7 Million Too Early for U.S. Visa Lottery

WASHINGTON — About 7 million applications from aliens for immigrant visas arrived too early to be considered for a lottery program, the State Department said Tuesday.

Department spokesman Richard Boucher said 19 million pieces of mail were received from aliens hoping to be among the 40,000 winners, who are selected on a chronological basis.

“The first envelope that was opened was from a British male, the second was from an Irish female and the third was from a Japanese male,” Boucher said.

All applications that arrived before 12:01 Monday morning at the designated post office in suburban Virginia were ruled invalid. There was no limit on the number of applications each individual could send.

Under the legislation, 16,000 of the winners must be Irish. Lawmakers gave preference to the Irish on grounds that previous immigration legislation had favored other nationalities.