visa lottery registration

The visa lottery program was established in 1990 and awards approximately 50,000 permanent resident visas to foreign nationals by conducting a random lottery.According to testimony of the State Department’s Inspector General during the 109th Congress, “the Diversity Visa program contains significant risks to national security from hostile intelligence officers, criminals, and terrorists attempting to use the program for entry into the United States as permanent residents.”

Most visas are issued to foreign nationals who have existing relationships with lawful U.S. residents or employers. However, the visa lottery awards permanent resident visas based on pure luck. This leaves open the door to those who want to enter the United States to harm our citizens. For example, the gunman who killed two people at the Los Angeles International Airport on July 4, 2002 was allowed to legally reside in the United States because his wife won the visa lottery.

The visa lottery also is unfair to law-abiding immigrants. Family-sponsored immigrants currently face waits of years to be reunited with their families. Each year, the visa lottery program pushes 50,000 random immigrants ahead of these family-sponsored immigrants waiting to be reunited with their families.