Please look for an announcement in this space on Sunday night (Pacific Time).  Thank you for your patience.

Thank you all for your patience. The lawsuit will be submitted to the court this week.  I will inform you once it has been filed and registered.

In response to many of your questions, please see the attached faq Thank you.

You may recall that on May 25, 2011, we requested that the Office of Inspector General at the Department of State launch an investigation into the invalidation of the DV-2012 results.  We have now received a reply from the General Counsel within the Office of Inspector General at the Department of State: Mr. White: Deputy Inspector General Geisel asked me to reply to your letter to him, dated May 25, 2011.  Thank you for your letter and your interest in this matter.  The Department has asked the Office of Inspector General to review the Diversity Visa Lottery matter and we have agreed to do so. Sincerely, Erich O. Hart Erich O. Hart General Counsel Office of Inspector General Department of State While no additional details were provided, one can surmise that this is an encouraging sign. Nevertheless,  this should in no way detract from our resolve to proceed with our lawsuit;…

It is readily apparent that the Department of State does not wish to engage in a constructive dialog on this problem. Therefore, we must prepare for the next step. I will be contacting individuals who filled out our questionnaires.  I will continue to periodically update this blog and send out e-mails to those who have written to me.  If you have not contacted me yet and wish to receive e-mails, please send me a note at white@bridgewest.com In the meanwhile I would encourage you and your relatives/friends to continue to contact congressional offices and tell your stories.  It is so very important. The Department of State is counting on you going away, to forget about this, to go back to your normal lives.  Don’t let it happen… Thank you.    

Thank you to everyone for your support. I would ask that you please redouble your efforts in contacting the US media and news outlets in your home countries.  Please share my letters to Mr. Donahue and the Office of Inspector General with the media; translate them into your local languages and publish them, or forward them to your national newspapers.  Please relate your stories; they are poignant and heartbreaking. It is imperative that your stories are told  so that US government officials and the public understand the scope of this tragedy. Please send me (white@bridgewest.com) links to any DV-2012 newspaper articles and videos.  Thank you.

If you have a US citizen or permanent resident relative or friend, please contact them and request that they contact their senator and congressman.  Here are the links to the offices of senators and congressmen: http://senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm http://www.house.gov/representatives/ Please forward to your friend/relative in the US our two letters to the Department of State (posted on this blog – to David Donahue and to Office of Inspector General), and have them send those letters to the senators and congressmen. Please keep me posted on any progress by e-mailing me at white@bridgewest.com (request: please indicate Congress in the subject line). Thank you for your help!

Attached is our letter to the Office of Inspector General at the Department of State calling for an investigation into the DOS decision to invalidate the results. OIG is the “watchdog” in the Department.  It ensures that action by DOS officials is not wasteful; does not result from mismanagement; and is not detrimental to American policy goals. As detailed in the letter, the Department’s decision to invalidate the results will come at great expense to the American taxpayer; is a result of DOS mismanagement of the situation; and will irreparably harm US image abroad.  Therefore, an investigation is warranted, with a view towards rectifying this malfeasance by permitting the 22,000 selectees to remain winners and holding a drawing for the remaining slots. oig letter final final signed  

If you were selected in the DV-2012 Lottery, are currently studying or working in the US, and have not contacted me yet, please send me an e-mail at white@bridgewest.com Thank you.

As you all have noted, American public image overseas has been severely damaged because of this fiasco.  It is absolutely critical to share your experience with the public and shape the court of public opinion in your home countries.   Thank you to those who have created and posted videos.  Here are a few links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JK_23uMN0d0&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gihogZrd8sw&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp-pAVUu5D4&feature=related    

Thank you to all of you, including a Mathematics Ph.D., who have educated me on the randomness issue.  My initial reaction that the results were not random was based on the unusual skewing of the results and the possibility that the results were manipulated, warranting further investigation.  I now see that while the results were not uniform, they are random. Here is my own simplistic 2 step analysis: 1. Mathematically speaking, these results certainly could have have occurred naturally.  As such, the results are random. 2. Even if the results did not occur naturally because of a “computer glitch”, the results are still random because no one in advance knew how to increase one’s chances. Thus there was a level playing field.  Example: Lotto – 6 numbers drawn 1-40. Computer glitch causes a drawing in which the 6 numbers drawn are 1-6.  But no one knew about it in advance.  It would seem…

Armande has passed on a link to her interview on Univision: http://noticias.univision.com/inmigracion/videos/video/2011-05-22/loteria-de-visas-afectada-por Also, notable in the video is the appearance of a DOS official, defending the invalidation. Thank you, Armande, for getting the word out!

We will be posting our latest correspondence to the Department of State on this blog later today.  Stay tuned.

Thank you to those who completed the questionnaires.  I am truly overwhelmed by the response.   Your backgrounds are very, very impressive and your stories are heartwrenching.   America truly needs people like you! To those who have completed the questionnaire and authorized distribution to the Department of State – I will be sure to pass on to officials the relevant details.  Besides the devastation experienced by many of you, it is obvious that hundreds of thousands in dollars in expense were incurred.  Life changing plans were made – one person got married upon learning of selection; one person quit his job in India to move back to Africa in preparation; one person sold his car; another gave up his apartment.  Hopefully, the Department of State will recognize these very real human tragedies and act prudently in rectifying this travesty. I urge you to tell your compelling stories to the…