Green Card Lottery Service Web Site Reviews

Welcome to the green card lottery services review page from myGreencard.com. The overall results of our latest reviews are shown below. Additional information is available in our free report: 2008 Lottery Services Review.

This year, we examined over 50 visa lottery service web sites and rated each by fee, information content, services, and member collaboration, including whether they have immigration attorney contacts, a working telephone number, a bad service reputation, whether they include information for winners, have basic social networking features, and more. Although the majority of people with a computer do not need to use a lottery service, we include suggestions when to use a lottery service, and most importantly, ways to help you avoid green card lottery "scams" (red flags). We summarized all our data in a final TOTAL. The top score a lottery service can earn is 10 points.

The highest ranking we gave based on our review criteria was myUSAi.org with 8 out of 10 possible points. Rounding out the top 5 sites were: VisaPro, AmericanDream.de, US-immigration.com, and Visalaw.com.

myUSAi.org, the United States Association of Immigrants, is our top ranked site for the second straight year with a rating of 8 out of 10 Total Points. Based on an advertising revenue model, they are the only free visa lottery Web site in the world, for a perfect 2 points out of 2 points for fees. They also offer comprehensive green card lottery information and a complete list of topics for living in America including Banking, Credit Cards, Buying a Home, Citizenship and others, giving them a perfect 2 out of 2 points for content. With a discussion board and live chat targeted at immigrants and others, members can discuss issues in near real time on a variety of subjects of interest to foreign students, U.S. immigrants and others. MyUSAi.org also includes links to free visa forms, immigration news, has and basic social networking features helping immigrants collaborate on topics of interest.

VisaPro.com is another general Visa Site that also offers services to diversity visa entrants. Ranked at 7 out of 10 possible points, VisaPro stands out in two major categories – price and legal consultations. Their fees of $29 per person for one year, and $49 for 2 persons for one year are among the lowest we found for this level of service. They also advertise immigration attorney contacts and provide on-line legal consults for a flat fee. With a Washington DC address and area code, VisaPro runs a large and well done web site.

AmericanDream.de is based in Berlin. This year they earned our next highest rating at 6 out of 10 possible points. They charge $78.00 per person for one year for mail in registrations received before their deadline (discounts for early entries are available). As a member of Germany’s accredited immigration consulting service they get a perfect 2 of 2 points for information. American Dream accepts standard photographs, have immigration attorney contacts, multi-language translations, and helpful links for winners. NationalVisaService.com (NVS) previously tied American Dream for a first place ranking. Last year, NVS and American Dream joined forces and are now under the same ownership. They also own DVLottery.com and Greencard.info.

US-immigration.com is a well designed Visa Site featuring do-it-yourself down-loadable “eKits” for $29.95 each (USD) for green cards, U.S. Visas, and Citizenship. The American Immigration Center also distributes immigration books in hardcopy format by mail for an additional fee. Based out of Las Vegas, NV with a rating of 6 out of 10 points, they charge $50 per person for one year and $50 for family applications. They have been in business since 1995 and have a toll-free telephone number.

VisaLaw.com, owned by the well known immigration law firm of Siskind & Susser of Memphis, Tennessee, was also rated at 6. They appear on our top listings for the forth year in a row. As a legal site, their prices are the highest we reviewed ($100 for one person for one year) but they rank high in service due to their toll free phone number and extensive immigration attorney contacts. VisaLaw has excellent immigration-related links and a top immigration forum. VisaLaw.com received the 2004-2005 Gold Internet Marketing Attorney Award from IMA, a company that ranks immigration law sites.

Do not use a poorly ranked service! Here are just a few sample letters we received. If you've been ripped off or experienced exceptionally bad service, contact us. Conversely, if you've had a great experience, such as winning the lottery, please tell us now!

This 20-page report summarizes and graphs the data not available on our web page or booklet. This free 2008 report is now available on our downloads page.

The Full Report is geared toward an audience of site owners, web masters, immigration professionals, and other consumers of diversity visa lottery information. It includes an Excel spreadsheet with 6 worksheets containing raw data, rankings for each Web site and comments from our review. We also provide contact information (address, phone number, email address) for each site that we can find. The Full Report is available for $250 USD. If you wish to order this additional data, please contact us. (The Full Report is available at no charge to the press.)

