Diversity Visa Lottery 

China is a growing power, expected to overtake the US as the largest economy in the world in around a decade’s time. So is its next-door neighbor India, whose clout is also steadily growing in the international arena. In 2001 economist Jim O’Neil coined the now-ubiquitous acronym BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) to indicate the fast growing economies that could one day challenge the now dominant Western countries in global influence. But if the increasing pool of Diversity Visa applicants is any indication, no country as yet even remotely matches the continuing allure of the United States of America as the premier choice of Third World would-be migrants. In the one month window starting October 1, nearly a million Nepalis (four percent of national population) are expected to have filled up the electronic DV forms last year. If they get lucky, they would be eligible for permanent residence and work opportunities in mainland US. The applicant pool from Nepal is expected to keep growing as the reach of internet further expands, while gainful employment prospects continue to stagnate. The youngsters in particular expect very little from the supposedly hydro-rich country that cannot guarantee even half day’s electricity supply. 

Those with the means don’t have to rely on DV to fulfill their dream of reaching the ‘land of opportunities.’ The children of these globe-trotting families go to prestigious schools in Nepal and by the same dint, get admissions into prestigious universities abroad. This in turn guarantees them secure white-color jobs when they graduate. For the rest of the families, their children educated in mediocre schools in Nepal get into mediocre colleges in the US (if at all). This education quality gap makes it extremely hard for graduates from lesser known universities to compete against those who go to more competitive ones. But most applicants for academic visa to the US are rejected anyhow, either because they don’t have the means to fund their education or the colleges/universities they have chosen is not expected to add to their potential in any way. This vast pool of disaffected youngsters makes for the bulk of the DV applicants. The good news is that most of those who apply for DV these days are more realistic about their employment and education prospects in the US, unlike the first few pools of applicants. The feedback from those who are already there and easy availability of vital information on US job market online gives them a realistic picture of what they can expect there. 

There is nothing wrong with people going abroad to earn their livelihood or for quality education, so long as it is safe. Constant mobility of able manpower is one of the defining (and irrevocable) features of this interconnected world. Again, Nepalis can hardly be blamed for trying to escape 12 hours of daily load-shedding, the perennially dilapidated, dusty roads, lack of clean drinking water and adulteration in even basic necessities. Many who go to the US on DV eventually come back with their earnings to invest in Nepal. Others contribute to the country, in one way or the other, from wherever they have settled. Yet it is hard to rejoice in this phenomenon, which is basically an ‘escape’ for most DV applicants who are simply fed up with the way things are in their homeland. 

Published on: 15 March 2014 | Republica