Press Releases 2003

Poland Leads Europe in 2004 Visa Lottery Results

26 June 2003

More than 5,400 of the Diversity Visa Lottery registrants for 2004 come from Poland. That's almost five percent of all the registrants worldwide and the highest number of registrants for any European or Central Asian country.

Each year the Diversity Visa Lottery is conducted under the Immigration and Nationality Act and makes available 50,000 permanent resident visas to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the U.S. In the latest round, about 111,000 applicants have been notified that they may apply for an immigrant visa starting October 1, 2003, the beginning of fiscal year 2004. The Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky, selects more than twice as many winners as there are slots, because it's likely that some of the first 50,000 persons won't pursue their cases to the end, or will be disqualified. This process insures that all the slots are eventually filled.

5,467 of the winners for 2004 come from Poland. The European country with the second highest number is Ukraine with 4,494 winners. In the 2003 lottery, Ukraine was the biggest winner in Europe/Central Asia, with 4,035 registrants and Poland was second, with 3,855.

Applicants registered for the 2004 program were selected at random from the approximately 7.3 million qualified entries received between October 7 and November 6, 2002. During the visa interview, 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. Those selected will need to act on their immigrant visa applications quickly. Applicants and their dependents must receive their visas by September 30, 2004.

Only participants in the 2004 program who were selected for further processing have been notified. Those who have not received notification were not selected. They may try for the upcoming 2005 Visa Lottery if they wish.