To help you determine where the information you may want is located, please see the table below:

Site Redirection/Duplicates. If the site we examine redirects lottery applicants to another URL or is a duplicate of the primary domain, we remove the duplicate or link site from consideration in our review. We review only the primary domain. This site must also be the site that confirms the registration and provides support for the lottery entrant.

Below is an alphabetical list of all the green card lottery web sites we rated in our 2008 review. If you find another lottery service we missed with great service, low fees, and has all the information you need, please let us know! Conversely, if you've had a bad experience, tell us. We hope by providing this information we can help clean up a mini-industry that is becoming overcrowded and problematic.

1mmigration-lottery.com	imminfo.com	usimmigration.com
americangreencard.com	infodomain.com	usgreencardoffice.com
americandream.de	insexperts.com	usgreencardoffice.com
americangreencard.com	myusai.com	usimmigrationagency.org
dotcomgreencard.com	myusai.org	usimmigrationservice.com
dvlottery.com	myusgreencard.com	usa-immigration-package.com
dreamofusa.com	nationalvisaregistry.com	usimmigrationsupport.org
dotcomgreencard.com	nationalvisaservice.com	uslawyer.com
dvlottery.com	official-green-card.org	uslotteryregistration.com
dvlottery.state.gov	rapidimmigration.com	visalaw.com
green-card-lottery.org	shusterman.com	visalotteryregistration.org
green-card-lottery-usa.org	us-green-card-lottery.org	visalottery.com
greencard.info	us-immigration.com	visanow.com
green-card-application.org	us-immigration.org	visapro.com
green-card-application.org	usa-green-card.com
green-card-lottery.org	usa-immigration-package.com
green-card-lottery-usa.org	usafis.com
greencard.info	usagc.org
greencardexperts.org	usagcls.com
greencardlotterygroup.com	usagreencardlottery.org
greencardplus.com	usaza.com
immigration.com	usgcls.com
immigration-aux-usa.com	usdvp.org
immigration-bureau.org	usgclva.com
greencardlotterygroup.com	usgreencardlottery.org

When to Use a Lottery Service

Convenience. One benefit of using a service is the convenience of registering any time of the year without worrying about missed registration deadlines. For example, if you cannot register within the open registration period then you may want to use a service.

Poor English Language Skills. If your English language skills are weak, then a lottery service can help. The service should either correct mistakes for you or return your registration and tell you where to make the correction. Since millions of applications were prepared incorrectly in past years, there seems to be a clear need for this type of service.

Lack of Computer Access. You must have access to a digital camera to take your picture, or a scanner to digitize your photographs. If you do not have computer technology available, you may wish to send in a paper application and standard photograph to a lottery service so they can scan your picture and enter your information electronically for you.

Unreliable Postal Service. People with slow or unreliable postal service in their home country should use a lottery service. If your winning notification letter does not arrive in a timely manner, you will lose critical response time.

Unknown Future Residence. Others may not know where they will be living when winners are selected and need use the return address of a trusted third party that will not change.

If You Use a Service. If you decide to use a service send in your paper application at least 6-8 weeks before the closing date of the lottery. Some lottery services only accept electronic entries. We question the wisdom of paying a lottery service to enter your electronic application for you, since you must already have the ability to enter your information, including digital photos, into a computer. However, if you do not want to worry about missed deadlines, then sending your electronic entry to a service any time of year can be very convenient and worth the fee.

There are several excellent lottery sites that provide good service. Some have 24-hour toll free telephone numbers, attorney contacts, and complete translations for non-English readers. Some lottery services even spend extra time cleaning up poor photographs that would normally be rejected by the government. Others accept applications received as late as one or two weeks before the closing date of the lottery, but may charge an additional fee for processing last minute applications.

Disadvantages of Using a Service

Lottery scams are difficult to spot. Some charge you an entry fee but then fail to send in your entry. Since the government does not notify lottery losers, you never know if the service is cheating you.

Handling Incorrect Entries. Many sites "guarantee" that only correct entries will be submitted. Unfortunately they do not always explain how they will handle an incorrectly submitted entry. They should either call you or e-mail you to let you know there is a problem with your registration. Otherwise, if they simply return your application, then it may be too late for you to correct the problem and send it back to the service, especially if you live in an area with poor mail service. This entire process will take more time and money than if you entered the lottery yourself and follow our instructions.

