sorry guys, very sorry but i don't understand the bulleting thing....
Ok, let me try. Hope this helps, for Alex and for other novices !
Thought this would be a worthy distraction for me at a break whilst writing my thesis !!
Well, the fundamentals first....Dept of State (DOS) select around 100 to 110 k "people" in the DV lottery out of about a gazillion number of applicants. (Praise God that u r one of them, do your math to see the probability of success for being one of them)
Now, these "~ 100k people" = principal applicants + their dependents. (so in effect, may be only around 25-35 k notification letters may have gone out to principal applicants)
However DOS can by law give DV visas only to max 55k ppl. ( or actually, 50k, since 5k are 'reserved')
DOS use the ~100k pool to effectively fill that mandate. i.e. although you were told u r a winner, you may have only a 50% chance, on avg., of actually getting the visa.
This is where the bulletin come into play.
On a "monthly basis" DOS will say (simply) who is eligible to go meet an immigration official (either in USA or at a US consulate overseas) for a formal interview and see whether you are in-fact eligible to get the visa and if yes whether u will in-fact get it !! (the things that you need to do to get prepared for this moment is a different story, for that you need to read, understand & follow the rules and directions in the official documents you get and read helpful tips in the postings at these blogs/ forums !!)
As you may know, DV program is divided into several geographical areas and each area's DV numbers progress on a monthly basis differently during the fiscal year.(chk the past bulletins)
Say your DV number is "2009EU-6548". Starting Oct 1st 2008, (or infact by ~ Aug. 1st) you will monitor the published monthly DOS visa bulletins and you see that DOS give notice about 2 months in advance on the numbers that would be 'eligible' for an interview in the coming 2 months. [ remember, DV 2009 year start from 1st Oct. 2008]
Now , you 'may' see in the Aug. 2008 bulletin that for the EU region, the 'eligible' number (or infact the 'priority' number) for an interview during Oct. 2008 is 1500. This means that ppl who have DV notification letters with confirmation numbers say 2009EU 00001 to 1500 will be eligible to schedule an interview for October.
Likewise, the numbers will progress next months, say for ex. for Nov. 08 it would be for ppl with EU-1501 to 3200. By about say the March 2009 bulletin you will see that the EU number for April 09 is 5800 and for May 2009 it is 6700. This means YOU ARE ELIGIBLE TO GET A VISA INT'VW in May 2009 ! [remebmer? ur number is EU-6548]
As you can see, higher the one's DV region eligibility number, lower the chances of getting an interview during the 12 months period of Oct1 st 08- Sept 30 th 09.
All these are done to vet out only 55k ppl from the pool of 110k ! However around the end of the 12 months you will see that the numbers for some regions for Aug and Sept. months would appear as "CURRENT", this means ALL those who did not have a chance for the prior 10-11 months are eligible in Aug & Sept. This would in fact trigger a sort of a mad dash for ppl to know when they could appear for an interview.
But..... whether you in fact get one at all or whether you will have your visa approved by 30th Sept. is a matter that will be 'up in the air'.
Read in these forums/blogs all sort of 'scenarios' people may face during these 12 months and how one should prepare for them.
The basic idea behind the 'visa bulletin DV numbers' is a simple matter of math and stats, but the implications for individuals, especially for those with high DV numbers, are huge !!
Good luck !
