How the Diversity Visa (the Lottery) Actually Works

President Donald Trump has expressed his distaste for the diversity visa on numerous occasions.  In the Rose Garden on February 15, 2019, Trump exclaimed, "And then you have the lottery.  It's a horror show, because when countries put people into the lottery, they're not putting you in; they're putting in some very bad people in the lottery.  It's common sense.  If I ran a country, and if I have a lottery system of people going to the United States, I'm not going to put in my stars; I'm going to put in people I don't want."

Trump continued with his criticism in a campaign rally in Cincinnati on August 1, 2019, stating, "And you pick people out of a lottery.  Well let's see, this one is a murderer, this one robbed four banks, this one I better not say, this one another murderer, ladies and gentlemen, another murderer.  Do you think [these countries] are going to put their great citizens . . . into the lottery?  Look at the people they put into these lotteries."

Trump's message has been consistent.  In 2017, Trump told graduates f the FBI National Academy, "They have a lottery. You pick people. Do you think the country is giving us their best people? No. What kind of a system is that? They come in by lottery. They give us their worst people, they put them in a bin, but in his hand, when he’s picking them is, really, the worst of the worst. Congratulations, you’re going to the United States. Okay. What a system — lottery system."

It is actually quite amazing.  Everything Trump says about the diversity visa lottery is completely wrong.  Not one bit of it is true.  The governments of foreign countries play no role in who applies for a diversity visa through the lottery system.  There is no bin.  No names are drawn from a hat.  Those who win the lottery, and thus have a chance to immigrate to the United States, are vetted to ensure they have no criminal record.  Indeed, in order to obtain the visa, a lottery winner must have a certain level of education or skill to ensure they will not be a drain on the U.S. welfare system.

Through the diversity lottery, visas are made available for 50,000 people each year.   The idea is to give people from countries that have traditionally sent fewer immigrants to the United States the chance to immigrate to the United States.

If a country has sent 50,000 or more immigrants to the United States in the last five years, then people from that country may not receive a diversity visa. Based on this criteria, people from Canada, Mexico, the Philippines, the Peoples Republic of China, El Salvador, Haiti and South Korea, to name a few, are not eligible.

The diversity visas are distributed by region, with people from the regions sending the fewest immigrants to the United States in the previous five years receiving the most visas. The regions which currently receive the most visas under the program are Africa and Europe. No one country can receive more than seven percent, or 3,500, of the visas available for that year. The visas are distributed at random.

To apply, a person enters the lottery online during the registration period. Winning the lottery does not guarantee that the applicant will receive the visa. Rather, the applicant must meet certain additional requirements. The applicant must have graduated high school, or have spent two out of the last five years in an occupation requiring at least two years' training or experience.

A person does not need to meet the eligibility requirements in order to apply online. This has led to a number of disappointed lottery winners. That is, a person can win the lottery only to learn that he or she does not have the required education or work experience to receive the visa.

The be able to immigrate to the United States, a person who receives a diversity visa must still be admissible pursuant to U.S. immigration law.  That means the person may not have committed certain crimes, such as murder, theft or sexual assault.  The person cannot have certain communicable diseases, be a habitual drunkard, be likely to become a public charge, or be considered a threat to national security.

To summarize, a person desiring to immigrate to the United States enters the diversity visa lottery.  That person's government has nothing to do with the application.  Foreign countries do not put people's names into a bit, or a hat, or a box.  An individual applies through the internet by going online.  A computer program picks names randomly.  In order to come to the United States, the person just have a minimum level of education or work experience, and cannot have committed certain crimes.

Thus, when Trump describes the diversity visa, he is engaging in nothing more than fear mongering.  This fear mongering fits in with his overall approach to immigration, where he manipulates the fear of his followers to promote more restrictive immigration policies.  He ignores studies which show immigrants as less likely than those born in the United States to commit violent crimes, instead painting all immigrants as potential threats to the public safety.  Education and access to accurate information can prevent Trump from manipulating the ignorance of his followers to pervert immigration law and policy.

By:  William J. Kovatch, Jr.

Take Steps to Avoid Immigration Scams!

People seeking help to stay in the country, unfortunately, tend to be the most vulnerable to immigration scams.  USCIS warns to watch out for such scams.

What are some of the common immigration schemes?  USCIS provides a list of immigration scams.

One of the most common schemes are notarios.  Notarios publicos in Latin American countries have a different role than notary publics in the United States.  In the United States, a notary public verifies signatures.  But, in other countries, notarios are public officials with important duties.  The duties can include performing marriage ceremonies.  Many unscrupulous people will exploit this linguistic problem, and advertise that as notarios they are qualified to help someone get immigration status.  At times, the advice given by such notarios is just plain wrong.  Other times, notarios will fill out forms and file them for their clients, without checking into whether the forms are appropriate to file in the alien's specific case.  Notarios have also been known to charge money for services that are never delivered.

Then, there a local businesses who promise that they can get a person immigration benefits.  These can include promises to get a green card, work authorization and other visas.  Many of these businesses will advertise that their services are cheaper than a lawyer's services.  Of course, only a lawyer can give proper immigration advice.

