DREAM OF LIFE IN U.S. REVIVED : WIFE'S SELECTION IN LOTTERY TO COMPETE FOR VISA MAY LET ARMENIAN FAMILY AVOID DEPORTATION.

Byline: Yvette Cabrera Daily News Staff Writer

For two decades Chmavon Yessayan lived in angst and turmoil in his native Armenia, fearing that he would be tortured or killed by government officials.

So five years ago Yessayan sought refuge in the United States making a new home for his wife, Naira Karapetian, and their son in Van Nuys. But the 25-year-old father's worries continued after his application for political asylum was twice denied and the family was placed under deportation proceedings.

But now the young family believes its luck is changing.

Karapetian, 26, is among 100,000 immigrants who beat the odds and were selected by lottery from a pool of 7.6 million to vie for 55,000 available visas.

The rush will begin today, as the U.S. Department of State will begin accepting applications, granting visas to the first 55,000 who apply who meet standard eligibility requirements.

``I was so happy, I felt like they gave me the world,'' Karapetian said through interpreter Claudia Gregorian, a paralegal who submitted the couple's lottery application. ``I lived in constant fear, especially the fear of my husband being hurt next.''

The 100,000 immigrants were selected through an annual lottery established by Congress in 1990 to make visas available to people from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States, including parts of Europe, Africa and some Asian countries.

The applicants, randomly selected at the National Visa Center in Portsmouth, N.H., were notified by mail of their selection this summer. The interview screening process will begin in January, officials said.

The couple's lawyer, Carl Shusterman said their battle is far from over. He first must convince the Board of Immigration Appeals in Falls Church, Va., where deportation appeals remain pending, to reopen the case in order for the couple to claim its green cards.

``That's my worry, can we beat the clock?'' said Shusterman, a former INS trial attorney now in private practice in Los Angeles. ``It's a race against time to get them to qualify, but I think we can do it.''

If the board of appeals reopens the case it's akin to giving someone a new trial and the couple no longer will face deportation, said Shusterman, adding that this process could take weeks or months. Once the case is reopened, the visa application can be processed by an immigration judge in Los Angeles.

The couple still believes the wait is worth it.

After marrying in 1991 and undergoing what they said in legal filings was harassment by government officials in Armenia, Yessayan and his wife decided to join his mother and brother, who were already in the United States. Yessayan obtained a visitor visa that April and Karapetian, who initially was denied, received hers in November.

The couple's two requests for political asylum in the United States were denied. In order to be granted asylum, applicants must show that they would face persecution if they returned to their homelands.

In the most recent hearing on the matter in December 1994, an immigration judge ruled that Yessayan, his neighbor and his mother all had lied on the witness stand and ordered him deported to Armenia.

But now - with the visa lottery selection - the Van Nuys couple believe they've got a second shot at permanent residency here in the United States.

``She says she thinks about the green card every day and prays to God that this will happen,'' said Gregorian, translating for Karapetian.

Karapetian, who works as a part-time bakery cashier in Encino, said if she receives the green card she plans to continue her nursing career. She had just received her nursing diploma when she left Armenia.

Yessayan will continue working his two jobs as a full-time dental technician in Van Nuys and a part-time technician in a North Hollywood dental lab.

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PHOTO Chmavon Yessayan, his son, Sargis, and his wife, Nair a Karapetian, all of whom came to Van Nuys in 1991, have been turned down for political asylum.

John McCoy/Daily News