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Visa Lottery

 

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.

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Increase Lottery Visas

H.R. 750 – would increase the visa lottery by doubling the number of diversity visas from 55,000 to 110,000 a year. Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas) is the bill's main sponsor.

Cosponsors

S. 1348 (Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007) - would eliminate the visa lottery Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is the measure’s main sponsor.

Cosponsors
Reduce Lottery Visas

H.R. 1430 (Security and Fairness Enhancement [SAFE] for America Act of 2007) - would eliminate the visa lottery, which, each year, gives another 50,000 green cards to people without any regard to their humanitarian need or to what they might offer the country or to their having any family connections here. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) is the measure’s main sponsor.

Cosponsors

H.R. 3064 (Emergency Immigration Workload Reduction and Homeland Security Enhancement Act of 2007) - would suspend the visa lottery until one week after DHS certifies to Congress that specified enforcement and administrative conditions are satisfied, including (among others): (1) full implementation of US-VISIT; (2) DHS has the operational capability to take into custody and remove any alien brought to its attention by a state or local law enforcement agency; (3) random audits of backlogged applications for changes in immigration status are fully implemented and these audits indicate that the incidence of fraud or falsification is no more than three percent of all approved applications; (4) the statutorily-mandated foreign student monitoring system is is fully operational and no educational institutions register or admit illegal aliens; and (5) the number of removals, during each of the four months preceding certification, was at least 25 percent higher than in comparable months of the previous year.

Would suspend the State Department's authority to issue nonimmigrant visas and DHS' authority to admit nonimmigrants, but would authorize DHS to waive this suspension if the visa lottery is eliminated.

Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) is the measure's main sponsor.

No Cosponsors

H.R. 3217 (Terror Immigration Elimination Act of 2007) - would prohibit, without review by the president, the granting of an immigrant visa via the visa lottery to a national of Saudi Arabia or any other "designated country" whose government has repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism or whose government has not cooperated fully with U.S. antiterrorism efforts. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) is the measure's main sponsor.

No Cosponsors
H.R.4065 -would eliminate the visa lottery, which gives another 50,000 green cards to people each year without any regard to their humanitarian needs, skill and education, or whether they have any family in the United States. Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) is the bill’s main sponsor.

Cosponsors
H.R. 6090 - would replace the current visa lottery system (55,000 visas currently focused on nationality and minimum work/educational degree requirements) with a system targeted at applicants with advanced degrees. Specifically, the program would include "qualified immigrants who hold a masters or doctorate degree in the life sciences, the physical sciences, mathematics, technology, or engineering. The end result would be more high-tech and other highly educated workers, possibly in job areas not traditionally affected by H-1B visas. This bill does not affect overall immigration numbers. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is the bill’s main sponsor.

Cosponsors
S. 2868 - would replace the visa lottery system (55,000 visas currently focused on nationality and minimum work/educational degree requirements) with a system targeted at applicants with advanced degrees. Specifically, the program would include "qualified immigrants who hold a masters or doctorate degree in the life sciences, the physical sciences, mathematics, technology, or engineering. The end result would be more high-tech and other highly educated workers, possibly in job areas not traditionally affected by H-1B visas. This bill does not affect overall immigration numbers. Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) is the bill’s main sponsor.

Cosponsors


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