Local rush to join green card lottery for immigration to U.S.

By Edith Hartanto and Kornelius Purba

JAKARTA (JP): Many people dream about living in America and Indonesians are no exception. For the past few months there have been various schemes floated by immigration agents promoting green card lottery applications.

Green card lotteries are probably the least burdensome way to obtain an immigration visa to the United States, as there is no application fee. Other procedures, in contrast, are long, complicated and expensive.

The United States' Immigration Act of 1990 makes 55,000 permanent (immigrant) resident visas available each year by random selection through a diversity visa lottery (DV-2000), popularly known as the green card lottery.

According to a U.S. State Department media statement, the Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NCARA) passed by Congress in November 1997 reserves 5,000 of the 55,000 annually allocated visas for the NCARA program.

Natives of the following countries are not allowed to apply for the green card lottery program: Canada, China (mainland and Taiwan, except Hong Kong), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Philippines, Poland, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam. They are listed as high- admission countries.

According to the State Department, high-admission countries are those from which the United States has received more than 50,000 immigrants during the last five years in the immediate relative, family and employment preference categories.

Each year, the Immigration and Naturalization Service adds the family and employment immigrant admission figures for the previous five years to identify the countries which must be excluded from the annual diversity lottery.

Several Indonesian immigration agents, who act as brokers, offer services to help prospective applicants complete the application forms correctly, handle them and arrange their delivery to the U.S.

"We make sure that all applications delivered are safely received in U.S. so that the applicants are eligible for the draw," said a representative of one agent.

National Visa Service, US Green Card Center, I.I.S. Indo. (International Immigration Service Indonesia) and National Visa Lottery Agency are among the agents who frequently advertise their services.

The service fee charged by the agents varies, ranging from Rp 250,000 (US$22.50) for one person to $US90 for a couple. The lottery program itself is free.

Is it that easy for an applicant (to be lucky) to win the lottery, which some say is like picking a needle in a haystack?

No one can answer the question. The fact is that many people have joined the green card lottery program to try their luck.

Dudi Sutjipto, a resident of Ciputat, South Jakarta told The Jakarta Post during a break in an immigration seminar that he became interested in joining the green card lottery program after reading an advertisement in a paper.

"Later I opened some websites on the program. They're interesting, and I think I'm qualified. Who knows? It's worth a try. Some of my relatives are studying or working abroad.

"So I decided to try my luck," the 29-year-old architect said. While he is still single, Dudi says he hopes his chances (of getting picked) will be bigger.

When asked what made him pay that much money to the agent in this economic crisis, he said:

"Well.. if you want to gain something you have to give up something, right? I do not really want to care about that. I'm just interested because a great number of people all over the world are participating in the program."

Lisa Wijaya, a 27-year-old bank employee said she joined the lottery scheme simply because she wanted to live abroad.

"Look at it this way. The country's situation has not yet improved. And this lottery program is for free and very easy."

"For some people, joining a lottery is a foolish thing ... but I could not possibly leave work and go through a long immigration procedure myself. It's too complicated, time-consuming and must be very expensive."

Indrawan, a 40-year-old private company employee said he was not tempted by the scheme offered on a website.

"The competitors...woow. Too many people are taking part in the 'lucky' draw. The chance of getting picked is very small. I thought of joining the program before, but then I decided not to, learning that a brokering agent charged a fee in U.S. dollars for its services. It's too expensive.

"Let's say it costs $50, meaning that we have to pay some Rp 550,000. It's too much. Besides, we do not know how the lottery works. Is it fair?"

But after the Post told him that the draw itself was free, Indrawan nodded his head in confusion. "Well, I'll have to think about it again, then."

Bonnie, a project engineer, offered a contrasting opinion. "I joined the draw simply because it is easy and appealing. I know the possibility is very small, but who knows?"

Claim

The agents operating here claim their services are more than just profit-oriented.

"We help those who want to join the program. Many people here are still confused even about filling up the application forms. We guide them to avoid mistakes in the very simple things like writing their names (first, middle, last name)," Titi Susilowati, an I.I.S. Indo. employee, said.

I.I.S. Indo. charges US$50 for one person or a family and US$90 for two people (for a couple of a husband and wife).

There are agents which set lower rates. The U.S. Green Card Center on Jl. Teh No. 21 F-G in West Jakarta, for example, asks for only Rp 250,000 for one person and Rp 350,000 for a family.

"Our deadline is October 10 and I think many residents here are very interested in joining the program," said Dwi Yanti, one of U.S. Green Card Center staff.

One may ask if it is worth using the agent services to join the green card lottery program?

According to Craig J. Stromme, press attach at the U.S. Embassy, there is no connection between the immigration agents and the embassy.

"We do not have any relations with such agents and we do not collect fees. The lottery is free and there is no initial application fee or anything like that."

He also reiterated that it was very easy to join the draw.

"The procedures and requirements are very simple and clear. You can do it yourself," he said, adding that residents could open http://www.usembassyjakarta.org on the Internet for further information about visa and green card lottery programs.

He, however, had no idea on how large the "haystack" was or how many Indonesians applied.

The website contains information on visas, green card lottery (DV-2000) and immigration matters.