Reply #453: Sure [View All]

Yep. The way it works is completely backward, IMO. There's a "diversity lottery" of about 55,000 visas that are available for people who wish to immigrate to the US. But the lottery is only to increase the "diversity" of immigrants; if a country already has a high number of immigrants to the US, residents from that country can't apply. So, someone from Somalia or Sweden can apply, but someone from Mexico, or Canada, cannot. What this means is that Mexicans, who are the most able to immigrate to the US, are less able to do so legally. W/o a "lottery" visa, you'd have to rely on the specialized, very narrow criteria to obtain a visa for other reasons. And there's no visa available for people who simply want to work in this country, unless you're a super-valuable professional. The process is so complicated & expensive, many people can't afford to apply. And even if you do qualify for a visa, there's a huge backlog & people often wait for years for their visa.

The "diversity lottery" is extremely small anyway compared to the number of people who apply; & you'd probably have a better chance of winning the real lottery. I think that immigration laws should be reformed to expand the diversity lottery, & remove the bar against countries like Mexico. IMO, visas should also be available for people who simply want to work in the US. The process should also be streamlined so that normal people are able to actually apply for & receive a visa. IMO, there's no question that people are going to come to the US, legally, or illegally if no legal avenues are available. Immigration laws should be less restrictive, not more restrictive, so that more people can find that legal avenue of immigration.

Immigration Diversity Lottery - http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/services/residency/divvisa.htm

Immigration visa categories (Very narrow categories) - http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/services/imm_visas.htm