through an unusual mail-in lottery scheme.

This is the third and final year of the scheme which has been offered to Bermudians and nationals of 37 other countries.

The US Consulate General in Bermuda began running notices of the programme in The Royal Gazette last week.

Mrs. Barbara Johnston, who is in charge of visa applications at the Consulate, said on Sunday she believed roughly 30 to 40 people had already picked up applications from the Devonshire office.

"We only had one notice in last week and again in Friday and Saturday's paper. I would assume that there will be more,'' she said.

People interested must submit their applications to the US State Department's Dulles, Virginia office between 12.01 a.m. (Washington DC time) today and midnight on March 31.

Winning applicants will be allowed to move to the United States where they will attain a legal resident alien identification or "green card'', sidestepping the normal waiting period.

Such a card enables the holder to remain and work in the US as long as he or she wants with no obligation to become a citizen.

Citizenship applications can be made after five years.

The lottery arose from a section in the 1990 Immigration Act, providing visas for foreigners put at a disadvantage by previous changes in the law.

The primary sponsor of the lottery legislation was the powerful Irish-American caucus on Capitol Hill which wanted to help the large numbers of Irish who had overstayed their visas because there were so few jobs available at home.

To apply, candidates need only submit their name, date and place of birth and that of their spouse and any children, along with their US or overseas address and the name of the US embassy or consulate where their visa case should be sent.

Natives born in the following places are eligible to apply: Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Guadeloupe, New Caledonia, Germany, Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Bermuda, Gibraltar, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, San Marino, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, and Tunisia.

The Consulate, in its notice, stressed that anyone who sent in more than one application would be immediately disqualified.

In 1991, when the scheme was first offered, about 200 locals entered the lottery that saw more than 18 million people apply worldwide.

Some entered dozens of applications before the period of registration and were automatically disqualified.

Others paid hundreds of dollars to lawyers in the hope of increasing their chances of winning. But the Consulate stressed that this was not necessary and did not guarantee a better chance at being selected.

Six of the local applicants were successful -- two of them were Bermudians by birth.

Figures and information were not available for the number of local applicants in 1992 and whether any were successful.