Playing the Odds: End to US `Green Card’ Lottery comes as
disappointment for thousands of hopefuls in Armenia
Society | 14.06.13 | 16:24
By Siranuysh Gevorgyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Tens of thousands of citizens of Armenia filed for the US Diversity
Visa, better known as the Green Card lottery, in 2011 and one in a
hundred were actually selected and given a chance to pursue their
`American Dream’. But the odds that the lottery held for about two
decades now will survive no longer appear great as the measure
encouraging diversity in US legal immigration may become a tradeoff
for a new bipartisan immigration reform package being debated by
legislators on Capitol Hill this month.
Armenia appears to have one of the largest per capita rates of
applications for the Green Card lottery as revealed by the US Embassy
in Yerevan. Thus, about 100,000 of the country’s roughly 3 million
people sought to win permanent residence in the United States in 2011.
In neighboring Georgia and Azerbaijan the figures were much more
modest – 53,000 and 25,000, respectively, whereas the populations in
these countries are estimated at 4.5 million and 9.3 million,
accordingly.
During the 17 years since the Diversity Visa was first introduced in
1995 about 21,000 citizens of Armenia left for permanent residence to
the United States as Green Card lottery winners, says the US Embassy
in Yerevan. But the lucky winners of this year (the results were due
on May 1 and officially winners are expected to be notified in August)
may be the last to enjoy the privilege.
US President Barack Obama, who was reelected for a second term in the
White House last year, declared immigration reform a priority of his
administration. Speaking before the Senate on June 11, Obama said
overhauling America’s dysfunctional immigration system cannot wait.
`The system is still broken. And to truly deal with this issue,
Congress needs to act. And that moment is now,’ said Obama, a son of
an immigrant from Kenya.
The legislation being considered would create a path to US citizenship
for many of the 11 million people who are in the country illegally. It
would also further strengthen security at the U.S.-Mexican border. In
addition, Obama said the legislation would make it easier for foreign
students to stay in the United States.
But those now relying on the Green Card lottery as a path to legal
immigration to the United States can forget about their American
Dreams as Uncle Sam is about to scrap it as a compromise deal between
Democrats and Republicans. Instead, the new reform package envisages
more opportunities for graduates of American universities with degrees
in science, technology, engineering and mathematics to stay and work
legally in the United States.
Yerevan-native Hrant Achikyan was one of 50,000 lucky Green Card
lottery winners who were randomly selected from around the world as
part of the 2013 Diversity Visa program.
Achikyan, a 25-year-old Armenia-trained lawyer, left for the United
States about a month ago. He currently stays with his relatives in Los
Angeles, but still finds it hard to say whether his decision to chase
his American Dream was right or wrong.
`I cannot say it until I get a job. Here you can’t do anything until
you get a social security number. Once you get it, you can apply for a
driving license and an ID to be able to find a job. And I live in a
place that requires driving a car in order to go to work. That’s why I
cannot say anything definite yet as to whether coming here was a good
thing or not,’ Achikyan told ArmeniaNow from the United States. At the
same time, the young man thinks he still has more opportunities in
life in the United States than he would have, had he decided to stay
in Armenia.
The end of the Green Card lottery era may also come as an upset for
some businesses and firms that have earned money in the past two
decades by helping people file and pursue their applications.
A company owned by Echmiadzin resident Artur Lazarian in addition to
other services has traditionally provided services to potential Green
Card applicants. He says if the lottery is discontinued, he will be
deprived of some additional earnings as in October/November when the
lottery is traditionally held they serve up to 200 customers charging
1,500 drams (about $3.50) for the service.
Lazarian says workers of his company also file Green Card lottery
applications for themselves and their families. In the past five
years, according to him, three of his 12 employees have been selected
to pursue US permanent residence visas. There have also been other
winners among their customers. Lazarian says the number of applicants
using the services of his office has been growing from year to year.
`It is interesting thing that when we first started to offer the
service we had only young adults, people aged 30-35, filing Green Card
lottery applications, but in recent years we also had elderly people
aged up to 85 among our customers. It means that now all, from young
to old, want to take part in this lottery,’ he says.
A Gallup survey conducted in Armenia in recent years shows that up to
40 percent of the country’s population see their future abroad. Most
people who emigrate from Armenia do so in search of better social and
economic conditions of life as well as justice that they often do not
get in their native country.
A Russian immigration program, Compatriots, has been operating in
Armenia in the last few years, attracting thousands of Armenians to
resettle to Russian provinces with government support. The program is
now suspended, but it is expected to reopen later this year offering
even more attractive terms for potential immigrants.
Demography experts and some political and civic circles consider
programs like the US Diversity Visa or the Russian `Compatriots’
scheme as evil for countries like Armenia. But they are also convinced
that unless the social and economic problems of the people are
addressed by the government, more Armenians will find a way to
emigrate with or without such immigration channels.
Meanwhile, during this summer season hundreds of Armenians leave the
country on a daily basis, many on buses heading to Russia to find work
as labor migrants. The situation is particularly alarming for
economically depressed areas of the country like Shirak. People in
Gyumri joke on the subject that a young man without a job but with a
plane ticket is already a prospective husband.
Still, government officials in Armenia downplay the scale of
emigration. Senior ruling Republican Party member Galust Sahakyan
believes that the opposition simply speculates on the subject of
emigration for political gains. He thinks that Armenians will leave
and come back and there is no danger in it because `Armenians lived
even without statehood and will continue to live and become stronger.’
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