Bermuda natives were excluded because the participation requirements had changed, Mr. Kish told The Royal Gazette .

Under the new rules, 55,000 permanent resident visas would be made available each year "to persons from countries which have low rates of immigration to the United States,'' he said.

"Natives of countries that already have significant numbers of immigrants in the United States are not eligible for this programme.'' Along with Bermuda, countries excluded from the 1995 visa lottery included Great Britain, China, India, the Philippines, Vietnam, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, El Salvador, and the Dominican Republic.

Bermuda residents from countries other than those listed above could take part in the lottery, Mr. Kish said.

"In addition to being born in a qualifying country, applicants must have at least a high school education or its equivalent, or within the past five years have two years of work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience.

"There is no application fee or application form,'' he said. "Only one entry per applicant may be submitted.'' Those interested should visit the US Consulate General on Middle Road for registration instructions, he said.

POSTMASTER GENERAL DENIES BACKLOG OF MAIL GVT The Postmaster General has denied there is a huge backlog of mail in the Post Office dating back to last year.

He spoke out after a Paget resident reported that a business letter sent from Holland on December 16 did not arrive in Bermuda until last week.

The same resident said an item sent from the UK, also in December, had not yet arrived.

The complainant said: "The Post Office informed me that there was a big backlog of mail and that so large was the pile awaiting local delivery that what had arrived first, and so was on the bottom of the pile, would be dealt with last.

"Is there the slightest chance the the Post Office will work its way down through this enormous pile of dead mail before this year's Christmas mail buries it for yet another year?'' Postmaster General Mr. Clevelyn Crichlow said: "There's no big pile of mail going back to December. We had it all cleared out in February.

"I don't know who told him that. First in and first out, that's how we organise it.'' Many foreign companies were sending mail via other countries to save postage costs, he said, and this could cause delays.

He added he would like to examine the envelope the complainant received to work out what had happened.