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I applied for a GreenCard lottery using a commerical on LinkedIn, which I thought was reliable. However, when I started searching for it today I can't seem to find it.

It seems as though this was not the case. I am now wondering with all the lottery sites that are avaliable, which are trust worthy.

Here's

  1. Mygreencard
  2. USA-greencards

and the list goes on. Futhermore as posted on another post lotteries are lotteries? where it discuss the lottery process.

It also mentions one more option:

  • Diversity Visa Program (popularly know as "greencard lottery")
  • H-1B "lottery" (in case of applications' number exceeding limit)

So my question is really; Which are reliable and should it COST to apply for one?

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  • Welcome to expatriates.SE. Your question is a bit broad and very much opinion based. It's a matter of personal preference which site you would go through but you can just as easily not use any. And not pay any fees in excess of postage and photos.
    – Karlson
    Commented Aug 1, 2014 at 16:16
  • @Karlson what postage? Sign up is over the Internet only for a couple of years now.
    – littleadv
    Commented Aug 1, 2014 at 19:08
  • @littleadv Even better.
    – Karlson
    Commented Aug 1, 2014 at 19:12

2 Answers 2

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Scammers for the Diversity Visa Program are legions. The official webpage Diversity Visa Lottery Scams from the Federal Trade Commission gives some interesting information that you might find useful:

Scammers try to trick people who enter the Diversity Visa Lottery. Scammers might:

  • charge you money to help you apply
  • promise to increase your chance of being picked
  • send you a message saying you won and ask for money.

If you remember how the Diversity Visa Lottery works, it will be hard for scammers to get your money.

  • It is free to enter the Diversity Visa lottery at dvlottery.state.gov.
  • The drawing is random. There is no way to increase your chance of winning.
  • You can find out your status only at dvlottery.state.gov.
  • You do not pay until you find out your entry was picked, and you go to the U.S. embassy or consulate in person for your appointment.

What should I do if I spot a scam?

If you suspect a scam, please report it to the Federal Trade Commission:

You can give as much information as you want. Investigators are happy for any information you give.

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  • These (at least some of) websites are not, strictly speaking, scammers. They're providing a service which some people may in fact need. But people who have enough English to read and write on this forum are unlikely to need these services.
    – littleadv
    Commented Aug 3, 2014 at 5:06
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None of these sites is reliable. Diversity visa sign up process is free, done through the US government website (ends with ".gov"), and is only open in October-November.

"Applying" through all these sites doesn't guarantee you anything other than money out of your pocket for something you can easily do yourself for free. Moreover - there's no way to check that they actually submitted an application on your behalf, did it correctly, and on time. Also, multiple submissions by the same person invalidate all the submissions, so if you submit through one of the sites, and then go and submit yourself (or through another site, "to be sure") - you may end up with no valid submissions at all.

You cannot "sign up" for H1b lottery at all. H1b applications are sent by employers, not you.

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