|
Recommended:
books
Recommended
AV product:
| |
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!
Response from USAFIS (NOT from the United States government,
and in no way connected to the US government):
From: David Nekrutman [mailto:
davidn@dsnr.net ]
Sent: Sunday, March 25, 2007 6:42 AM
To: CFR2007@ConsumerFraudReporting.org
Subject: Re: Misleading information concerning USAFIS
Organization
To Whom It May Concern,
It has come to our attention that USAFIS Organization has
been mentioned in your site (http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/greencardscam_USAFIS.php)
as a green card lottery website involved in fraudulent
issues. As herein detailed, the aforesaid publications are
misleading and erroneous.
As the operators of USAFIS web site, we wish to furnish you
with some significant details concerning USAFIS:
1. USAFIS ensures its clients that their application to the
U.S. Diversity Visa Green Card program (DV) meets all the
requirements outlined by the U.S. State Department before it
is submitted.
2. USAFIS services include data inspection, correct
completion of the application form, scanning of applicant’s
photos and submission of the application in a timely manner.
3. USAFIS also indicates the option of using the U.S.
Department of State’s website which is free of charge
(http://www.usafis.org).
4. USAFIS does not charge its clients for registering to the
DV, but only for its application inspection service.
5. Furthermore, USAFIS posts on its website that it does not
charge its client for the application submission (http://www.usafis.org/faq/land_english.asp),
in addition to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s warning
about fraudulent green card lottery scams (http://www.usafis.org/consumer_alert.asp)
which is published as well in USAFIS web site.
6. USAFIS prides itself for helping hundreds of thousands of
people with their application to qualify for the Green Card
Lottery program.
7. Our guarantee is that our customers’ application will
qualify for the Green Card Lottery program and nothing else.
In consideration of the above, it is clear that classifying
USAFIS web site as a fraudulent green card lottery services
is improper and in addition, causes DSNR severe damages.
Therefore, you are kindly requested to amend your misleading
publications, print a retraction and remove the incorrect
items of the aforesaid article, from your website.
Sincerely
David Nekrutman
Manager
DSNR Ltd.
For More Information
For details about the State
Department's Diversity Visa lottery:
The FTC works for the consumer to prevent
fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace
and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them.
-
Click here to file a
complaint or
-
Click here to get free
information on consumer issues, or
-
call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261.
The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other
fraud-related complaints into
Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds
of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
|
