Diversification Visa, Or DV-Lottery For USA – OpEd
This is the official name of the US Green card lottery in English. If you wish to be doing the Google search, use these words. You will then find the US DV-lottary official site, asking you to upload your biometric photo first. Both your ears must be visible, head open, no glasses, no earrings. Then you are to respond to the questions on the screen. Do you have any criminal record? What is your education? Did you use drugs, narcotics in the past? Have you been deported from any country? Registration then is over. There is no charge for lottery application. There is no need for an intermediary firm to help.
Last weekend we were sitting in front of the computer to see what this was all about. We had internet page open. So we looked at it to understand what was going on. We looked for a place for ourselves, as if we have already won the lottery. The kids preferred California, Florida, whereas I preferred less populated places like Montana, Oregon, Wisconsin, Colorado, with plenty of natural resources, fewer populations. Educational health services are relatively better, and racism is relatively less.
The next morning I looked at Wikipedia information. The US is looking for a young population and diverse ethnic identities. They upfront eliminate applications from Britain, Bangladesh, Mexico, Vietnam, as such countries have already sent many immigrants earlier from the lottery list.
In 2013, from Turkey we had 1600+ lottery winners out of 170 thousand applications. Last year, we had 3000 lottery winners out of 300 thousand applications. This year they are expecting 500 thousand applications from Turkey. There are 6-7 million applications per year in the whole world. 100 thousand lottery winners comes out, half of them are eliminated due to various reasons, impossibilities. Eventually each year 50 thousand people can go. In other words, there is chance of 1% lottery in the world average. So there is no need to be overly optimistic.
There is no burden on the US budget due to this lottery. At the beginning, lottery organizers already make a pre-selection. Why should they accept people who are old, or at retirement age, or unable to speak English. Young, healthy, English speaking people are probably their first choice.
I looked at those who had won DV-lottery around my friends. Those winners are all in this category, all young, all educated people. We spend their education expenses here, we send those educated young bright people there.
Sad to say, we cannot create an environment to keep those trained people here in Turkey. Is this place where they will be immigrating any better than here? Social Security, proper health care coverage, I doubt it. Here, there is your friend circle, you have your dentist, your family doctor, your car mechanic, plumber, electrician. Good or bad, you have public transportation here. There are trains, subways, municipality transportations. In the US there is only car transportation, if you do not have a private car, you are miserable. Do they have democracy in the United States? Is it a paradise to live in? I do think that Europe’s democratic practice is much better.
When lottery results are announced, within a certain period of time those lottery winners are expected to sell all their properties here, accumulating all in cash, paying airplane tickets from their pocket and they will be going. They will have working and living permits in the USA. They then must live in the US for five uninterrupted years, they do not get out of the US for five-years, they must not get involved in any criminal offense, they even have to pay attention to not even to get traffic tickets. They get citizenship after five years. But all in all they are first generation immigrants.
In order to be a real US citizen, however, they should have been born in the USA.
After Donald Trump won the US elections in November 8, a large number of US citizens applied to the Canadian immigration website. The Canadian internet page collapsed. Would you like to live in a country run by Donald Trump? Consider this new situation as well. It is an ironic situation. There is sarcastic news that “Migration is starting backwards”. Canadian residence permit applications are under 26-month review. Canadians make jokes that they will be building a new wall between the United States to stop illegal immigration.
Having lived abroad for a long time earlier, being a long-time immigrant does not please me. I am getting old. It is not easy to rearrange things, to find a new job, get a job, build a new business to earn money, all is not so easy.
There is news in the local media that special passport coverage will be expanded. Special Passports do not have any meaning for most countries. Whether it is special or normal passport, there are no passport visa exemptions for USA, UK, Canada, Australia, China, Russia anyway. What will happen soon if foreign countries exempt visa exemption of all passports altogether?
The Russian market has not been opened yet, visa applications continue. Do not believe in the media news as prepared at the table without any backup proof.
Already after the US presidential elections, Obama and his team are going to leave public duty. Public duties do not last forever.
There are certain wear and tear times. Life is cruel. Human life has a limit. Everything ends one day, all ends are renewed.
It is unchanging the change itself. Someday everything will change.
Payback of everything, bonus, honor, reward and punishment are given and taken while living in this world.
You should not be discouraged in facing prevailing economic difficulties. We’re not going anywhere, we are not leaving. We had difficulties in this country in the past. We have suffered so much. We have worked, created jobs, money, property, wealth, we have established and run business.
Tough days will pass one day. We will make more production, generate more wealth. This country is ours. Stronger and richer Turkey is waiting for us. All will be created within Democracy and thanks to the Republic.
