The U.S. Department of State (?DOS? or ?State Department?) has released instructions for the fiscal year 2010 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (?DV-2010? or ?DV?), also known as the Green Card Lottery. The DV program provides a means for foreign nationals to become permanent residents of the United States (i.e., to acquire Green Cards)regardless of whether they have a family member or an employer willing to sponsor them. The State Department has made 55,000 permanent resident visas available to persons meeting the simple but strict eligibility requirements. Individuals who meet the eligibility requirements and submit an application during the appointed time will be entered into a lottery from which the 55,000 Green Card entries are selected. Please note that the 2009 DV program had 9.1 million applicants for 55,000 permanent resident visas.

Applications must be submitted electronically between noon EDT on Thursday, October 2, 2008 and noon EST on Monday, December 1, 2008. The electronic form must be submitted online. There is no fee.

Please see full alert for more details.