Carl Shusterman: The chances of winning the lottery vary according to the continent in which you were born, your country of chargeability, and how many other people apply for the lottery from your region or area. For example, approximately 80% of the lottery winners will be persons who were born in Europe or Africa. Persons who were born in Asia or Central and South America have a much smaller chance of being chosen. In addition, no country can have more than 3500 people immigrate through the visa lottery within a given year. This means that if you are chosen as a "winner," this does not necessarily mean that you will achieve permanent residence. For example, if the State Department chooses 5,000 "winners" from your country, you must be among the first 3500 to immigrate. If you and your spouse are born in different countries, you may wish to choose the country where you would have the best chance of immigrating through the lottery. If you were born in Japan, and your wife was born in France, you can both apply for the lottery under the French quota and increase your chances of obtaining permanent residence dramatically.

Question #7: I am on an F1, recently married a LPR, who will not be eligible soon for naturalization. When I submit my DV 2005 application, do I need to answer to the question there "married" and that will automatically take me to the screen where I should fill in my wife info (which she does not need being a LPR)? Should I rather put "unmarried" so that only my info is submitted? And wouldn't that be considered a "misrepresentation" if I win and then have to adjust status?

Carl Shusterman: Since you are married, you must list yourself as married.

Question #8: I am on H1b visa and my wife is on H4 can we apply two different applications?

Carl Shusterman: Yes

Question #9: If I am the citizen of England, but I was born in New Zealand, can I apply?

Carl Shusterman: Only your country of birth is relevant, not your country of citizenship. Therefore, you must apply as a person born in New Zealand.

Question #10: Do we get a receipt when we file online? How can we know they got it?

Carl Shusterman: You will receive an online confirmation message which you may wish to print out and keep in a file.

Question #11: If someone is indeed from an eligible country, is there any other restriction against winning?

Carl Shusterman: There are a number of restrictions against winning, so I will only mention two of the most prominent.

First, the photo requirements are very exacting. If you submit a photograph which is the wrong number of pixels in height or width, does not have the right type of background, shows your head in the wrong position, your eyes are covered by sunglasses, your head is covered by a hat or a scarf, etc. etc., your application may be disqualified. Fortunately, the State Department's online application contains an interesting feature called the "Photo Check Response" which lets you know whether the photograph that you submit is of the proper size and in the proper format (all photos must be jpgs).

Second, a person may only submit one application for the visa lottery. If they submit multiple applications, they will be disqualified.

Question #12: Does the system check my answers to see if I made any mistakes or anything? I am a non-resident alien and I use the tax software which does this very well.

Carl Shusterman: Other than the requirements for photographs, the system has no idea whether the information that you include on the online form is accurate, so be careful!

Question #13: I intend to enter the DV2005. My question is: if I win, then marry my boyfriend who has been here illegally for 15 years, will he be able to apply at the same time like me? if this is possible, will he have to apply in his country of origin or that could be done in my country?

Carl Shusterman: Generally, if a person marries after winning the lottery, or has a child after winning the lottery, the spouse or child is also considered a lottery winner if the person who applies wins the lottery. However, if the person is not eligible for adjustment of status or an immigrant visa winning the lottery does not make them eligible. Most long-time illegals would not be eligible to adjust status and may be subject to the 3 or 10 year bars if they leave the United States in order to immigrate through the lottery. I recommend that you consult with an experienced immigration attorney regarding your boyfriend's dilemma.

Question #14: Do I have to put the name of my 7 months of old daughter in dependents list for applying to the DV lottery?

Carl Shusterman: You must list all unmarried children who are not US citizens or lawful permanent residents on your application. These children may include biological children, adopted children, and step-children.

Jennifer Wipf: It looks like we covered the big issues as many of you had the same or similar questions about the green card lottery this year and the application process. With that said, I will let Carl wrap up.

Carl Shusterman: I'd like to thank everyone who participated in this chat for their excellent questions. As we have discussed, applying for the DV-2005 lottery is neither complex nor expensive. There is no need to hire a consultant or an attorney simply to enter the lottery. You can read the instructions and apply online by going to http://shusterman.com/toc-lottery.html. However, if you are chosen as a lottery winner, it may be advisable to hire an experienced immigration attorney. Of the more than 100,000 people who are notified by the State Department that they are "winners", only 50,000 of these actually become permanent residents.

Good night and good luck to everyone!

Jennifer Wipf: Thank you Carl. Good night. Everyone, I'm turning moderation off now, if you want to chat amongst yourselves.

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