Charge You Money If You Win. The most unscrupulous agents and operators charge you money if you win. Some even circulate fake winning letters. If you are ever charged a fee if you win, please contact us and forward us the letter from your agent. We will publish the letter on our site.

Obsolete Information. Some services still list obsolete information from previous visa lotteries. In our opinion, if they make basic mistakes like this on their web site, there is a much higher risk they will not properly validate your lottery application. In our reviews we penalize those sites by subtracting one point from their total score. For example, if they fail to mention that Russia is a visa ineligible country, or they wrongly state that signatures are still required, they lose a point. Although these mistakes may be due to mere sloppiness, it may also indicate negligence or that the service is inactive or understaffed.

Missing Occupational Requirements. Last year we added the requirement that the service must list required occupations for those without a secondary school education, or provide a link to the U.S. Department of State O*Net occupation page at: http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1319.html Since the State Department can't seem to keep this page up, the best sites provide the actual list of qualifying occupations.

After all, what good is it if you are not a secondary school graduate and win the lottery, and later discover that you cannot enter the U.S. because you don't meet the occupational requirement? NOTE: we also list those occupations requiring two years training or experience in our booklet).

Multiple Applications. Some services have been known to mail multiple applications on your behalf to increase the chances of your entry being selected. Although this may have worked in the past, the current automated system catches multiple entries and disqualifies the applicant.

False Claims. More typically, disreputable lottery services simply lure customers with false claims. For example, any service that claims to be "number one," "never had an application rejected," or "guarantee you will win" are classic false claims. Remember too, you CANNOT judge a scam visa lottery site by the quality of their web page or their advertisements. In our experience many of the better looking sites earned the lowest point totals. For the official U.S. Federal Trade Commission warning on green card lottery scams, visit: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/lottery.htm

The Real Problem. Fraudulent or service-challenged English-language Green Card Lottery Web sites are not the major sources of fraud. Applicants who are not technology literate more frequently fall prey to unscrupulous local visa service agents, particularly those operating in countries such as Bangladesh and Nigeria. According to a September 2007 GAO study, some agents and local postal employees intercept winning notifications and charge ransoms for the letter. In other cases, they coerce winning applicants into sham (“pop-up”) marriages. Applicants are not innocent either, and some use false identifications including educational documents. The good news is that most of these issues are solveable.

"Scams" and Guidelines for Using a Lottery Service

Based on our latest review, we do not currently recommend using the following sites: This list may change by the start of DV-2010 in October 2008, so please check back with us.

USAFIS.org (USAFIS Organization)
official-green-card.org (USAFIS Organization)
us-green-card-lottery.org (USAFIS Organization)
USdvp.org (USAFIS Organization)
1mmigration-lottery.com
Infodomain.com
USAGC.com and USAGC.org
USA-immigration-package.com (USAGC)
usa-official-green-card.org (USAGC)
usgclva.com
uslotteryregistration.com

USAFIS and their clone sites: "official-green-card.org", "us-green-card-lottery.org", "usdvp.org", (and probably others) deserve special consideration since USAFIS, based out of Israel, may be the largest visa lottery service in the world. Although they are not a "scam" site per se, we have received so many complaints about their service that we list them here. In fairness, we should point out that USAFIS may be improving their service. However, their "VIP" prices are extremely high and their service (even for VIPs) is poor. For these and other reasons, we do not recommend USAFIS or their duplicate sites. You can usually tell if a site may be a USAFIS clone site if you see a floating "Click here now" message box, or "FREE Eligibility Test!" on the front page, and if the site has an unusually large number of machine translations at the top of the page. They incorrectly claim that "1 out of 60 Win".

USAGC also received multiple complaints about their service. However, they have a related Visa site called USA-Immigration-Package that provides a number of booklets for a fee. Some or most of these may be quite useful. Since they failed to disclose their prices we were unable to review their offerings.

Below is a summary of our warnings and guidelines to help you avoid potential problems when using lottery service Web site. Our warnings are more stringent and current than those listed at the FTC site. Warnings in RED are "red flags" that indicate you COULD be dealing with a lottery scam site. In our reviews, we penalize sites that have these red flag warnings.

