Mr Chris Santoro, Consular Officer at the United States Embassy in Accra, has cautioned applicants of the 2013 Diversity Visa Lottery programme to avoid using fraudulent documents. He said the Embassy had a way of detecting fraudulent documents and when detected the applicant would be disqualified and not offered the visa. “We utilise special technology and other means to identify those who commit fraud for illegal immigration or those who submit multiple entries.” Addressing a press conference on Monday to officially announce the beginning of registration for the 2013 Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery in Accra, Mr Santoro emphasized that the Embassy did not endorse the use of Visa services where people put up tents and cages to charge people, who want to apply for the programme, stressing the US Diversity Visa is free. He therefore advised potential applicants to seek information from their website www.dvlottery.state.gov. Mr Santoro explained that for married couple each of them could apply separately to increase their chances of winning. The 2013 DV Lottery begins at noon on Tuesday October 4, and ends on Saturday, November 5, this year. Mr Santoro said applicants might access the electronic DV Entry form at their website during the registration period and noted that paper entries would not be accepted. He said successful applicants for the DV-2013 would have to check the website beginning May 1, 2012 to check their application status using their unique confirmation number provided during their registration. Mr Santoro in addition, warned applicants not to pay monies to anybody who presented him or herself as a visa contractor. The US DV lottery programme makes available up to 55,000 diversity visas annually to applicants all over the world. Applicants are to possess a WAEC Senior High School result with five passes including English and Mathematics, a first degree, Higher National Diploma (HND) or an equivalent two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation requiring at least two years training or experience.