Posts tagged “DV-2012”

Thank you all for your patience. The lawsuit will be submitted to the court this week. I will inform you once it has been filed and registered.

In response to many of your questions, please see the attached faq Thank you.

You may recall that on May 25, 2011, we requested that the Office of Inspector General at the Department of State launch an investigation into the invalidation of the DV–2012 results. We have now received a reply from the General Counsel within the Office of Inspector General at the Department of State: Mr. White: Deputy Inspector General Geisel asked me to reply to your letter to him, dated May 25, 2011. Thank you for your letter and your interest in this matter. The Department has asked the Office of Inspector General to review the Diversity Visa Lottery matter and we have agreed to do so. Sincerely, Erich O. Hart Erich O. Hart General Counsel Office of Inspector General Department of State While no additional details were provided, one can surmise that this is an encouraging sign. Nevertheless, this should in no way detract from our resolve to proceed with our lawsuit;…

It is readily apparent that the Department of State does not wish to engage in a constructive dialog on this problem. Therefore, we must prepare for the next step. I will be contacting individuals who filled out our questionnaires. I will continue to periodically update this blog and send out e-mails to those who have written to me. If you have not contacted me yet and wish to receive e-mails, please send me a note at white@bridgewest.com In the meanwhile I would encourage you and your relatives/friends to continue to contact congressional offices and tell your stories. It is so very important. The Department of State is counting on you going away, to forget about this, to go back to your normal lives. Don’t let it happen… Thank you.

Thank you to everyone for your support. I would ask that you please redouble your efforts in contacting the US media and news outlets in your home countries. Please share my letters to Mr. Donahue and the Office of Inspector General with the media; translate them into your local languages and publish them, or forward them to your national newspapers. Please relate your stories; they are poignant and heartbreaking. It is imperative that your stories are told so that US government officials and the public understand the scope of this tragedy. Please send me (white@bridgewest.com) links to any DV–2012 newspaper articles and videos. Thank you.

If you have a US citizen or permanent resident relative or friend, please contact them and request that they contact their senator and congressman. Here are the links to the offices of senators and congressmen: http://senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm http://www.house.gov/representatives/ Please forward to your friend/relative in the US our two letters to the Department of State (posted on this blog — to David Donahue and to Office of Inspector General), and have them send those letters to the senators and congressmen. Please keep me posted on any progress by e-mailing me at white@bridgewest.com (request: please indicate Congress in the subject line). Thank you for your help!

Attached is our letter to the Office of Inspector General at the Department of State calling for an investigation into the DOS decision to invalidate the results. OIG is the “watchdog” in the Department. It ensures that action by DOS officials is not wasteful; does not result from mismanagement; and is not detrimental to American policy goals. As detailed in the letter, the Department’s decision to invalidate the results will come at great expense to the American taxpayer; is a result of DOS mismanagement of the situation; and will irreparably harm US image abroad. Therefore, an investigation is warranted, with a view towards rectifying this malfeasance by permitting the 22,000 selectees to remain winners and holding a drawing for the remaining slots. oig letter final signed

If you were selected in the DV–2012 Lottery, are currently studying or working in the US, and have not contacted me yet, please send me an e-mail at white@bridgewest.com Thank you.

As you all have noted, American public image overseas has been severely damaged because of this fiasco. It is absolutely critical to share your experience with the public and shape the court of public opinion in your home countries. Thank you to those who have created and posted videos. Here are a few links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JK_23uMN0d0&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gihogZrd8sw&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp-pAVUu5D4&feature=related

Thank you to all of you, including a Mathematics Ph. D., who have educated me on the randomness issue. My initial reaction that the results were not random was based on the unusual skewing of the results and the possibility that the results were manipulated, warranting further investigation. I now see that while the results were not uniform, they are random. Here is my own simplistic 2 step analysis: 1. Mathematically speaking, these results certainly could have occurred naturally. As such, the results are random. 2. Even if the results did not occur naturally because of a “computer glitch”, the results are still random because no one in advance knew how to increase one’s chances. Thus there was a level playing field. Example: Lotto — 6 numbers drawn 1–40. Computer glitch causes a drawing in which the 6 numbers drawn are 1–6. But no one knew about it in advance. It would seem…

We will be posting our latest correspondence to the Department of State on this blog later today. Stay tuned.