One such immigration scheme was busted outside of Houston.  There, an elderly woman bilked aliens out of thousands of dollars to perform services which she never provided.  According to authorities, the woman promised to file forms on behalf of aliens, but failed to deliver.  Instead, she would make repeated excuses as why she had not performed as promised.

According to USCIS, other scams include the use of .com websites, which imitate real U.S. Government websites.  U.S. Government website always end in .gov.  Forms are available from USCIS with no charge, so aliens should be careful not to pay to obtain forms.

Another common scam involves the visa lottery.  Scammers will promise to make it easier to win the diversity visa program, or will send emails claiming that the alien has won the visa lottery.

One key that can be useful in identifying a scammer is whether the advertisement references the INS, or Immigration and Naturalization Service.  This agency was eliminated after 9/11, and replaced by three agencies with responsibility over immigration:  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Those seeking immigration help would be best served by seeking advice from a knowledgeable immigration lawyer, or a reputable organization known to offer immigration help.

By: William J. Kovatch, Jr.
(703) 837-8832
info@kovatchimmigrationlaw.com

Political Wrangling Over Immigration Reform Begins

In the aftermath of the 2012 presidential election, some Republicans began pressing to change the party's stance on immigration reform as a way to change the party's image with Latino voters.  Over 70% of Latinos voted for President Obama, and was seen by many as a key reason for the President's victory.

Comprehensive immigration reform will take time and negotiations.  Some Republicans eager to start changing the party's image have introduced smaller proposals in Congress now, during the lame duck session, in an effort to give the GOP some credibility.

One such proposal is the expansion of the number of permanent residency visas available for workers in science, technology, engineering and math, so-called STEM workers.  I have already discussed the arduous process of hiring foreign-born STEM workers and applying for their visas on this blog.

While Republicans may not be completely unified on comprehensive immigration reform, STEM worker visas is one area where the GOP does have a degree of unity.  One Republican proposal on STEM worker visas was brought to a vote in September of this year.  The plan would have increased the number of visas available for STEM workers by 50,000, while eliminating the diversity visa program.  The diversity visa program, also known as the visa lottery, makes 50,000 visas available to people born in areas of the world that have sent the fewest immigrants to the United States in the past five years.

The GOP bill was brought to the floor in September under the suspension calendar, and needed a two-thirds majority to pass in the House of Representatives.  While the proposal failed to gain the required support in September, the bill to expand the number of STEM visas came to the floor on the regular calendar, and passed the House on November 30, 2012.  The bill passed, and was introduced in the Senate.

In the Senate, Republican John Cornyn sought unanimous consent to bring the bill on STEM worker visas to a vote.  Democrat Chuck Schumer objected, noting that while Democrats favored expanding the number of visas available for STEM workers, that Democrats did not believe it had to be done by eliminating the visas available under other immigration programs.

The political wrangling over immigration reform has therefore begun.  There is a question over whether the Democrats will even permit immigration reform to pass.  If immigration reform were to pass, it would rob the Democrats of a political issue where they believe they have an advantage over Republicans. 

This first foray into the issue of immigration reform, therefore, does not bode well for the passage of comprehensive reform.  If political parties cannot agree on the specifics of this one issue, where there is general agreement for the need to expand the visas available for STEM workers, then finding common ground on a host of other immigration topics could prove elusive.

By: William J. Kovatch, Jr.
(703) 837-8832
info@kovatchimmigrationlaw.com

What is the Diversity Visa Lottery?

You may have heard people talking about "winning the lottery" when they explain how they came to the United States.  What exactly does "winning the lottery" mean?  Can just anyone get a visa by winning a lottery?

It is true that U.S. law provides for a lottery to make visas available for 50,000 people each year.  But, that is a deceptively simple way of explaining it.  The program is called the diversity visa lottery.  The idea is to give countries that have traditionally sent fewer immigrants to the United States the chance to have their nationals come to the United States.

Visas through the lottery are made available to countries that have sent the fewest immigrants to the United States in the last five years.  No on country can account for more than 7% of the total of visas available for that year.  Plus, there are qualifications that the immigrant must meet.  The immigrant must have a high school education, or have been working in an occupation that requires two years of training for two of the past five years.

The qualification requirement is where many applicants get tripped up.  There is no requirement that a person meet the qualifications to enter the lottery.  A foreigner simply registers for the lottery online when the registration is open.  This means that a person can win the lottery, think they have a visa, and then become greatly disappointed when the Consulate inform them that they don't have the required education or occupation.

At any rate, the lottery may be on its way out.  In all of the talk of immigration reform, some Republicans are proposing the elimination of the diversity visa lottery, and expanding the number of immigrant visas available to graduates with advanced degrees in science and engineering by 50,000.  Whether this happens remains to be seen.  A bill that would have eliminated the lottery almost passed the House of Representatives in September.

Click here and you can read more about the diversity visa lottery in another article I wrote on the subject.

By:  William J. Kovatch, Jr.
(703) 837-8832
info@kovatchimmigrationlaw.com