Lotteries have been put to many uses over the millennia. In Ancient Rome, for example, the Vestal Virgins were chosen by lottery, as were several government posts. (All this, by the way, is in Roll the Bones) And, of course, plenty of states and nations use lotteries to get revenues. But the Georgetown Hoya has an article about a lottery that is much more expensive, and has potentially a greater reward:
Under the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, run annually by the U.S. Department of State, citizens of nations that have sent less than 50,000 immigrants in the last five years to the United States are eligible to enter a lottery to win a permanent residency visa.
Prospective applicants for visas submit an entry in a lottery in which 50,000 permanent residency visas are made available. A computer at the Kentucky Consular Center tallies the amount of entrants and randomly selects winners, Powerball-style, ensuring that no more than 7 percent of the lottery’s total winners are from one country.
Egyptians were among the top Diversity Visa lottery winners in 2004, in which 6,439 of the 90,000 winners (more winners are chosen than visas available, as they may for numerous reasons be unable to get their visa) were Egyptian in a lottery that saw over 6.3 million entrants worldwide.
The DV lottery is open to anyone who has attained a high school education or worked for over two years at a job that requires specialized training. For people who have no other connection to the United States — those without relatives, spouses or employers in the United States to sponsor them in their visa application process — the DV lottery offers a chance at admittance into the proverbial land of opportunity. The very name of the program suggests an effort by the U.S. government to foster “diversity†in the United States by opening the nation’s doors to citizens of many nationalities.
Yet despite this premise at pluralism, to many the DV lottery is merely a gamble.
Using the numbers McIntosh gave, I get a 90,000 out of 6.3 million chance of winning, or a 1 in 70 chance. That’s way better than hitting the Powerball jackpot, which Durango Bill gives as “one chance in 146,107,962.” On the other hand, you’ve got about a 1 in 37 chance of winning something (which might only be $3) at Powerball, whereas this is an all or nothing deal.
I just thought this was another reminder of how gambling is woven into the very thread of many world cultures.