The diversity lottery 2010 makes available 50,000 permanent resident (or GreenCard) visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. The 60-day application period started on October 2' 2008 and ends on noon December 1 2008. Approximately up to 10 million online applications are expected from six geographic regions with a maximum of seven percent available to persons born in any single country.

Countries excluded from DV-2010 lottery visas are -- Natives of the following Asian countries are not eligible for this year’s diversity program: China (mainland-born), India, Pakistan, South Korea, Philippines, and Vietnam. Hong Kong S.A.R and Taiwan do qualify and are listed above. Macau S.A.R. also qualifies and is listed below (Europe).

Once the applicants get a lottery visa then at the visa interview a proof of high school education and two years of work experience in the past five years are required for person to qualify and get a GC through DV program.

In DV-2009 lottery Bangladesh got 6,023 PR visas through DV lottery from Asia geographic region followed by Nepal 1,891 and with Iran taking 1,689 visas.

Make sure you access only http://www.travel.state.gov for DV-2010 online applications. As there has been instances of con artists creating fake websites as written on travel.state.gov website.

Labels: GreenCard, Immigration, lottery, United States, visas

Image via Wikipedia The Indo-US nuclear deal is approved by 45-nation NSG (Nuclear Suppliers Group). The Indian congress government led by Manmohan Singh won confidence vote that created political division in recent months in this US-Indo nuclear cooperation agreement though some political parties are still unhappy with the agreement.

Kanchan Gupta writes about H1-B visa holders and their reason for unhappiness with ongoing US-India nuclear deal. Gupta writes the civilian nuclear cooperation agreement will create thousands of Jobs which otherwise would have been opened for H1-B visa holders. Some India's middle class who prospered using these H1-B visa may not like these $$ paying jobs taken away from them.

Here is quote from Kanchan Gupta's Article :

Look at the way it has managed to foist on us a so-called 'civilian nuclear cooperation agreement' that will revive the moribund American nuclear power industry, create thousands of jobs (which will not be open to holders of H1B visa, so there's little reason for our middle-class to cheer the deal), give President George W Bush his only foreign policy 'success', and serve the purpose of forcing India into the non-proliferation regime without conceding its nuclear weapons capability.

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Labels: George W Bush, H1-B, Immigration, India, Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement, Manmohan Singh, NSG, Nuclear proliferation, Nuclear Suppliers Group, Nuclear weapon, visas