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Music and Art at the Ukrainian Institute of America
Posted by The Lawyer on March 19, 2002 at 21:12:15:
In Reply to: Re: I need YOUR sound advice posted by Tatiana Durbak on March 17, 2002 at 14:58:25:
Hello there,
It is true that consular officers do not have any information regarding whether an individual submitted an application for the DV lottery. It is also correct that an individual applying for a visa should answer the questions truthfully.
However, the consular officers rarely ask the question about the applicant's DV entry orally. Rather, this information must appear in the nonimmigrant visa application form (the DOS Form OF-156) filled out by the applicants before a visa interview.
The form contains a direct question: "Have you or anyone acting for you ever indicated to a U.S. consular or immigration employee a desire to immigrate to the U.S." A new edition of this form also continues this sentence with "... or have you ever entered a U.S. visa lottery?"
Even if the U.S. Consulate in Kyiv still uses the old form, the submission of a DV application _IS_ an indication of a desire to immigrate, and the appropriate box in the Form OF-156 must be checked.
Therefore, the question about a previous DV application is not so inappropriate or immaterial as you may think, as the DOS explicitly states that it shows a desire to immigrate. The numerous DOS interpretations of the diversity lottery intent problem prove this point; the first of them appeared as early as in 1989.
Nevertheless, it is worth to note that even if the person admits that he or she submitted an entry, it would not ordinarily lead to visa refusal under the DOS regulations.
Those who reside in the CIS can consult for further reference "USA: Legal Regulation of the Immigration Process" by Ivanov (Moscow, 1998) and "The U.S. Immigration Lotteries and the Immigration Process" by Demchenko (Lviv, 2000.)