Dear Clients and Friends:

Welcome to the October, 2024 Immigration Update from The Shpigler Law Firm, LLC.  We try to include information that will help you learn something new and useful as a participant in the United States immigration system. As always, we look forward to working with you on your immigration matters. Feel free to give us a call, send us an email, or text us if you need assistance or have a question about your case. You can also make an appointment online at our website, https://www.shpigler.net/

The online registration period for the Diversity Visa (DV) Immigrant Visa Program, better known as the "visa lottery," for fiscal year 2026 began on Wednesday, October 2, 2024 and will conclude on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. Here is a brief summary of what you need to know for this year's lottery.

What Is the Diversity Visa Lottery?

Officially known as the “Diversity Immigrant Visa Program,” the Diversity Visa lottery was designed to increase immigration opportunities for individuals from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the U.S. Every year, lottery winners (“selectees”) are drawn randomly from the pool of eligible applicants. The program is administered by the U.S. Department of State, which sets regional quotas every year based on how many immigrants from a region have come to the U.S. in recent years. These quotas and the countries from which selectees are drawn change over time, and no single country can receive more than 7% of available Diversity Visas in any given year.

Who Is Eligible to Enter Diversity Visa Lottery 2026?

If you want to enter the DV lottery, you must meet two main requirements. First, you must generally be from a country whose natives are eligible for the DV-2026 lottery period. There are exceptions for people who are from ineligible countries but whose spouses or parents are from eligible countries. For DV-2026, immigrants from the following countries are ineligible based on recent immigration patterns:

Bangladesh • Brazil • Canada • The People’s Republic of China (including mainland and Hong Kong-born) • Colombia • Cuba • Dominican Republic • El Salvador • Haiti • Honduras • India • Jamaica • Mexico • Nigeria • Pakistan • Philippines • Republic of Korea (South Korea) • Venezuela • Vietnam

• Natives of Macau SAR and Taiwan are eligible.

Second, you must meet the education/work experience requirements to enter the DV lottery. You must have either:

• A high school education or its equivalent; OR

• Two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation requiring a minimum of two years of experience or training.

How to Apply for the DV Lottery

There is no cost to enter the DV lottery. The application – Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form (E-DV Entry Form or DS-5501) – must be submitted online here. The Department of State does not accept incomplete applications, multiple applications, or applications by mail.

You should follow the instructions carefully. The Department of State has posted those instructions on its Diversity Visa webpage, which you can find here. If you have questions, you should talk to an experienced immigration attorney to ensure that you are eligible and that you submit a complete and accurate application.

Finally, make sure to keep a note of your application number so you can check your application when the time comes. The deadline to apply for the DV-2026 lottery period is noon Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. No late entries will be accepted. Applicants will be able to check whether they were selected beginning in May of 2025 through the Entrant Status Check on the E-DV website. Applicants are not notified by email.

What happens if your registration is selected in the lottery?

The Department of State selects more applicants for the lottery than there are green cards available, so even after getting selected, you still need to wait to make sure you are offered an opportunity to submit the final group of documents. If you are selected, you should talk to an experienced attorney, since there are many steps in the process and the submission of documents is extremely time-sensitive.

It is important to remember that individuals who are selected in the DV lottery must undergo extensive and detailed background and security checks, interviews, and health screenings. They must also pay a fee of $330 to be considered for a green card. Even if a selectee makes it through the initial process, if he or she is deemed to be a security threat or otherwise ineligible, he or she will not obtain a green card.

If you would like more information about the DV lottery, feel free to contact The Shpigler Law Firm, LLC to discuss the program.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that effective September 10, 2024, it will automatically extend the validity of Permanent Resident Cards (green cards) to 36 months for lawful permanent residents who file Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card.

Lawful permanent residents (LPRs) who properly file Form I-90 to renew an expiring or expired green card will now receive a 36-month extension and the card will continue to be valid for this period even though the expiration date on it has passed. Previously, LPRs who filed Form I-90 received a 24-month extension on the validity of their green cards.

The automatic extension period will begin on the day after the expiration date noted on the card. USCIS has updated the language on Form I-90 receipt notices to reflect this change. Now, the extension language on Form I-90 reads as follows: 

"This notice, together with your Form I-551, Permanent Resident Card (also known as the Green Card), provides evidence of your lawful permanent resident status for 36 months from the expiration date on the front of your Permanent Resident Card. You remain authorized to work and travel. This notice, presented with your expired Permanent Resident Card, is evidence of your status and work authorization."

These receipt notices can be presented with an expired green card as evidence of continued permanent resident status. The longer extension period has been granted because of the increased processing times that now exist for I-90 applications and to reduce the difficulties caused to LPRs who have expired green cards and wish to accept new employment or travel overseas. An LPR in this position should present the original expired green card and his or her original I-90 receipt notice (Form I-797) if he or she needs to travel or accept employment.

The extended 36-month automatic validity period appears to apply only to LPRs who are seeking to renew expired or expiring Green Cards. LPRs who have lost their green cards and need evidence of their permanent resident status while their replacement green card applications are pending may request an appointment at a USCIS field office by calling the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283. USCIS may then issue an Alien Documentation, Identification, and Telecommunications (ADIT) stamp on the LPR’s passport to provide evidence of continuing LPR status.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently issued a reminder about fees to everyone who is preparing to submit a Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization. The agency noted that ever since its new fee schedule went into effect on April 1, 2024, it has seen an uptick in the submission of incorrect fee payments. As a result, USCIS explained the new fee schedule as follows:

Common filing fees for Form I-765 are:

• Online filing: $470
• Paper filing: $520
• Online and paper filing for adjustment of status applicants (category (c)(9)): $260 if you filed Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, with a fee on or after April 1, 2024, and your I-485 is still pending.

If you are a (c)(9) or (c)(16) current Adjustment of Status or Registry applicant and you filed your I-485 on or after July 30, 2007 and before April 1, 2024 and you paid the I-485 fee, there is no fee to file Form I-765 while your I-485 remains pending.

USCIS went on to state that it will reject any I-765s postmarked on or after April 1, 2024 that are filed with an incorrect fee. You can review all USCIS filing fees by visiting the G-1055 Fee Schedule webpage.

If you are a U.S. citizen and need to obtain your very first passport, you can apply for one soon at a passport acceptance fair. Adults who are first-time applicants and all children can attend one of dozens of passport acceptance fairs that the U.S. Department of State will be conducting in October of 2024. New events will be added weekly, but the initial group of passport acceptance fairs is already listed on the DOS's website here.

Of course, you can also apply for a U.S. passport at a regular passport acceptance facility. To find one in your area, click here. Finally, if you already have a U.S. passport but need to renew it, you may do so by mail. You can find the instructions for submitting your renewal documents here.

USCIS: www.uscis.gov

Dept. of State: www.travel.state.gov

ICE: www.ice.gov

CBP: www.cbp.gov