1. The Department of Homeland Security says one million two hundred thousand people received permanent residency in two thousand six. More than sixty percent of them became permanent residents as a result of a family relationship.
2. Another way to gain permanent residency is to have a job offer, also called an employment-based preference. About one hundred sixty thousand people became permanent residents this way in two thousand six.
3. Often the employers are technology companies. But Chris Bentley gives an example of a sheep ranch in Texas. The employer found a really good shepherd. It was easier to sponsor him for residency than to continually bring him to the United States to help on the ranch.
4. A third way to immigrate to the United States is to be declared a refugee. This immigration status is for people who fear physical harm if they remain in their home country. They have to go to an American Embassy and provide proof of their situation, or be referred by the United Nations refugee agency.
5. Foreign citizens who are in the United States as students or visitors can ask to stay if returning home would endanger their lives. People who are given asylum are called asylees. Two hundred sixteen thousand refugees and asylees became permanent residents in two thousand six.
6. A fourth way to immigrate is to invest money in the United States. A person must invest at least five hundred thousand dollars in a poor area of the country and create at least ten jobs. Seven hundred fifty investors became permanent residents in two thousand six.
7. The fifth and final way to immigrate to the United States is through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, also known as the visa lottery. People enter the lottery and hope their name will be chosen by a computer.
8. The winners, their spouses and unmarried children under the age of twenty-one get a chance for permanent residency. The United States offers about fifty-five thousand diversity visas every year. In two thousand six, more than forty-four thousand winners became permanent residents.
9. Congress established the program under a nineteen ninety immigration law. But the process is not as simple as it might sound. The program is open only to people born in countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.
10. These countries must have sent fewer than fifty thousand immigrants in the past five years. So the countries in the program change each year.
11. The State Department received more than six million applications in two thousand six, about one million higher than
the year before. The people who applied in two thousand six were entering the two thousand eight visa program.
12. Most of the applicants were from Africa and Asia. Nineteen percent were from Europe and two percent from South America and the Caribbean. The largest numbers of applications came from Bangladesh, Nigeria and Ukraine.
13. All of the information needed to take part in the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is online at travel.state.gov. There are warnings about attempts to cheat people in connection with the visa lottery. In some cases there have been Web sites falsely claiming to be official United States government sites.
14. Some companies claiming to be from the government have asked for money to complete lottery entries. There is no charge to download and complete the electronic entry form.
15. No paper entries are accepted. All applications must be made at travel.state.gov. The application period is from early October through early December of each year. That is the only time people can enter.
Our program was written by Nancy Steinbach and produced by Caty Weaver. I’m Faith Lapidus.
And I’m Steve Ember. To learn more about the immigration issue, and for transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our programs, go to voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.
Vocabulary
- Another way = uma outra maneira
- applicants = requerentes
- applications = requerimentos
- applied = requisitaram
- ask = pedir
- asylum = refúgio, asilo
- at least = pelo menos
- attempts = tentativas
- Became = tornaram-se (presente = become)
- born = parecer
- bring = trazer
- change = mudar
- charge = cobrança
- cheat = enganar
- chosen by = escolhido por
- claiming = afirmando
- companies = empresas
- early - início
- Embassy = embaixada
- employers = empregadores
- employment = emprego
- endanger = por em risco
- entries = incrições, entradas
- established = estabeleceu
- falsely = falsamente
- fear = temer
- fewer than = menos de
- form = formulário
- found = descobriu (presente = “find”)
- fourth = quarto(a)
- Gain = adquirir
- gives = dá
- harm = mal, ofensa
- hope = esperar (esperança)
- job offer = oferta de trabalho
- law = lei
- low rates = baixos índices
- might = poderia
- must have sent = devem ter enviado
- needed = necessário(a)
- poor = pobre
- Provide = fornecer
- referred by = encaminhado(a) por
- refugee = refugiado
- Relationship = relacionamento
- remain = permanecer
- sheep = ovelhas
- shepherd = pastor
- sound = parecer
- sponsor = apadrinhar
- spouses = esposas
- take part = participar, tomar parte
- there have been = tem havido
- through = através
- warnings = alertas
- Winners = vencedores
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