"Two per cent of the DV applicants misrepresented themselves by presenting false documents"

Kathmandu, September 14:

The US embassy in Nepal has completed a thorough review of the 2007 Diversity Visa (DV) programme. Over 1,100 Nepali citizens received immigrant visas to the United States through the 2007 Diversity Visa Lottery Programme.

Over 85 per cent of the lottery winners met minimum programme and legal requirements to qualify and earned the opportunity to start a new life in the United States of America, the American Centre in Kathmandu said in a press statement.

It stated that the review has affirmed that the embassy’s adjudications in DV cases were in full compliance with the United States law, and confirmed that the small number of DV applicants who were refused visas did not qualify under the United States’ law, meaning that fewer than 13 per cent of the total Diversity Visa-2007 applicants failed to meet the minimum education or work requirements clearly stated in the application instructions.

“Another two per cent of the DV applicants misrepresented themselves by presenting false documents,” it said.

The Diversity Visa programme was designed to bring greater racial and ethnic diversity to the United States.

The DV programme offers permanent residency visas to citizens of countries that have a traditionally low rate of immigration to the United States.

Over 7,800 Nepalis have immigrated through the Diversity Visa programme since 2001.