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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. A lottery is a popular form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize. ...
A United States Green Card. ...
The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ...
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) of 1952 (Also known as the McCarran-Walter Act) restricted immigration into the U.S. and is codified under Title 8 of the United States Code. ...
The Immigration Act of 1990 (Pub. ...
Immigration is the act of moving to or settling in another country or region, temporarily or permanently. ...
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. Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 km², about a sixth of the islands total area). ...
October 4 is the 277th day of the year (278th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...
is the 337th day of the year (338th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...
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] The Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act, or NACARA, is a U.S. law passed in 1997 that provides various forms of immigration benefits and relief from deportation to certain Nicaraguans, Cubans, Salvadorans, Guatemalans, nationals of former Soviet bloc countries and their dependents. ...
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 will be 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
 Regions and eligible countries for the Diversity Visa lottery 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] Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 352 pixelsFull resolution (1427 × 628 pixel, file size: 50 KB, MIME type: image/png) Regions and eligible countries for the United States Diversity Visa lottery. ...
Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 352 pixelsFull resolution (1427 × 628 pixel, file size: 50 KB, MIME type: image/png) Regions and eligible countries for the United States Diversity Visa lottery. ...
A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ...
World map showing the location of Europe. ...
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, and as of early 2007 there are no open bills suggesting the elimination of the green card lottery. The United States House of Representatives (or simply the House) is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate. ...
Radio Station advertisement in Spanish in East Los Angeles against the H.R.4437. ...
Green card lottery scams
Ad for Usafis online scam, retrieved July 29, 2007 in France. There is a growing number of fraudulent green card lottery scams like http://www.usafis.org, 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] Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ...
FTC headquarters, Washington, D.C. The Federal Trade Commission (or FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act. ...
In the example of http://www.usafis.org please notice the choice of .org over .com as more "governative-like" and the name usafis, so similar to usaid.
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]
One major concern is that the US diversity lottery does not promote diversity. Scientifically and statistically, it perpetuates inequality.
For example, the US immigration policy openly discriminates Chinese. In the “diversity” lottery program, China has the same 50,000 5-year ineligibility-quota as Ireland (including North Ireland). China's population is more than 10,000 times that of Ireland. Chinese immigrants receive strong disfavor compared to Irish immigrants.
All Asians together is 5% of the US population. By favoring the US Irish majority, what diversity is this program promoting?
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.
is the 349th day of the year (350th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...
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