Dear FIRST NAME MIDDLE NAME LAST NAME:
Thank you for informing us of your intention to apply for adjustment of status with the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Please note that there are legal restrictions on who may qualify for adjustment of status in the United States, and that while most adjustment applications are filed with USCIS, aliens in removal proceedings must file their adjustment applications with the Immigration Court. You must also pay the Diversity Visa (DV) processing fee before USCIS or the court will act on your adjustment application.
To adjust to legal permanent resident status through the Diversity Visa program, you must file Form I-485 with your local USCIS Office. However, you must wait until an immigrant visa number is immediately available to file Form I-485, otherwise your application will be rejected. To see if an immigrant visa number is immediately available, check the current Department of State Visa Bulletin at
http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_1360.html
You must submit the Diversity Visa (DV) "Notification Letter" we sent you to the USCIS office nearest your place of residence in order to apply for adjustment of status. You may apply to USCIS for adjustment of status from October 1, 2013 until September 30, 2014. DV - 2014 immigrant visa status is only valid through that date.
If your spouse and/or children currently live outside the United States, they may be eligible to apply for an immigrant visa under the Diversity Visa program at the U.S. embassy or consulate in their country of residence. However, the embassy/consulate cannot process your family members' applications until notification is received from the USCIS advising that you have adjusted status. It is important that you apply for adjustment of status as soon as possible. Please remember that your spouse and/or children must apply for and be issued immigrant visas while they are available and before the DV-2014 program ends on September 30, 2014. They will not be eligible to be issued a visa under this program after that date.
When you apply to adjust status, you must tell the USCIS that you have family members living abroad who will apply for immigrant visa status at an embassy/consulate. You must request the USCIS to send information about your family, including their overseas address, to the appropriate embassy/consulate to enable processing of their visa applications. If you do not tell the USCIS about your family living overseas, and the consulate does not receive the information from the USCIS, your family members will not be processed for immigration to the United States under the DV program.
If your spouse/children will not apply for visas under the DV program, you can file with USCIS an immigrant visa petition (Form I-130) for them in the Family 2A (F2A) category. You can only do this after you have obtained legal permanent resident status, whether through adjustment of status or admission to the United States with an immigrant visa. Please carefully consider the consequences of a decision to file Form I-130 rather than having your family members apply for visas under the DV program.
Historically, applicants have experienced a delay of several years for a F2A immigrant number to become available. The Department of State adjusts the availability on immigrant numbers on a monthly basis according
to demand in each category, and publishes current availability in the monthly visa bulletin, posted online at
http://www.state.gov/visa/buttetin/bulletin_1360.html
Please remember that the DV fee must be paid in full before your case can be transferred to USCIS. All further questions should be directed to USCIS.
Case Number: 2014XXXXXXXXXX
PA Name: LAST NAME MIDDLE NAME FIRST NAME
Preference Category: DV DIVERSITY
Foreign State Chargeability: APPLICABLE CHARGEABILITY COUNTRY