DV-2012

A national media outlet is seeking comment from DV-2012 winners. If anyone is willing to speak to the media about this situation, please contact me directly at white@bridgewest.com  Please indicate Media in the subject line. In your e-mail please indicate your name, telephone number, and location (city/country) .  Thank you.

For those unable to open the questionnaire, please find two other versions below: .doc and pdf. If completed by hand, please make sure that the handwriting is legible. Thank you! questionnairedv2012doc questionnairedv2012pdf0001

In response to my earlier post, completed questionnaires are starting to flow in. Thank you. I would like to allay any concerns out there about the use of information contained in questionnaires: 1. Completion of the questionnaire is entirely voluntary. Any possible resolution to the issue at hand will most likely relate to the entire class of 22,000, not just those who fill in this questionnaire.  Obviously, I am not making any representations that completing the questionnaire will somehow help you.  Nevertheless, I do believe that collecting and synthesizing information will be important going forward. 2. One of the questions in the questionnaire relates to privacy.  If you do not wish your name disclosed to the Department of State, you would indicate “No” in response. 3. We are a team of professionals. We have been battling erroneous and misguided decisions of consular officers and DOS officials for nearly 20 years….

The Department of State’s invalidation of the DV-2012 results has left 22,000 winners distraught.  And they have a right to be – they did nothing wrong, started to act on their winning notifications, and now have had the carpet pulled out from underneath them. Why can’t the Department allow those winners to remain and conduct a new drawing on July 15 for 78,000-100,000 additional selectee slots?  This is the topic of my letter to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services, David Donahue:  donahuefinal1        

In an unprecedented decision, the Department of State has invalidated the DV-2012 Lottery results.  Here is the official announcement: http://dvlottery.state.gov/ The Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services confirmed what was pointed out in earlier blogs and our letter to the Visa Office – that the Lottery was not random because the overwhelming majority (90%) selected were those who submitted entries on October 5th and 6th, thereby violating one of the requirements of the Lottery. As a result, a new Lottery will be conducted, with all entries submitted during the October 5-November 3 timeframe being eligible.  Unfortunately, for those who “won” – they are no longer winners.  However, they will have another chance to be selected. The winners will be announced on or about July 15, 2011. Stay tuned…      

As pointed out in our previous blog entry, the overwhelming majority of winners in the DV-2012 Lottery were those who submitted entries on October 5 and 6th. We have seen two surveys confirming this: 1. in which 74% of the winners (sampling of 957) submitted entries on October 5th and 6th – http://www.govorimpro.us/showthread.php?t=28753&page=5 (Russian language) 2. in which 82% of the winners (sampling of 153) submitted entries on October 5th and 6th.  http://www.ulitka.com/%D0%9D%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B5/%D0%97%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D1%8C_%D0%B2%D1%8B%D0%B8%D0%B3%D1%80%D1%8B%D1%88%D0%B0_%D0%BE%D1%82_%D0%B4%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%8B_%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B0%D1%87%D0%B8_%D0%B7%D0%B0%D1%8F%D0%B2%D0%BA%D0%B8_dv-2012_a-50985.html (Russian language) Also of interest is the statistic from these surveys that if one submitted an entry on those dates, the chances of winning were more than 50%.  In general, the chances of being selected are 1-2%. We renew our call for the Department of State to investigate this “non-random” Lottery.

The day that millions of people waited for the world over ended in … scandal.  On May 1 DV-2012 Lottery participants learned their fate: whether their entries were selected, or were being told “better luck next year (if there is a Lottery next year).”  But what the losing participants did not count on was that the overwhelming majority of winners were those who submitted their entries on October 5 and 6, 2010, the first two days of the DV-2012 Lottery.  For DV-2012, the “early birds” did get the proverbial worm – the right to pursue immigrant visa applications at US consular posts abroad or adjust status to permanent resident if lawfully located in the United States. As a reminder, the Department of State accepted DV-2012 entries from October 5 until November 3, 2010.  DOS encouraged applicants not to wait “until the last week” to submit their entries in order to…