Paid Submissions Services

Green Card / Diversity Lottery Issues

Paying a Service for Review or Application

---

Diversity Visa Lottery:  Are Paid Review and/or Submission Services Worthwhile?

The short answer: Absolutely NOT!

Each year, the United States State Department conducts a lottery through its DV program to distribute applications for 50,000 immigrant visas. Winners of the lottery have a chance to apply for an immigrant visa, which can be used to enter the U. S. Winners are selected randomly, and there is no fee to enter the lottery.  It is easy to enter online, and generally, there is no reason to pay a company to make the submission for you!

Some people, especially non-native English speakers and people who simply are not careful in following directions may find an application service useful. In doing so, it is important to chose carefully, as there are many scam organizations.

One example of a green card lottery organization that offers to help in the submission process is www.USAFIS.org CFR has received complaints from an unhappy customers. The United States State Department says this in regard to USAFIS (see this page for the source):

Has USAFIS (www.usafis.org) been authorized by the government to register individuals for the US Green Card lottery program for a fee?

Andrew Simkin:

Mandy,

The Diversity Visa Lottery program, established by Congress, is administered by the Department of State. Foreign applicants may register for the program directly, on-line, without any intermediary. The Department of State has not enlisted or authorized any third parties to assist in this process. More information is available at http://travel.state.gov.

The public should be aware that there have been several attempts to defraud Diversity Visa Lottery entrants. Lottery entrants selected as winners in the Diversity Visa random drawing are notified only by the Department of State's Kentucky Consular Center. No other organization or company is authorized by the Department of State to contact winning entrants.

The United States government, also says this (see this page for the source).  We have highlighted a few passages to draw you attention to them:

If you or someone you know is trying to get a green card - the right to live in the United States permanently - be on the lookout for unscrupulous businesses and attorneys. They'll claim that, for a fee, they can make it easier to enter the U. S. State Department's annual Diversity Visa (DV) lottery (also known as the "green card lottery") or increase your chances of winning the DV lottery.

Each year, the State Department conducts a lottery through its DV program to distribute applications for 50,000 immigrant visas. Winners of the lottery have a chance to apply for an immigrant visa, which can be used to enter the U. S. Winners are selected randomly, and there is no fee to enter the lottery.

Entries to the DV lottery must be submitted online at www.dvlottery.state.gov. (This site is only accessible during the application period.) Paper entries or mail-in requests will not be accepted. Lottery entrants must include a passport-style digital photograph and separate digital photographs of any spouse and children under 21 years of age. Group photographs are not allowed. Check with the State Department for technical requirements of the digital photograph.

Entries are accepted for a limited time. For the DV-2009 Lottery (to be conducted in 2007), the application period is from October 3, 2007, through December 2, 2007. DV-2009 visas will be issued between October 1, 2008 and September 30, 2009. Check with the State Department for entry dates for future DV lotteries.

We have revised this page to make it clear that CFR is not saying that USAFIS has broken any laws or conducting a scam, merely that this is an very easy process that most people can do themselves without help.  We are also NOT recommending them.  Repeat, we do NOT recommend USAFIS.

Among other things, USAFIS makes sure customers' applications will qualify for the Green Card Lottery program. We'll readily acknowledge that that there are some people who have difficulty following even simple instructions and those people may find a service like USAFIS useful. Again, we do NOT recommend USAFIS!

We feel that the process is so very simple and easy, we think you'd be foolish to pay someone to do it. The application form only asks for the following information:

• applicant's name
• applicant's date of birth
• applicant's sex (male or female)
• the name of the town where the applicant was born
• the name of the country where the applicant was born
• photograph of the applicant
• applicant's street address
• applicant's email address (optional)
• applicant's phone number (optional)
• applicant's husband's or wife's Name, Date of Birth, Gender, City/Town of Birth, Country of Birth, Photograph

• applicant's children's names, and for each: dates of birth, gender, city/town of birth, country of birth and a photograph

And the US Government will even help you understand the application form, for no charge. Just- call your local US Embassy or Consulate, or visit the local US Embassy or Consulate.

You can see the application form here: http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/ (look for the link to the DV application)

As always, we welcome feedback from both customers and the businesses themselves!  If you have any experience, positive or negative, with USAFIS, please write us!