Q&A with US embassy: What you need to know about the Visa Lottery
The Electronic Diversity Visa Lottery applications for 2018 which allows successful applicants to migrate to the US is ending this week. President Donald Trump has called for an end to the programme on grounds some individuals accused of terror attack in the US may have used the green card system to gain entry into the country. Goobjoog FM Editor Ahmedweli Hussein spoke with Amanda Roach, the Vice Consul at the US embassy in Nairobi to seek understanding on these issues and more.
Ahmed: Could you explain to our audience what the Lottery Visa entails and who qualifies for?
Every year this visa is applied for once and was started in 1995. It was started by the US Congress and its purpose was to encourage the immigration of citizens from the countries that have less population in the US.
This was made as a target if the migration of a country is less than 50,000 in the last 5 years then the program is open to all such countries except those with high migration which Somalia is among them with the exemption of Nigeria.
Here currently the time for submitting applications is open and will be closed by Wednesday 22nd November 2017 at 8pm East Africa time.
Everyone can apply and there are two simple ways one can qualify. One is to finish education equivalent to high school. The second option is to be specialized in work within a period of 2 years in the past 5 years. The needed specialization for example is a teacher, nurse or doctor. If you want to know the occupations catered for, you can visit our website.
Many Somalis apply yearly but we see small numbers getting the lottery. What is the magic behind it?
As we said before, it is open for the countries with less migration in the US. Their selection is done through a computer randomly and the machine will do the final decision on the accepted applicants.
Many have applied. The previous year alone, more than 14 million persons around the world applied and I am telling you in every week, we conduct interviews with Somalis who want this visa.
We have to remind ourselves that this online application is free for submission and you can submit only request. So don’t be an obstruction to yourself by submitting more than one application. You will not be successful and will not be selected.
You said the process is computerised. Which criteria does the computer use to select and the right people?
Well. People who come from specific countries are allowed to apply. Now if you applied and you choose for example Nigeria, the computer will not accept you to submit your application because Nigerian people are not allowed to apply currently.
Yes it’s a good point. We don’t have an embassy to conduct interviews on visa currently in Somalia. As a result, to receive information on the applicants living in the region for example, I am from Nairobi Embassy. I am conducting interviews with Somalis here. Likewise in Ethiopia and Djibouti. That is one thing that is hard for us because you have to travel there while paying the expenses by yourself.
What is needed is also is for one to have what is equivalent to high school or diploma but unfortunately as an Embassy it is hard for us to confirm the documents from the Somali Ministry of Education. Having this problem, we ask the people to come with other experience on education that they might have from other countries like whether they wanted to attend a university in another country like Kenya or Uganda or if they worked with organization(s) that will support their experience.
Thousands of Somalis join the queue to get this visa yearly. Are preference given to countries in conflicts like Somalia in order to relocate many of them?
For this particular visa, there is no preference given to countries that have been in conflict. Computer does the selection, and it cannot differentiate. However if someone is from a war torn area , there are other options to seek immigration to the US or other countries as a refugee.
President Trump recently declared he would be halting this Lottery. What is the effect of this decision and when will it come into force?
Currently there is no change to the program. Fifty thousand visas of this type are given out yearly around the world. We are continuing to accept the applicants till this month November 22nd 8pm East African time.
Now nothing has been stopped or changed and the activity is going on. This program started 1995 and since then there have been debates about this program. but once again since this program was started by US Congress, they must be involved in the decision to halt it.
Some people are making money from applicants for this visa. Is this a matter of concern to you?
I am encouraging everyone to apply personally for this visa and not to let anyone else to do for them because it’s free. As a result, is not for you to give someone money to apply this visa for you. I am encouraging people not to give money to anyone about it because those taking the money know that this is a free service.
What recommendations do you have for the people who for apply every year?
I am advising everyone that applies to confirm not to obstruct themselves by writing something which is wrong when they are applying. For example, it is needed to send one country application. So if you apply twice for the visa, quickly the computer will stop you and will tell say you do not qualify to apply for this visa.
The other way that will fail you is failure to indicate information about your entire family. For example, if you have a family you have to write. If you have children you have to include their names in the application list if they are younger than 21 years and have no family.
We normally see when people come for interview in the Embassy with no family and children written for them which make them fail in the interview. Therefore initially you have to confirm everything relating to those issues and written well so that you don’t fail in the interview.