Diversity Immigrant Visa
The Diversity Immigrant Visa program is a United States congressionally mandated lottery program for receiving a United States Permanent Resident Card. It is also known as the Green Card Lottery. The lottery is administered on an annual basis by the Department of State and conducted under the terms of Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Section 131 of the Immigration Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-649) amended INA 203 to provide for a new class of immigrants known as "diversity immigrants" (DV immigrants). The Act makes available 50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.
Ineligible countries
Those born in any territory that has sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the US in the previous five years are not eligible to receive a diversity visa. For DV-2008, natives of the following nations were ineligible: Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam [1]. The entry period for DV-2008 was October 4, 2006 through December 3, 2006.
The ineligible countries may change from year to year, and are determined by counting those countries which sent 50,000 "immigrants" in the five years including that covered by the last published immigration statistics.
Exemptions
The term 50,000 "immigrants" is partial and refers only to people who immigrated via the family-sponsored, employment, or immediate relatives of U.S. citizen categories, and does not include other categories such as refugees, asylum seekers, NACARA beneficiaries, or previous diversity immigrants. It is for this reason that Cuba, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Guatemala and Iran are not on the ineligible list despite sending over 50,000 immigrants in the previous five years. [1]
Changes
Changes to the ineligible list over the years include the following:
- DV-2002: Poland and Taiwan removed, Pakistan added.
- DV-2005: Russia added.
- DV-2007: Poland added again.
- DV-2008: Brazil and Peru added.
- DV-2009: Ecuador and Guatemala added.
The large number of changes for DV-2002 was due to a three-year gap between the publication of the 1998 and 1999 immigration statistics. In other words, DV-2001 was still using the statistics from the five-year period from 1994 to 1998 to determine country eligibility.
For DV-2009, Ecuador and Guatemala will be added to the ineligibility list since the 2006 immigration statistics [2] show over 50,000 family or employment immigrants from those countries in the period 2001-2006 (53,502 for Ecuador and 52,120 for Guatemala).
Starting with the DV-2008, several questions and options for answers have been added. Applicants are now required to provide information, such as the country where they currently live and their highest level of education achieved, in the Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form (E-DV Entry Form).
Distribution and lottery process
The visas are distributed on a regional and national basis, with each regions sending less immigrants to the US in the previous 5 years receiving more diversity visas. Currently, Africa and Europe receive about 80% of the visas in the lottery. [2]
In order to allow for those who do not pursue immigrant visas, more 'winners' are selected in the lottery than there are visas available. Hence being selected from the lottery does not guarantee an immigrant visa to the U.S. To receive a Diversity Visa and immigrate to the United States 'winners' must meet all eligibility requirements under U.S. law. Requirements include at least a high school diploma, or its equivalent, or two years of work experience in an occupation requiring at least two years training. Individuals from among all qualified entries will be notified by mail between May and July 2007 for the DV 2008.
Legal status
In December 2005 the United States House of Representatives voted 273-148 to add an amendment to the border enforcement bill H.R. 4437 abolishing the DIV. Opponents of the lottery said it was susceptible to fraud and was a way for terrorists to enter the country. The Senate never passed the bill.
In March 2007 Congressman Bob Goodlatte introduced H.R. 1430, which would eliminate the diversity visa program.
Green card lottery scams
There is a growing number of fraudulent green card lottery scams, in which agents take money from applicants by submitting application forms for them, usually for a fee between US$50 to US$250. Some claim that they can increase the chance of winning the lottery. This is not true - in fact, they may even delay the application or not submit the application at all. Likewise, some claim that they will provide free airline ticket to winners or other benefits such as multiple years submissions in future year. However, there is no way to guarantee their claims; actually, there are ample reasons for them not to fulfill their promises. Both the United States Department of State and the Federal Trade Commission have issued warning statements about this type of fraud or similar business practices. [3] [4]
Recent developments
Over 6.4 million applications for the 2008 Diversity Visa Lottery were submitted — an increase of 0.9 million from the 5.5 million applications submitted in the 2007 Diversity Visa Lottery. Taking into account dependents, there were more than 10 million participants in the 2008 Diversity Visa Lottery.[5]
Criticism of the DV Lottery System
Currently, there is no means by which an applicant can check the status of an application online. Only those selected in the lottery are notified, by mail. [6]
References
- ^ Immigration Statistics, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
- ^ Characteristics of Diversity Legal Permanent Residents: 2004, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
- ^ http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1749.html
- ^ http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/lottery.htm
- ^ 2008 Diversity Visa Lottery Registrations, U.S. Department of State, 15 December, 2006.
- ^ Instructions for the DV-2008, U.S. Department of State.
External links
- [http://myusai.org/ -The United States Association of Immigrants. An association and social network of U.S. Immigrants providing information, education, benefits and services, including entry in the U.S. Green Card Lottery, ALL FREE.
- U.S. Department of State - DV-2009 program
- Electronic Diversity Visa Lottery
- U.S. State Department - Warning on fraudulent diversity visa websites
- Wop98, The First Free Website Comprehensive and free source of information on the DV Lottery.
- Representative Herseth - Amendment to eliminate visa lottery
- Web page in favor of saving the Diversity Visa Program (green card lottery)
- - Russian Discussions about The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program - Welcome!
- , Free Forum. All the answers for your questions on the DV Lottery.
- Immigration Portal Website FREE Great Blog/Forum with very accurate and knowledgeable bloggers from all over the world to provide you with the answers for DV lottery questions. Mostly for Selected Winners.
- , A DV-2003 experience A site describing lawsuits related to the Diversity Visa Program
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