Roll up for final US visa lottery

WASHINGTON (AP) - Citizens of 37 countries or territories get a chance for a no-questions-asked US residence permit under the third and final 'visa lottery' organised by the State Department. But most Africans, Asians and Latin Americans need not apply because they're not eligible.

Applicants from the selected countries need only to mail their name and a few other personal details to a Virginia address during the next month to qualify for one of 40,000 visas to be issued. Applications will be accepted for 30 days starting today. The odds are fairly good: the ratio of qualified applicants to winners last year was 20 to 1.