ALKHOBAR, 4 October — Registration for the US 2003 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV-2003) has begun.

Instructions for the program are available at the gates of the US Embassy in Riyadh and the US consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran.

This year the instructions are more comprehensive that in the past and are written in both English and Arabic, so it should be easier for nationals of Middle Eastern countries to apply.

Entries can be sent by regular mail or air mail and must arrive in the US at the post office box specified in the instructions on or before noon on Oct. 31. The use of registered or express mail services will result in disqualification.

DV-2003 makes US permanent residence visas available to those individuals and their immediate families who meet the simple, but strict eligibility requirements. Applicants for Diversity Visas are chosen by a computer-generated random lottery draw.

The 50,000 visas are distributed among six geographic regions with a greater number of visas going to regions with lower rates of immigration and with no visas going to citizens of countries who have sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the US during the past five years. Within one region, no country may receive more than seven percent of the available Diversity Visas in any one year.

For DV-2003, natives of the following countries may not apply because they sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the US in the previous five years: Canada, China (mainland), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and Vietnam.

For this lottery, only one entry per eligible individual is allowed. Entering more than once results in automatic disqualification. No fee is charged to enter the DV-2003 program.

Many agents advertise in local papers claiming to be able to assist in entering the Diversity Visa program.

However, the DV-2003 instructions clearly state: “The US government employs no outside consultants or private mail services to operate the DV program. Any intermediaries or others who offer assistance to prepare DV casework for applicants do so without the authority or consent of the US government.”