The exodus to Australia is not alone in depleting the country’s limited workforce. There is also an increasing number of people who are now trying to win the Diversity Visa or DV Lottery. This is an easy pass to immigrate to the US. Photo studios in the capital have been seeing a considerable number of customers wanting to take their passport pictures for the lottery in the last month.
The Diversity Immigrant Visa popularly known as the DV lottery among Bhutanese is the talk of the town. It is one of the most shared links on Social Media such as Telegram and WhatsApp. More than a hundred people turn up each day to take their passport-size photographs for the DV lottery registration.
The lottery is open to natives of countries that have historically low rates of immigration to the United States. This includes Bhutan.
Photo studios can easily distinguish between customers applying for the DV lottery and those who come for normal passports. Applicants of the DV lottery take soft copies of passport-size photographs.
“These days, almost all the customers come for DV Lottery. Customers form a crowd in the shop, sometimes almost 100 people turn up in a day. Sometimes it’s over 100. I think a lot of people these days know about the lottery. So, more people turned up this year compared to last year. Most of the customers come for the DV lottery rather than for passports. The passport photo requirement is 600 by 600 pixels and 2 by 2 inches,” said Tandin Wagmo, the proprietor of the Druk Photo Lab.
A DV lottery group on Telegram has close to 20,000 members. The group has some 18,000 members just a few weeks ago. According to a lottery winner for this year’s intake, about 70 Bhutanese will soon leave for the US on the Diversity Visa.
People applying for the visa lottery say they have nothing to lose even if they don’t get the visa since there is no investment. According to a businessman in Thimphu who preferred to be unnamed, many people he knows are trying the Diversity Visa. He says he is also giving it a try because he wants to leave his current business which is not doing well.
People trying the lottery say there are a lot of opportunities for the youth in the US than in the country. They say they want to secure their children’s future by going and working in the US. According to them, the pandemic hit their lives badly and they can’t think of a better option other than leave to work where the pay is good.
The winners will be picked through random selection. About 3,500 people from a single country will be eligible for a green card every year provided the applicants fulfil all requirements. The registration for the 2024 intake ends tomorrow, and the results will be announced in May next year.
However, there are also reports of fraudulent emails and phone calls asking for fees from applicants to process the lottery. According to the US State Department, there are no such fees for lottery registrations.
Devika Pradhan
