community

Forget about all those creepy xenophobes that you may have seen on TV. The United States is a nation of immigrants and their descendents, and anyone who knows very much about the place will have recognized that many of the most successful and most patriotic citizens are those who have become Americans by choice.

But of course, for economic and other reasons, the United States can't take in everyone who wants to come in. Americans can and do argue about how many immigrants should be welcomed and under what circumstances, but few would open the doors as wide as their Canadian neighbors do.

To balance the benefits of immigration and the desire for a limited and orderly process, the US government has created a lottery in which foreign citizens can apply for one of 50,000 permanent resident visas, and if they are lucky, get the legal right to move to the United States. (Citizenship takes five years of residence, plus applicants must learn English and the basic principles by which the US government works.)

Electronic applications for the next visa lottery are now being taken, and will remain open until January 7, 2005. You can get instructions on how to apply by going to http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants_types_diversity3.html (English) or http://members.mipagina.com/embajadausa/DV2006.pdf (Spanish). And good luck!



Also in this section:
The Offering of Cemanauak
Academia Balboa Halloween parade
Kiwanis Club changes leaders
US immigrant visa lottery

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