AVOID any lottery web site that uses the word "official" or implies to be associated with a U.S. government agency. NO lottery service has a government affiliation. Avoid any service that uses "Kentucky Consular enter" in their headings.

AVOID lottery services that "guarantee" you will win.

AVOID lottery services that claim to increase the chances of your registration being drawn, since the lottery is based on a random computer drawing.

AVOID lottery services that list obsolete eligibility information. Specifically, avoid services that still include signature information or fail to list Peru, Russia, Ecuador and Guatemala as visa-ineligible countries. (However, Russia will likely be eligible for DV-2010).

AVOID lottery services that attempt to fool you into believing you are accessing an official U.S. government site. These operators often use government icons and images to impersonate a government web address and use a Washington DC-based physical address. They should always post a disclaimer if they use US government images.

AVOID lottery services that fail to list their fees until you register.

AVOID lottery services do not provide an "about us" page with contact information (e-mail address and telephone number) to reach them if questions arise about your application.

AVOID lottery services that force you to register before they provide their contact information.

AVOID lottery services that do not have contacts with an immigration attorney to answer your questions, either via e-mail, chat, or by telephone.

AVOID lottery services that include an "eligibility test" but fail to mention work requirements for those without a secondary school education.

AVOID lottery services that fail to provide a link to the U.S. Department of State's O*Net occupation listings or list those occupations that require two years of training or experience for those applicants without a secondary high school education

AVOID lottery services that do not provide you with a tracking number or other means for you to obtain the status your unique entry.

AVOID lottery services that fail to notify you personally if you win, but depend on the government to notify you since that is what you are paying the service to do..

AVOID paying lottery services in advance for more than two years, since your personal information and the lottery rules can change from year to year rendering the information you supplied obsolete.

AVOID lottery services that do not warn you about sending in your application very close to the registration deadline.

AVOID entering the lottery before October unless you will be unable to provide your registration information after that date.

AVOID sending in multiple applications, unless both you and your spouse both qualify for the lottery separately, since the government can now detect multiple applications using facial recognition technology. Note that you will lose your entire U.S. government visa application fee if your duplicate application is detected. In this case, for a family of four, you could lose $775 per person x 4 = $3100!

Remember, these are general guidelines. Many green card lottery web sites violate at least one of our guidelines.

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Site Type Classifications

We classified the green card lottery service web sites in this review as follows:

Immigration Law Firms

Visa Sites

Dedicated Green Card Lottery Services

Immigration Law Firms handle multiple immigration issues and usually provide green card lottery assistance as an additional service, but for a larger fee (i.e. $75 per person). Although they may also process immigration forms, they tend to focus on immigration case law. We review law firms only if they display a "green card lottery" link on their home page.

Visa Sites process immigration forms of all kinds, including student visas, H1-B visas, green cards, and green card lottery applications. They often have immigration attorneys available to help you (usually for a fee) and can be quite useful to immigrants if they use the latest forms available at the United States Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) web site.

Dedicated Green Card Lottery Sites specialize in processing green card lottery applications. If they provide other services and forms, we classify them as a Visa Site.

All three types of sites can include immigration news and/or discussion panels. Some also have links to job, travel, schools, books, and housing information that could be of interest to immigrants. Our current opinion is that established, Dedicated Green Card Lottery sites with good service (including immigration attorney contacts and a telephone number with live assistance) is the best choice, assuming you need a service at all. This is because they are usually prepared to handle the extra heavy application workload during the green card lottery open registration period. Their sites are easier to navigate since they not cluttered with visa information that you do not need. An Immigration Law Firm is unlikely to be disreputable but the cost can be significantly higher. A Visa Site is between the two extremes, but many charge you for forms that are free at government web sites. Whichever service you use, they should have easy to find links to immigration attorneys and the capability to track your application once you have mailed (or e-mailed) it to them.

Our Review Criteria

Below describes the information we use to rate each site. Categories are: Fee(maximum 2 points), Information Content (maximum 2 points), and Service (maximum 6 points). To earn a perfect score, a lottery service must have a rating of 10 points.

Fee (Maximum 2 points)

Fee Less Than or Equal to $50? A price of $50 or less for one person for one year is worth 1 point for reasonable fees. Fees should be listed prominently on the site and not buried on the application form. Some sites give discounts for entering early or for sending referrals.

