DV Lottery Cancelled? Anyone hear this before?

[Enigma11561 336]

US Congress passes bill to cancel diversity visa (DV Lottery)

Posted by admin on December 5, 2012 7 Comments

By Stephen Dinan

(The Washington Times) – The House voted Friday to cancel the annual diversity visa lottery and give those immigration visas to high-tech foreign-born who earn advanced degrees from American universities, as Republicans powered through their chamber the first major immigration bill since the election.

The 245-139 vote was a test of the GOP’s plan to tackle immigration piecemeal, and while the bill passed, the strong opposition from Democrats suggests that Republicans’ strategy will face difficult hurdles.

And while the chief selling point of the bill was to boost green cards given to science, technology, engineering and technology students, the bigger fight came over Republicans’ plans to cancel the diversity visa lottery, which the GOP argues is rife with fraud.

“We want to put to the head of the line the people who, every single one of them that comes, net creates jobs,” said Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican, who managed the bill on the House floor.

Democrats, though, objected to making immigration a zero-sum equation, where any new visas would have to come at the expense of existing lines of immigration. “I can’t support a bill that pits immigrant communities against each other,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, the ranking Democrat on the House immigration subcommittee.

She also said that it’s not a one-to-one exchange, and immigration would actually decrease under the GOP bill.

While all 55,000 diversity visas are used every year, she said statistics from the National Science Foundation show that there are only about 30,000 students a year who would even qualify.

After Hispanics were credited with helping boost President Obama in this year’s elections, both parties have been eager to find ways to tackle immigration.

Democrats say they want to pass a broad bill that legalizes most illegal immigrants and rewrites the legal immigration system, while House Speaker John A. Boehner has said his chamber will go piece-by-piece.

Both Republicans and Democrats agree more should be done to keep desirable would-be immigrants, such as those earning advanced degrees, here in the U.S. But they disagree over whether to do that as a stand-alone, or what should be coupled with it.

In the case of this week’s bill, it eliminates the diversity visa lottery — a long-time target of some Republicans, who say it invites fraud and could be a national security risk.

The lottery doles out immigration visas based on chance, with the goal of giving those in lesser-represented countries a chance to earn a spot. Every year, millions of would-be immigrants apply for the 55,000 slots.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, who wrote the legislation, said the visa lottery invites fraud.

In an effort to sweeten the bill for Democrats, he included a provision that would allow legal immigrants to let their family members, who are also seeking green cards, to wait in the U.S. with them, rather than have to wait in their home countries.

[DaveE 178]

US Congress passes bill to cancel diversity visa (DV Lottery)

Posted by admin on December 5, 2012 7 Comments

By Stephen Dinan

(The Washington Times) – The House voted Friday to cancel the annual diversity visa lottery and give those immigration visas to high-tech foreign-born who earn advanced degrees from American universities, as Republicans powered through their chamber the first major immigration bill since the election.

The 245-139 vote was a test of the GOP’s plan to tackle immigration piecemeal, and while the bill passed, the strong opposition from Democrats suggests that Republicans’ strategy will face difficult hurdles.

And while the chief selling point of the bill was to boost green cards given to science, technology, engineering and technology students, the bigger fight came over Republicans’ plans to cancel the diversity visa lottery, which the GOP argues is rife with fraud.

“We want to put to the head of the line the people who, every single one of them that comes, net creates jobs,” said Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican, who managed the bill on the House floor.

Democrats, though, objected to making immigration a zero-sum equation, where any new visas would have to come at the expense of existing lines of immigration. “I can’t support a bill that pits immigrant communities against each other,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, the ranking Democrat on the House immigration subcommittee.

She also said that it’s not a one-to-one exchange, and immigration would actually decrease under the GOP bill.

While all 55,000 diversity visas are used every year, she said statistics from the National Science Foundation show that there are only about 30,000 students a year who would even qualify.

After Hispanics were credited with helping boost President Obama in this year’s elections, both parties have been eager to find ways to tackle immigration.

Democrats say they want to pass a broad bill that legalizes most illegal immigrants and rewrites the legal immigration system, while House Speaker John A. Boehner has said his chamber will go piece-by-piece.

Both Republicans and Democrats agree more should be done to keep desirable would-be immigrants, such as those earning advanced degrees, here in the U.S. But they disagree over whether to do that as a stand-alone, or what should be coupled with it.

In the case of this week’s bill, it eliminates the diversity visa lottery — a long-time target of some Republicans, who say it invites fraud and could be a national security risk.

The lottery doles out immigration visas based on chance, with the goal of giving those in lesser-represented countries a chance to earn a spot. Every year, millions of would-be immigrants apply for the 55,000 slots.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, who wrote the legislation, said the visa lottery invites fraud.

In an effort to sweeten the bill for Democrats, he included a provision that would allow legal immigrants to let their family members, who are also seeking green cards, to wait in the U.S. with them, rather than have to wait in their home countries.

So -it was a statement made by the House of Representatives. Not even close (or ever will be) of becoming law. The Senate wouldn't go along with it and the President would not sign it.

[egypt.w&z 1]

Hi, I know the original post is old, so I'm trying to see if anyone has heard or read about the next DV 2016, if it will still be held, or if the DV lottery is cancelled after the current one is over.

I've looked around online, and I see mixed information. Nothing yet on the State Dept's website, as it's still early in the year (if the next one is going to be held in October as usual).

Thanks and good luck to all!

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

Hm, there was a comment by a department of state official around the time of the 2015 draw indicating that DV2016 entries would open in October. I can't remember where I saw it though.

[guestgulkan 9]

Hi, I know the original post is old, so I'm trying to see if anyone has heard or read about the next DV 2016, if it will still be held, or if the DV lottery is cancelled after the current one is over.

I've looked around online, and I see mixed information. Nothing yet on the State Dept's website, as it's still early in the year (if the next one is going to be held in October as usual).

Thanks and good luck to all!

I think this got killed in the Senate and now they're working on a new bipartisan law which is being debated.

[egypt.w&z 1]

Thanks for the replies, sounds hopeful that it will still be around for a while I'll keep checking the State Dept's website for updates, of course....

[Sloner 0]

http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/law-and-policy/bulletin/2014/visa-bulletin-for-june-2014.html

Dates for the DV-2016 program registration period will be widely publicized in the coming months. Those interested in entering the DV-2016 program should check the Department of State’s Visa web page in the coming months.

[zuroma999 12]

Immigration reform in the US is a big issue and both major parties want to be the ones who push through their version of it. If its like past issues, there will have to concessions on the side of democrats to get some of their other desperately sought reforms (regarding path to citizenship for illegal immigrants) through.

So who knows how many more years the DV has, and if it does stay around, it may not be in its current form (less numbers or more restrictions). But its a very slow process so DV2016 will happen, as will the next few years.

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

If they have to vote to cancel it you can count on it not being cancelled..

But I love the reason meantioned in the original post of giving GCs to foreign college students at the top of their class instead. We only have Elon Musk because his mother was Canadian which made it easier for him to get to North America from Africa.. We need to find more ways to get the brilliant people to come and stay.

Edited June 4, 2014 by OnMyWayID

[egypt.w&z 1]

Thank you for all the positive info and best wishes to all applying