Sept 29, Colombo: The United States - 2009 Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery will be formally opened in Washington DC on October 3. A total of 50,000 individuals will be selected for the lottery worldwide.

The US Embassy in Sri Lanka announced yesterday that program allows randomly selected applicants to migrate to the United States on an expedited basis, provided they meet all the criteria.

A person may only enter the lottery if he or she has both citizenship of a qualifying country (Sri Lanka and the Maldives both qualify), and either a high school equivalent education (Six GCE O-Levels including compulsory subject) or work experience within the past five years in a profession that requires at lest two years of training or experience to perform.

Individuals wishing to participate in the visa lottery are urged to apply early to avoid any possible delays. The lottery registration period will be from October 3 to December 2, 2007. Registration for the Diversity Visa Lottery is free. The lottery will be conducted entirely by electronic means over the internet. Paper entries will no longer be accepted.

The State Department has established a website for the submission of entries, which can be accessed at www.dvlottery.state.gov.