FE Report

In a fresh attempt to avert frequent fraud and manipulation in the Diversity Visa form filling up process, applicants of the DV 2011 this year have been advised to fill up their applications by themselves if at all possible.

Under the new motto "Take Control"- DV applicants this year have been advised to complete their own applications by themselves or with the help of a trusted friend or relative and double check their entries before submitting them, US embassy officials said at a press conference in the city Monday.

"At the same time, applicants are advised to carefully check all their data entries and to watch the computer operator submit their online entries and to make sure they print out the confirmation screen," Chief of Consular Section of the US Embassy in Dhaka Sandra Ingram said during the press conference.

Registration for the DV-2011 lottery for permanent resident card in the United States began on Friday and would last until November 30.

Highlighting the changes in the application process this year, Sandra Ingram said, "a new requirement for each applicant is to submit an e-mail address. However, applicants will not receive their winner letter by e-mail but by regular mail".

"Many applicants each year are disqualified for submitting entries by agents or cyber café operators not following the DV rules carefully," the embassy official said, adding "many also get victimised by agents misusing the personal information of applicants and extorting money from them or pressing them to mispresent the truth in their interviews".

Explaining the minimum educational requirement for applying for DV, the officials said a Bangladesh government-issued HSC certificate is considered the equivalent of a US high school education, while a minimum two-year technical board certificate or a first year pass from a university will also do.

"Entrants will be able to check the status of their entry online and starting from July 2010, they will also be able to see whether or not their name was drawn in the lottery", Sandra said.