Greencard » Diversity lottery

United States Association of Immigrants Launches New Social Web Site

admin — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:18:19 +0000

The United States Association of Immigrants at myUSAi.org today announced a new social immigration portal for those who share a passion for immigrating to the USA and integrating into American culture. It includes secure Facebook Connect technology allowing users to import their existing Facebook identity for seamless access by millions of existing Facebook members worldwide.

Visitors can access a Discussion Forum for immigrants and prospective immigrants moderated by Michael C. Cruse, Esq., a member of the Pennsylvania Bar and American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). He is also the editor of the sixth edition of Win the Greencard Lottery! the COMPLETE Do-It-Yourself Guide (ISBN 9780981693828). Co-author J. Stephen Wilson is an immigration writer with the Albuquerque Immigration Examiner, founder of myGreencard.com, and President of the United States Association of Immigrants.

read the full story at PR Web

Odds of a green card lottery winner actually getting a greencard [source: Examiner]

admin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:46:18 +0000

Many DV lottery sites estimate the chances of winning the lottery based on the overall chances of getting selected. These odds are dependent on the number of entrants and other factors. For DV-2011, we previously estimated that approximately 17 million will register for the calendar year 2009 lottery from eligible countries.
If accurate, then the overall chances of receiving a winning letter from the U.S. State Department are 100,000 in 17 million, or 0.6 percent (one in 170). However, the odds of getting a visa are 50% of that, since only 50,000 of the initial 100,000 are actually issued a visa. This means the overall odds are not 1 in 170, but closer to 1 in 340. But is this really true?

Once all applications are received by the cutoff date and the Department of State performs its lottery, 100,000 winners are chosen at random by their computers. A maximum of 50,000 will eventually obtain immigrant visas or greencard. The remaining 50,000 initially chosen will not qualify for the visas for various reasons. What this also means is that there will not be a sufficient number of visas for all of those who are initially selected. And all applicants who are selected will be informed promptly by postal mail (not e-mail) of their place on the list, or they can determine their winning status online.

Each month the Department of State determines how many visas will be issued (numbers permitting) to those applicants who are ready for issuance either by having completed the appropriate forms and submitting documents within the U.S., via CIS, or abroad to U.S. consular offices.

The Department of State will assign each application to one of six geographic regions of the world: 1) Africa, 2) Asia, 3) Europe, 4) North America, 5) Oceania, and 6) South America, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Of course, some of these regions contain countries that are ineligible for a particular year’s DV lottery.
When selected, each application will be assigned an application number. This number will determine where on the list an applicant stands within his/her country and region of origin. For some applicants, it is nothing more than an identification characteristic; for others it will actually determine when and if they can receive an immigrant visa or greencard, as we explain in the next article.

[source: Examiner]

New online service aims to eliminate greencard lottery scams

admin — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:07:20 +0000

Every year millions of people submit their application to the Diversity Immigrant Visa program, also known as the greencard lottery – more than 13 million applied last year. Submitting the application is free, but the process is complicated by stringent photo requirements. The applicant must submit a digital passport photo that adheres to various specifications, such as a minimal color depth (24-bit) and resolution (150 dpi).

The complex requirements have generated a market for services offering submission to the greencard lottery at a hefty price of $50-$150. In many cases, such services use misleading and illegal techniques to acquire customers (for more information, see the FTC’s Consumer Alert at www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt003.shtm). The government’s forms are simple, and the application is free, but nevertheless people have turned to these services due to the stringent photo requirements.

www.eGreenCardPhoto.com is a new online service that enables anyone to create a fully compliant digital photo for the greencard lottery. The service is 100% free, and is sponsored by ePassportPhoto.com, the leader in online passport photos which has served millions of customers since 2005. By following three simple steps, eGreenCardPhoto.com makes it easy and free for anyone to apply to the greencard lottery while avoiding the green card lottery submission services, often known as green card lottery scams.

Diversity lottery for greencard

admin — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:59:41 +0000

You have until noon on Monday, Nov. 30, to submit your online entry for the DV-2011 greencard lottery. For more information, go to http://www.travel.state.gov/ and click on Diversity Lottery Instructions. Don’t wait until the last day to enter – government computers sometimes get overloaded.

How will you find out whether you won the greencard lottery?

Sometime this spring, the State Department will notify winners by regular mail. You will not receive notice by e-mail. In recent years, immigrants were plagued by e-mail scams claiming they won the lottery and asking for money. Don’t be fooled by these con artists!