Fee Less Than or Equal to $100 for two? A price of $100 or less for two persons for (1) year is worth an additional 1 point for bargain prices.

Information Content (Maximum 2 points)

Information Content is worth 2 points out of 10. We look for the following:

Is Complete Eligibility Info Available? Many sites do not provide the minimal State Department information freely available at www.travel.state.gov. If they do provide this information, it is usually located in an "FAQ"(Frequently Asked Questions) link located on their site. Alternatively, they should direct you to the State Department web site. They must also list or provide a link to the U.S. Department of State O*Net site above, or even better, list the occupations. A "yes" here is worth 1 point.

List Information for Lottery Winners? If the site provides advice for lottery winners either via links or as a paid service, this makes the site much more useful. After all, what good is it if you win the lottery, but fail to get your green card? A "yes" is worth 1 point. Very few sites include this information.

Of course, if you enter the lottery, you really need more information than the standard information provided by the U.S. State Department. This includes what to do if you are an illegal alien, how to assign alternate states of "chargeability", when to send in multiple entries, when to contact an immigration attorney, more detailed rules for family members, and more. (Providing this information to you is the main purpose of our booklet.)

Service (Maximum 4 points)

Since we are rating green card lottery services, this category is weighted most heavily at 4 points out of 10.

Accept Standard Photographs? If the site does not accept mail in applications with standard photos we do not award a point. Sites should not require you to log in just to get an answer to this basic question. A yes is worth 1 point.

Immigration Attorney Contact? The web site should have an immigration attorney available to respond to your questions, for no charge or for a reasonable fee-depending on the complexity of the question. We feel that appropriate legal advice should be available if you need it. A "yes" is worth 1 point. If we are uncertain whether the site has access to an attorney, we do not award a point.

List Telephone Number? A telephone number should be available if you are doing business with a reputable lottery service. A "yes" is worth 1 point. If we cannot easily find the phone number, we do not award a point.

A toll-free telephone number is worth 1 more point. Very few have a 24 x 7 toll free hotline.

We no longer award an extra point if the site is well designed since over 95% of the sites we review have an acceptable site design. However we do subtract a point if the site has an exceptionally poor navigation or too many broken links.

Ideally, they also provide information or links for immigrants, such as how to get a job or find an apartment in the United States. We no longer rate sites for natural (human) foreign language translations since we cannot always determine if the translations are machine translations or not.

Member Collaboration (Maximum 2 points)

This year we added a new rating for “Web 2.0” (social networking) features. This includes chat, discussion boards, member search, and/or mail. Collaboration features are worth a total of 2 points.

Message Board or Chat? Message/discussion boards are particularly useful for those that that need answers to specific questions. The top sites have more active boards than others, sometimes with hundreds of topics generating thousands of posts each. Chat can also be useful for immediate answers, but is limited by its inability to save the conversation for later reference. Presence of either a message board or chat service is worth 1 point.

Social Networking? Very few sites have social networking features that include and encourage Facebook-like member collaboration. If the site provides this capability, we award an additional point.

Penalty Points

In most cases, sites were penalized for listing obsolete lottery instructions that are two or more years out of date. For example, if they fail to mention Russia is a visa ineligible country they lose a point. In our opinion, if owners make basic mistakes like this on their site, there is a much higher risk they will not properly validate lottery applications. In our review, we subtract 1 point from their total score if they violate the standards listed earlier. Although these mistakes may be due to mere sloppiness, it may also indicate negligence or that the service is inactive or understaffed. Another reason we penalize a site is if we receive multiple unresolved complaints about their service.

We take away 1 point if the site contains some of the most obvious red flags listed earlier, reflecting our bias against potential lottery scam sites. This interpretation can be subjective and significantly lower the site's score, so we tend to err on the side of the lottery service. We encourage site owners to dispute our findings if incorrect and clear up any issues. Sites cannot earn less than 0 points.

Our intent is to help clean up an overcrowded mini “industry” that has become tarnished though lack of standards and deliberate or accidental misrepresentation. Partly due to these issues, each year there is pressure from conservative members of Congress to end the lottery.

If you are interested in advertising on our site or selling or purchasing a visa lottery service, please contact us or visit our For Sale page.

MyGreencard.com redistributes selected immigration news and immigration reports. If you may be interested in this service, please contact us.

- J. Stephen Wilson

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