NO MORE DVs FOR BANGLADESH

Dhaka Sept 16 (bdnews24.com) -- Citizens of Bangladesh, along with 18 other countries
, have been declared ineligible for the Diversity Visa 2013, a US State Department announcement said. 

All these 19 countries "sent a total of more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States in the previous five years", said a Department statement late Thursday. 

"The annual DV program makes visas available to persons meeting simple, but strict, eligibility requirements. 

"A computer-generated, random drawing chooses selectees for DVs. The visas are distributed among six geographic regions, and within each region, no single country may receive more than seven percent of the available DVs in any one year. 

"Visas are allocated to nationals of countries with historically lower rates of U.S. immigration. 

"Nationals of countries who have sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States over the past five years are not eligible to apply for the Diversity Visa program," the Department said. 

For DV-2013, natives of the following countries are not eligible: 

BANGLADESH, BRAZIL, CANADA, CHINA (mainland-born), COLOMBIA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, ECUADOR, EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HAITI, INDIA, JAMAICA, MEXICO, PAKISTAN, PERU, PHILIPPINES, SOUTH KOREA, UNITED KINGDOM (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and VIETNAM. 

Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and Taiwan are eligible. 

Changes in eligibility this year: 

For DV-2013, natives of South Sudan and Poland are now eligible for selection, while Bangladesh natives are now ineligible. 

The Department of State says it implemented the electronic registration system beginning with DV-2005 "in order to make the DV process more efficient and secure". 

The Department says it uses "special technology and other means" to identify those who commit fraud for the purposes of illegal immigration or those who submit multiple entries.