• Be a native of a country eligible to enter the 2006 visa lottery
• Have a high school education or its equivalent or at least two years' experience (within the past five years) in work in an occupation considered by the U.S. government to require at least two years of training or experience

In addition, even if selected for possible benefit under the lottery, in order to have the possibility of actually obtaining lawful permanent U.S. residence (or "green card") status, an applicant must also, at the time processing under the lottery is completed, be legally admissible to the U.S. This is generally likely to mean that the applicant must at that time:

• If in the U.S., be in valid U.S. visa status, with very limited exceptions or unless the applicant is covered by Section 245(i) of the Immigration & Nationality Act
• If outside or inside the U.S., not be considered inadmissible due to other factors such as certain past U.S. immigration law violations or certain criminal law violations

Generally speaking, therefore, it is easier to enter the lottery, following the U.S. Department of State's online instructions, then it is to evaluate whether an individual will be able to benefit from the lottery if selected for possible final processing for green card status. Furthermore, note that not all of those who are initially selected under the lottery will obtain green card status -- the U.S. Department of State selects more potential winners than the 50,000 who are permitted to obtain green card status under the lottery each year. That is, there is time pressure, because those selected under the lottery must have their overall processing toward permanent residence status completed by September 30, 2006 or they lose their ability to benefit from DV06.

There are, accordingly, three general reasons to consider using an immigration lawyer to assist you in entering the lottery or to assist you in later stages of processing if you are initially selected under the DV06 lottery:

• You may feel you need help filling out the entry forms online correctly (many but not all applicants appear able to do this on their own)
• You may want or need an evaluation of whether you are able to benefit from the lottery if you are selected for further processing
• You may need assistance completed post-selection processing to attempt to minimize delay if you are initially selected for the lottery

Please contact us if you want us to evaluate your prospects for benefitting from the lottery or if you want us to prepare your lottery application.

Our prices for initial lottery-related services are as follows:

• Lottery application preparation only: $100.00
• Initial consultation for immigration planning and evaluation of green card prospects: $100.00
• Initial planning consultation plus lottery application preparation: $150.00
• For any of the above, to add services for your husband or wife add: $50.00
• If further services are desired, we will be happy to quote them to you at your appointment with this firm.

Please contact us by phone (973-762-0700), mail (Pusin & Sklar, LLC, 111 Dunnell Rd, 2nd Fl, Maplewood, NJ 07040) or e-mail (sklar@stevensklar.com) to schedule an appointment.

e-mail to: sklar@stevensklar.com