Using a Fee-Based Lottery Service
If you use a lottery service to prepare your entry, fill out their electronic or paper form. Send your completed form to your lottery service. Be sure to follow the same rules for photographs described earlier. They will scan your photos and electronically submit your registration on your behalf. If your photographs do not meet the required specifications, they should contact you for a replacement.
Why Should I Use a Visa 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 decide to use a fee-based service, we recommend you contact them first to confirm they respond to your inquiry within 48-72 hours. Send in your paper application at least 6-8 weeks before the closing date of the lottery. Some lottery services now only accept electronic entries.
There are several excellent lottery services 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 usually charge an additional fee for processing last minute applications.
Disadvantages
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.
Obsolete Information. Some services still list obsolete information from the 2004 or 2005 visa lottery! 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. A good service should list required occupations for those without a secondary school education, or provide a link to the Occupational Information Network (O*Net) Resource Center that lists those 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 job requirement?
Multiple Applications. Some services have been known to enter 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.
For the official U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warning on green card lottery scams.
Guidelines
Below is a summary of our "red flags" that indicate you COULD be dealing with a lottery scam site. Our warnings are more stringent and current than those listed at the FTC site.
- AVOID any lottery web site that prominently displays 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 Center" in their headings.
- 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. They should post a disclaimer on the home page if they use US government images.AVOID lottery services that “guarantee” you will win.
- AVOID lottery services that claim to increase the chances of a 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 fail to list Russia and Peru as a visa-ineligible country or still include the old signature requirement.
- 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 phone 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 occupation page or list those occupations that require two years of training or experience.
- 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 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 close to the registration deadline.
These are general guidelines. Many web sites currently violate at least one of these rules, but that does not mean they are so-called “scam” lottery sites. Some sites have extremely poor customer service and may be mistaken for scam sites.
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