USA Green Card Immigration Blog

The US State Department is scheduled to release new results for last year’s Diversity Visa Program on or about July 15, 2011.  Check this website for updated information:  http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/

Green Card Applicants File Suit Over Glitch – WSJ.com.

A lawsuit has been filed against the State Department in federal court seeking to reinstate thousands of potential green-card winners whose chance of obtaining U.S. residency was scuttled because of a government computer error.

A record 15 million people from around the world submitted entries to the so-called diversity visa program lottery, which each year offers a quick path to a green card for 50,000 people selected by random draw.

In early May, the State Department notified 22,000 people they were chosen. But soon after, it informed them the electronic draw would have to be held again because a computer glitch caused 90% of the winners to be selected from the first two days of applications instead of the entire 30-day registration period. The government told affected individuals they would be re-entered in a new draw.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Washington, seeks class-action status and names plaintiffs from more than 20 countries. The suit asks that the U.S. government restore its “broken commitment,” stating that chosen individuals had “lawfully and properly” followed rules set forth by the State Department and thought they were among the “lucky few” selected to proceed with the green-card application.

David Donahue, a deputy assistant secretary of state who oversees the program, said the original draw was voided because it “did not represent a fair, random selection of entrants as required by U.S. law,” according to a State Department website.

The lawsuit contends the “outcome was indeed not uniform, but nevertheless still random as required by law.”

Under the program, visas are made available to applicants from countries with low rates of immigration to the U.S. Winners have a shot at settling in the U.S. without a family member or employer as a sponsor, the usual routes to obtaining permanent residency.

Disenchanted applicants from across the globe created a Facebook page dubbed “22,000 Tears” and began collecting signatures for letters to the State Department and U.S. lawmakers in protest. In an email to a reporter, an applicant from Egypt threatened to kill himself if he wasn’t reinstated.

The State Department’s inspector general said earlier this month a team would be assembled to review the situation. A spokesman said Monday the review should be finished within weeks.

Los Angeles attorney Kenneth White, who is representing the individuals in the suit pro-bono, said “the basis of this case is deep-rooted in the simple and enduring American value that ‘our word is our bond.”‘

Armande Gil, a French neuropsychologist who earned her Ph.D. in the U.S., said she had a job offer in a Florida hospital that was contingent on getting the green card. “I had an interview on May 2, after I learned I had won,” she said.

Launched in 1990 to promote diversity in the immigrant population, the green-card lottery is now open to people from almost anywhere in the world, except countries that already have a large number of nationals in the U.S., including Mexico, China, India and the Philippines. No special skills are required beyond a high-school diploma. Lottery winners eventually qualify for U.S. citizenship.

The number of entries has been on the rise. This year’s total is more than 2.5 times greater than five years ago, when the lottery attracted 5.5 million entries. Immigration scholars attribute the increase to the spread of Internet connectivity and greater awareness of the lottery, which is free to enter.

Critics say the program poses security risks, lures uneducated immigrants and enables individuals with no connection to the U.S. to get into the country more quickly than those sponsored by relatives and employers. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R., Va.) has introduced legislation to abolish it.

Computer glitch voids green card lottery results – This Just In – CNN.com Blogs.

Diversity Visa Lottery 2011 DV-2011 Results.

The Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky has registered and notified the winners of the DV-2011 diversity lottery. The diversity lottery was conducted under the terms of section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and makes available *50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Approximately 100,600 applicants have been registered and notified and may now make an application for an immigrant visa. Since it is likely that some of the first *50,000 persons registered will not pursue their cases to visa issuance, this larger figure should insure that all DV-2011 numbers will be used during fiscal year 2011 (October 1, 2010 until September 30, 2011).

Applicants registered for the DV-2011 program were selected at random from over 12.1 million qualified entries (16.5 million with derivatives) received during the 60-day application period that ran from noon on October 2, 2009, until noon, November 30, 2009. The visas have been apportioned among six geographic regions with a maximum of seven percent available to persons born in any single country. During the visa interview, principal applicants must provide proof of a high school education or its equivalent, or show two years of work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience within the past five years. Those selected will need to act on their immigrant visa applications quickly. Applicants should follow the instructions in their notification letter and must fully complete the information requested.

Registrants living legally in the United States who wish to apply for adjustment of their status must contact U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for information on the requirements and procedures. Once the total *50,000 visa numbers have been used, the program for fiscal year 2011 will end. Selected applicants who do not receive visas by September 30, 2011 will derive no further benefit from their DV-2011 registration. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2011 principal applicants are only entitled to derivative diversity visa status until September 30, 2011.

Only participants in the DV-2011 program who were selected for further processing have been notified. Those who have not received notification were not selected. They may try for the upcoming DV-2012 lottery if they wish. The dates for the registration period for the DV-2012 lottery program will be widely publicized during August 2010.

* The Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) passed by Congress in November 1997 stipulated that up to 5,000 of the 55,000 annually-allocated diversity visas be made available for use under the NACARA program. The reduction of the limit of available visas to 50,000 began with DV-2000.

The following is the statistical breakdown by foreign-state chargeability of those registered for the DV-2011 program:

Natives of the following countries were not eligible to participate in DV-2011:  Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born, excluding Hong Kong S.A.R. and Taiwan), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.

The Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky has registered and notified the winners of the DV-2010 diversity lottery. The diversity lottery was conducted under the terms of section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and makes available *50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Approximately 102,800 applicants have been registered and notified and may now make an application for an immigrant visa. Since it is likely that some of the first *50,000 persons registered will not pursue their cases to visa issuance, this larger figure should insure that all DV-2010 numbers will be used during fiscal year 2010 (October 1, 2009 until September 30, 2010).

Applicants registered for the DV-2010 program were selected at random from over 13.6 million qualified entries received during the 60 day application period that ran from noon on October 2, 2008, until noon, December 1, 2008. The visas have been apportioned among six geographic regions with a maximum of seven percent available to persons born in any single country. During the visa interview, principal applicants must provide proof of a high school education or its equivalent, or show two years of work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience within the past five years. Those selected will need to act on their immigrant visa applications quickly. Applicants should follow the instructions in their notification letter and must fully complete the information requested.

Registrants living legally in the United States who wish to apply for adjustment of their status must contact the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services for information on the requirements and procedures. Once the total *50,000 visa numbers have been used, the program for fiscal year 2010 will end. Selected applicants who do not receive visas by September 30, 2010 will derive no further benefit from their DV-2010 registration. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2010 principal applicants are only entitled to derivative diversity visa status until September 30, 2010.

Only participants in the DV-2010 program who were selected for further processing have been notified. Those who have not received notification were not selected. They may try for the upcoming DV-2011 lottery if they wish. The dates for the registration period for the DV-2011 lottery program will be widely publicized during August 2009.

* The Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) passed by Congress in November 1997 stipulated that up to 5,000 of the 55,000 annually-allocated diversity visas be made available for use under the NACARA program. The reduction of the limit of available visas to 50,000 began with DV-2000.

New registrations can be completed online here: http://www.usa-green-card.com/GC_FormApplication.asp