methods as will ensure the widest possible dissemination of 
the information, both abroad and within the United States.
    (c) Processing of petitions. Entries received during the petition 
submission period established for the fiscal year in question and 
meeting all of the requirements of paragraph (b) of this section will be 
assigned a number in a separate numerical sequence established for each 
regional area specified in INA 203(c)(1)(F). Upon completion of the 
numbering of all petitions, all numbers assigned for each region will be 
separately rank-ordered at random by a computer using standard computer 
software for that purpose. The Department will then select in the rank 
orders determined by the computer program a quantity of petitions for 
each region estimated to be sufficient to ensure, to the extent 
possible, usage of all immigrant visas authorized under INA 203(c) for 
the fiscal year in question. The Department will consider petitions 
selected in this manner to have been approved for the purposes of this 
section.
    (d) Validity of approved petitions. A petition approved pursuant to 
paragraph (c) of this section will be valid for a period not to exceed 
Midnight of the last day of the fiscal year for which the petition was 
approved. At that time, the Department of State will consider approval 
of the petition to cease to be valid pursuant to INA 
204(a)(1)(I)(ii)(II), which prohibits issuance of visas based upon 
petitions submitted and approved for a fiscal year after the last day of 
that fiscal year.
    (e) Order of consideration. Consideration for visa issuance to 
aliens whose petitions have been approved pursuant to paragraph (c) of 
this section will be in the regional rank orders established pursuant 
that paragraph.
    (f) Allocation of visa numbers. To the extent possible, diversity 
immigrant visa numbers will be allocated in accordance with INA 
203(c)(1)(E) and will be allotted only during the fiscal year for which 
a petition to accord diversity immigrant status was submitted and 
approved. Under no circumstances will immigrant visa numbers be allotted 
after midnight of the last day of the fiscal year for which the petition 
was submitted and approved.
    (g) Further processing. The Department will inform applicants whose 
petitions have been approved pursuant to paragraph (c) of this section 
of the steps necessary to meet the requirements of INA 222(b) in order 
to apply formally for an immigrant visa.
    (h) Maintenance of certain information. (1) The Department will 
compile and

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maintain the following information concerning petitioners to whom 
immigrant visas are issued under INA 203(c):
    (i) Age;
    (ii) Country of birth;
    (iii) Marital status;
    (iv) Sex;
    (v) Level of education; and
    (vi) Occupation and level of occupational qualification.
    (2) The Department will not maintain the names of visa recipients in 
connection with this information and the information will be compiled 
and maintained in such form that the identity of visa recipients cannot 
be determined therefrom.
    (i) Processing fee. In addition to collecting the immigrant visa 
application fee and, if applicable, issuance fees, as provided in 
Sec. 42.71(b) of this part, the consular officer must also collect from 
each applicant for a visa under the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program 
such processing fee as the Secretary of State prescribes.

[68 FR 49355, Aug. 18, 2003]