IMMIGRANT VISAS
Green Card Lottery Scams
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 will 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.
According to lawyers at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation's consumer protection agency, some businesses and attorneys misrepresent their services by saying that:
- they are affiliated with the U.S. government;
- they have special expertise or a special entry form that is required to enter the lottery;
- their company has never had a lottery entry rejected;
- their company can increase an entrant's chances of "winning" the lottery;
- people from ineligible countries still are "qualified" to enter the lottery.
In addition, some companies jeopardize an entrant's opportunity to participate in the lottery by filing several entries. These companies also may charge lottery-winning applicants substantial fees to complete the application process.
A delay in processing a winner's application can ruin his or her chance for a green card because the State Department selects more winners than there are visas available. The State Department awards visas to winners on a first-come, first-served basis. In addition, a winning application is only valid for one federal fiscal year (October 1 - September 30). For example, winners of the DV-2008 lottery must apply for a visa between October 1, 2007, and September 30, 2008.
Protecting Yourself from Fraud
The FTC says the best way to protect against green card lottery scams is to understand how the State Department's lottery works.
There is no charge to enter the green card lottery. You can enter on your own at the State Department's Web site - www.dvlottery.state.gov. You'll need to answer a few questions and provide passport-style digital photographs. You'll get an acknowledgment from the State Department once you've submitted your entry.
Hiring a company or attorney to enter the lottery for you is your decision, but the person you pay will have to follow the same procedure. And your chance of being selected is the same whether you submit the entry or you pay someone to do it for you.
Submit only one entry. If you submit more than one, you will be disqualified.
Selection of entries is random. Spouses who are eligible for the DV lottery can apply separately; the "losing" spouse can enter the country on the Diversity Visa of the "winning" spouse. This is the only legitimate way to significantly increase your chance of entering the U.S. through the DV lottery.
Be alert to Web sites promising government travel or residency documents online or by mail. Except for entering the DV lottery, most applications for visas, passports, green cards, and other travel and residency documents must be completed in person before a U.S. consular officer.
Be thoughtful about who you send your personal documents to. Unless you have an established relationship with a business, do not mail birth certificates, passports, drivers' licenses, marriage certificates, Social Security cards, or other documents with your personal identifying information to businesses promising to complete your application for travel or residency documents. These businesses may be engaged in identity theft.
Be skeptical of Web sites posing as U.S. government sites. They may have domain names similar to government agencies, official-looking emblems (eagles, flags, or other American images like the Statue of Liberty or the U.S. Capitol), the official seals or logos of - and links to - other government sites, and list Washington, D.C., mailing addresses. If the domain name doesn't end in ".gov," it's not a government site. Bogus sites may charge for government forms. Don't pay; government forms and instructions for completing them are available from the issuing U.S. government agency for free.
