Lottery Service Reviews by MyGreencard.com
MyGreencard.com examined 73 fee-based visa lottery service websites and ranked each by price, information content, and service. Excerpts from their review are reproduced here with their permission:
["...We summarized all our data in a final TOTAL. The top score a lottery service can earn is 10 points."]
Site Redirection. If the site we examine redirects lottery applicants to another URL, we removed the first site from consideration in our review. For example, h1base.com redirects green card lottery applicants to dvlotterycenter.com. In this case, since h1base redirects to another site we do not review them here. We review only the final site with posted prices (dvlotterycenter). This site must also be the site that confirms the registration and provides support for the lottery entrant.
Related Sites. If the site has another URL with similar or identical information, we list that site here, but mention that that the second site is a “duplicate of” or “owned by” the first site.
If you've had a bad experience, tell us. We hope by providing this information we can help clean up a cottage industry that is becoming overcrowded and problematic.
Green card lottery service classifications
We classified the green card lottery service web sites in this review as follows:
- Immigration Law Firms
- Visa Sites
- Dedicated Green Card Lottery Sites
Immigration Law Firms handle multiple immigration issues and provide green card lottery assistance as an additional service but usually for a larger fee. Although they may also process immigration forms, they tend to focus on immigration case law. We generally review law firms 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 CIS web site.
Dedicated Green Card Lottery Sites specialize in processing green card lottery applications only. 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, immigration books, and housing information that could be of interest to immigrants. Our current opinion is that an established Green Card Lottery site with good service is the best choice because they are usually prepared to handle the extra heavy application workload during the green card lottery open registration period. However, 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 for forms that are free at government web sites. All 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.
Top visa lottery services
If you just want to see our choices now, then read no further. The highest ranking we gave based on our review criteria was myUSA.org with 8 out of a possible 10 points. AmericanDream and VisaPro also earned high rankings with 7 and 6 points, respectively:
myUSAi.org, the United States Association of Immigrants, is our top ranked site for 2007 with a rating of 8. Based on an advertising revenue model, they are the only FREE visa lottery 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 other topics, 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, US immigrants and others. MyUSAi.org also features links to visa and immigration forms, immigration news, a newsletter, and other Web 2.0 features.
AmericanDream.de is based in Berlin. This year they earned our second highest rating at 7 out of 10 possible points. They charge $55.00 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. They also own DVLottery.com, greencard.info and just purchased NationalVisaService.com. NationalVisaService.com previously tied American Dream for a first place ranking. NVS and American Dream recently joined forces and are now under the same ownership.
VisaPro is another general Visa Site that also offers services to diversity visa entrants. Ranked at 6 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 of only $25 (when reviewed). With a Washington DC address and area code, VisaPro runs a large and well done web site.
Our review criteria
Below describes the information we used to track for each site. Categories are: Fees (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.
Fees (maximum 2 points)
Under fee, we list published fees for two persons for (1) year, one person for (2) years, and two persons for (2) years if available.) Two person entries are sometimes called “family” applications. We DO NOT list prices beyond two (2) years. Low prices are worth two points out of 10.
Some sites give discounts for entering early or for sending referrals. Other sites publish different prices for online entries versus applications sent by mail. If two prices are listed, we only list fees for applications sent by mail, reflecting our bias toward sites that provide truly useful services.
If prices vary according to the entry date, we use the price listed for October or the latest date the service accepts entries. We do not list discounted prices for early entries.
For example, americandream.de lists three separate prices depending on the date the entrant submits his or her entry. We only list their higher $55 price.
Fee less than or equal to $40? A price of $40 or less for one person for one year is worth one point for reasonable fees.
Fee less than or equal to $20? A price of $20 or less is worth an additional 1 point for extremely low fees.
Information content (maximum 2 points)
Information Content is worth 2 points out of 10. We look for the following:
Is complete Eligibility information available? Many sites do not provide the minimal State Department information freely available. 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 Occupational O*Net codes page listing the occupations requiring at least two years training or experience to perform. A “yes” here is worth 1 point.
