Apply for Lottery Visas

AS usual, there is a flood of speculation and rumor about the application form for the annual diversity visa lottery program, commonly called the Schumer visas after the New York senator who championed them. Information on the visa program and how to apply is available from www.travel.state.gov.

The application period is between now and December 30 of this year, and 50,000 visas will be allotted to qualifying countries. While it sounds good, in practice the visa lottery has paid off poorly for the Irish with only several hundred on average getting through each year.

Last year Ireland north and south was granted 356 of the 50,000. There were 7.3 million applicants from countries “with low rates of immigration to the United States,” which means the chance of being picked is extremely slim at best.

Ireland gets far fewer than other countries such as Poland or Egypt or Nigeria, whose citizens submit vastly more applications. The Morrison and Donnelly visas back in the 1980s and ‘90s had a set-aside quota for Ireland, which, of course, meant that thousands were guaranteed green cards no matter what.

There is good news and bad news for the Irish in this year’s lottery. For the first time applications will only be accepted online, which means in practice that applicants from many less developed countries will have far less access to computers to complete the application process.

While this represents an unfortunate discrimination, those are the rules this year and the Irish would be remiss not to take advantage of whatever they can.

The bad news is that tightened immigration laws means that those who apply from the United States, who are living here illegally, may possibly be exposing themselves to greater risk than in other years.

This theory states that any applicant sending in an online application is more easily traced, especially as a photograph is required. There are heightened penalties in place for those found to be living here illegally who are selected for a lottery visa.

The reality, however, is that the new Department of Homeland Security is highly unlikely to process millions of applications for Schumer visas with a mind to weeding out those who live in the U.S. illegally.

A realistic safeguard would be to give an Irish address before applying. Rumors that somehow the department will spend time identifying all the computers and where the applications are sent from are total nonsense.

So every eligible Irish person should certainly apply for these visas. The Irish immigration centers around the U.S. are set up to help, especially as it requires knowledge of how to scan in a photo of the applicant. 

For those who cannot make it to an immigration center, it is possible to go to any reputable immigration lawyer to complete the application process. If not that, and you are unsure if you can do it yourself, then a friend who is competent in computers can hopefully make the application for you.

The State Department will begin notifying winners of the lottery sometime next summer. The Department last year notified over 100,000 people, calculating a pick up rate of about 50 per cent.

For those who are successful this time around, it is absolutely imperative that top-notch advice from an immigration lawyer is sought because of penalties for overstaying tourist visas which are quite severe.

The lawyer will know how best to handle each case, and determine if it is worth completing the green card process or not. Again, it is important not to prejudge any such decision, either favorable or not. 

Immigration law is so replete with varying interpretations that it may be entirely possible to claim the visa. Thus, the major error would be not to apply in the first case. 

There is absolutely no benefit in not giving yourself at least the opportunity to capitalize on one of the few ways to become legal in America. This is no time for indecision. Everyone who seeks to become legal here should at least apply.