The Green Card Lottery: A 50 Cent Gamble

The green card lottery is an annual program run by the State Department since 1990 randomly allocating 50,000 green cards to individuals from countries that have a low rate of immigration to the United States. It is officially known as the Diversity Visa Program.

The program is not without controversy and has been an opposed by Republicans and supported by Democrats.

This year registration opened on October 1, 2013 and remains open until November 2, 2013. There is no cost to participate and the requirements are minimal. An applicant must have a high school education or its equivalent or two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation requiring at least two years' training or experience.

Natives of the following countries are excluded this year from applying, because they have sent a total of more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. over the past five years:

• Bahamas
• Bangladesh
• Brazil
• Canada
• China (mainland-born)
• Colombia
• Dominican Republic
• Ecuador
• El Salvador
• Haiti
• India
• Jamaica
• Mexico
• Nigeria
• Pakistan
• Peru
• Philippines
• South Korea
• United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories
• Vietnam

Applicants can apply for the lottery from anywhere in the world, and can reapply every year.

If an individual "wins" the lottery they have an approximately 50% chance of getting the green card because  twice as many people are selected than there are visas available in order to meet the full visa quota. Winning applicants can bring their spouse and children under the age of 21 with them to the United States.

This program is particularly useful for individuals who wish to come to the United States but do not have the possibility of family or employer sponsorship. It is advisable if a married couple is applying, for both spouses to register separately because if either is selected they will be able to bring their spouse. Since the repeal of DOMA same-sex spouses are also now eligible to accompany their spouse to the United States.

Immigration Debated, Not Much Said

President Obama and Governor Romney addressed immigration in a debate setting for the first time Tuesday night. The transcript of their remarks can be found at ABC News Univision , and further coverage and commentary can be found from the New York Times, Washington Post, ImmigrationProf Blog, Colorlines, Greg Siskind, and the Huffington Post.

The National Journal reports that of all the topics hitting twitter during the debate immigration had the largest response. This is not surprising given the lack of attention the issue has gotten in the current election cycle. However, I hardly think this is surprising due to the rather sad state of the U.S. economy.

At any rate, I didn’t find anything either candidate said that surprising or compelling. Both began with the oft used “we are a nation of immigrants” and touted their desire to streamline the system, secure the border, and fix illegal immigration.

I would be impressed if either candidate presented a vision for an immigration system that is compatible with today’s global reality.

Missing from the immigration conversation is that the US is bleeding entrepreneurs due to the byzantine labyrinthine immigration system. Missing was attention paid to legal immigrants who have spent thousands of dollars on filing fees, legal fees and played the immigration waiting game for years in order to come here legally. Missing was acknowledgement that Americans do not have a desire to live in a society where we are constantly asked for our “papers.” Anyone who thinks this burden would not fall disproportionately on Latinos and other minority groups are kidding themselves – perpetual paper showing is not a hallmark of a free society. The headaches this mentality causes is on display in Georgia where residents in need of professional licenses are experiencing massive delays in renewing and obtaining new licenses due to new proof of legal presence in the U.S. requirements.

Victor Johnson at NAFSA sums it up well:

The truth is, today’s world of global mobility bears little resemblance to where we were generations ago when the basic structure of U.S. immigration law was created. We need a new, sustainable national policy now. NAFSA supports comprehensive immigration reform that is based on facts, fairness, and a shared future. True comprehensive reform must address the three pillars of border security and enforcement, broad visa reform, and resolution of undocumented persons.

I hope whoever is elected in November is able to move beyond talking points and craft a practical and just solution.

Please Proceed to the Back of the Line, Your Estimated Wait Time is 23 Years

By: Danielle Huntley, Esq.  

I have heard many times from folks on the left and the right that foreigners who wish to immigrate to the U.S. should ideally wait in line for a visa or a green card. I have also heard that illegal aliens should go to the back of the line if they are granted some type of amnesty. But, when pressed, very few can articulate what exactly the line is and who waits in it. Here I am hoping to help, by explaining the mythical line in layman’s terms.

First, some initial definitions are important. All foreigners who come to the U.S. on a visa are divided into one of two categories: immigrants and non-immigrants. An immigrant holds the immigrant visa or, as it is commonly known, the green card. They are legal permanent residents of the U.S. Non-immigrants hold non-immigrant temporary visas like tourist visas, work visas and student visas.

With that out of the way, back to my original question –what exactly is the line and who waits in it?

The line refers to foreigners waiting for the green card. While there are restrictions on certain types of non-immigrant visas they are better understood as quotas, rather than a line.

An immigrant’s place in line for a green card is determined by the date an immigrant petition is filed on their behalf by either a family member, an employer or, in limited instances, for themselves.  The date the petition is filed gives the immigrant their priority date which controls their place in the line.

The line is controlled by the Visa Bulletin put out monthly by the State Department.  Here’s where one of the biggest misconceptions about the line falls apart– there is not a singular line. There are at least 65 different lines for different categories of immigrants.

Each category of immigrant listed in the Visa Bulletin has a cutoff date, which means that USCIS is issuing green cards for immigrant petitions filed in that category before that date. If the Visa Bulletin’s cutoff date in a category is January 1, 2005 then all immigrants in that category with a priority date before January 1, 2005 can be issued green cards.

These lines move at vastly different paces. For some immigrants their time in line lasts as long as it takes USCIS to process the petition, for others the wait can be decades long.

Who has the longest wait for family based petitions? According to the October 2012 Visa Bulletin immigrants in these four categories have the longest wait times:

1. Siblings of U.S. Citizens from the Philippines have the longest wait, a whopping 23 years long.  Their cutoff date is February 8, 1989. (I was in preschool when these petitions were filed).
2. Married children of U.S. Citizens from the Philippines come in at second place with just more than a 20 year wait. Their cutoff date is July 22, 1992.
3. Unmarried children of Permanent Residents who are 21 years of age or older from Mexico come in at third place with just under a 20 year wait. Their cutoff date is October 1, 1992.
4. Married Children of U.S. Citizens from Mexico come in at fourth place with a 19 year wait. Their cutoff date is February 8, 1993.

The wait times calculated above are just estimates. The line does not necessarily advance a month with each monthly bulletin. This highlights how unpredictable and complicated our system is. If comprehensive immigration reform does come to fruition and some type of amnesty is granted, should illegal aliens be able to jump ahead of individuals who have been waiting to immigrate legally to the U.S. for years? If they are to go to the back of the line, which line should they go to the back of? If the wait is decades long is that workable?

In the coming weeks I plan on posting more details on how the Visa Bulletin works and how immigrants are categorized.