Do they list information for lottery winners? If the site provides advice for lottery winners either via links, a booklet, or as a 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, or can't get your family members into the United States? A "yes" is worth 1 point. Very few sites include this additional information.
Service (maximum 6 points)
Since we are rating green card lottery services, we believe this category should be weighted most heavily at 6 points out of 10.
Do they accept paper photographs? Some sites only accept digital photographs. If the site does not accept standard hardcopy photos we do not award a point. Furthermore, sites should not require you to register just to get an answer to this basic question.
Do they have immigration attorney contacts? 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.
Do they translate they site into multiple languages? Foreign language translations can be extremely useful for those who do not read English well. We list up to three of those languages if they are available. If the service has a minimum of three full translations we award 1 point. Note that we do not award a point if only the home page or portion of the site is translated. Typically, this is done merely to get the attention (and business) of foreign language readers. The best sites translate the entire web site, including the instructions for completing your green card lottery application. Some use automatic translation software, such as Babel Fish, Systrans, or Google to perform the translation. This much less effective than a natural human translation.
Do they list a telephone number? A telephone number should be available if you are doing business with a reputable lottery service since you are paying them a fee. 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. Several even have a 24 x 7 toll free hotline.
How is their web site design? We award 1 point if the site is well designed and the information you need is easy to locate. Ideally, they also provide information or links for immigrants, such as how to get a job or purchase a home in the United States. Most sites receive a point here unless the site has an exceptionally poor navigation, unreadable formatting in Internet Explorer, or have multiple “annoying” popups.
Penalty points
We take away points if the site contains the more 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.
Red flag sites
Here we list of those sites we reviewed that have one or more “red flags”. In most cases, these sites were penalized for listing obsolete lottery instructions that are 2 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 one 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 with a red flag is if we receive more than one complaint about their service. This was the case for usafis.org, a site that clones itself under many additional URLs, including: official-green-card.org, us-green-card-lottery.org, and others.
Coincidentally, usafis.org also advertises the most extensively of any web site offering green card lottery services. We would be tempted to ignore complaints about usafis.org’s service if they earned higher point totals. Unfortunately, they would be rated at only 3 out of 10 points if we did not penalize usafis.org and their clone sites with a red-flag warning.
In the case of uslotteryregistration.com, we feel that their penalty point could be due sloppiness since they otherwise earn a reasonably high point total. Unfortunately, this red flag penalty point knocked them from being recommended as an Honorable Mention site.
Below is a list of the sites we penalized, the reason, and their final point total. The majority of sites were already in the low end of total points:
- Usafis.org (USAFIS Organization, New York, NY) – Numerous complaints about service. Total points (2). See also:
- Official-green-card.org (USAFIS Organization, New York, NY). Total points (2).
- Us-green-card-lottery.org (USAFIS Organization, New York, NY). Total points (2).
- Usgclva.com (International Immigration Services (USGCLVA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) – Obsolete instructions fail to list ineligible countries Russia and Peru. Total points (0)
- Uslotteryregistration.com (U.S. Lottery Registration “U.S. Immigration Affiliates”, Los Angeles, CA) – Obsolete instructions from 2005 include signature. Total points (4).
Disclaimer
The information provided here should not be construed as a recommendation for a particular site. Every effort is made to make our reviews as accurate and complete as possible. However, there may be mistakes, both typographical and in content; and due to possible errors of omission. In no event will the author, editor, publisher or affiliates, licensors, distributors, or agents be liable to any person or entity for any loss or damage caused, or alleged to have been caused, directly or indirectly by the information, or inability to use the information contained herein, even if myUSAihas been advised of the possibility of such damages. We encourage webmasters, site owners, and users to keep us updated with new information so we can keep our readers better informed in future reviews.
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