Thank you to those who completed the questionnaires. I am truly overwhelmed by the response. Your backgrounds are very, very impressive and your stories are heartwrenching. America truly needs people like you! To those who have completed the questionnaire and authorized distribution to the Department of State — I will be sure to pass on to officials the relevant details. Besides the devastation experienced by many of you, it is obvious that hundreds of thousands in dollars in expense were incurred. Life changing plans were made — one person got married upon learning of selection; one person quit his job in India to move back to Africa in preparation; one person sold his car; another gave up his apartment. Hopefully, the Department of State will recognize these very real human tragedies and act prudently in rectifying this travesty. I urge you to tell your compelling stories to the…

For those unable to open the questionnaire, please find two other versions below: .doc and pdf. If completed by hand, please make sure that the handwriting is legible. Thank you! questionnairedv2012doc questionnairedv2012pdf0001

In response to my earlier post, completed questionnaires are starting to flow in. Thank you. I would like to allay any concerns out there about the use of information contained in questionnaires: 1. Completion of the questionnaire is entirely voluntary. Any possible resolution to the issue at hand will most likely relate to the entire class of 22,000, not just those who fill in this questionnaire. Obviously, I am not making any representations that completing the questionnaire will somehow help you. Nevertheless, I do believe that collecting and synthesizing information will be important going forward. 2. One of the questions in the questionnaire relates to privacy. If you do not wish your name disclosed to the Department of State, you would indicate “No” in response. 3. We are a team of professionals. We have been battling erroneous and misguided decisions of consular officers and DOS officials for nearly 20 years….

Thank you all for your words of encouragement and support! We greatly appreciate it. To pursue the compromise solution proposed in my May 17, 2011 letter to Mr. Donahue at the Department of State, I believe it appropriate to gather more detailed information about the individuals who were winners. This additional data about the winners — who already filed with the Kentucky Consular Center? countries affected? etc… — will be critical going forward as all possible remedies are discussed and explored. If you are a winner, please complete the questionnaire at this link questionnairedv2012 and return it to me by e-mail at white@bridgewest.com with the word Lottery 2012 in the subject line. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. May common sense and justice prevail.

A national media outlet is seeking comment from DV–2012 winners. If anyone is willing to speak to the media about this situation, please contact me directly at white@bridgewest.com Please indicate Media in the subject line. In your e-mail please indicate your name, telephone number, and location (city/country) . Thank you.

The Department of State’s invalidation of the DV–2012 results has left 22,000 winners distraught. And they have a right to be — they did nothing wrong, started to act on their winning notifications, and now have had the carpet pulled out from underneath them. Why can’t the Department allow those winners to remain and conduct a new drawing on July 15 for 78,000–100,000 additional selectee slots? This is the topic of my letter to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services, David Donahue: donahuefinal1

In an unprecedented decision, the Department of State has invalidated the DV–2012 Lottery results. Here is the official announcement: http://dvlottery.state.gov/ The Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services confirmed what was pointed out in earlier blogs and our letter to the Visa Office — that the Lottery was not random because the overwhelming majority (90%) selected were those who submitted entries on October 5th and 6th, thereby violating one of the requirements of the Lottery. As a result, a new Lottery will be conducted, with all entries submitted during the October 5-November 3 timeframe being eligible. Unfortunately, for those who “won” — they are no longer winners. However, they will have another chance to be selected. The winners will be announced on or about July 15, 2011. Stay tuned…

Armande has passed on a link to her interview on Univision: http://noticias.univision.com/inmigracion/videos/video/2011-05-22/loteria-de-visas-afectada-por Also, notable in the video is the appearance of a DOS official, defending the invalidation. Thank you, Armande, for getting the word out!

As pointed out in our previous blog entry, the overwhelming majority of winners in the DV–2012 Lottery were those who submitted entries on October 5 and 6th. We have seen two surveys confirming this: 1. in which 74% of the winners (sampling of 957) submitted entries on October 5th and 6th — http://www.govorimpro.us/showthread.php?t=28753&page=5 (Russian language) 2. in which 82% of the winners (sampling of 153) submitted entries on October 5th and 6th. http://www.ulitka.com/Несортированное/Зависимость_выигрыша_от_даты_подачи_заявки_dv-2012_a-50985.html (Russian language) Also of interest is the statistic from these surveys that if one submitted an entry on those dates, the chances of winning were more than 50%. In general, the chances of being selected are 1–2%. We renew our call for the Department of State to investigate this “non-random” Lottery.