U.S. Embassy in Beijing Warns of Visa Scams

December 22, 2004

Posted on Dec 23, 2004

The U.S. Embassy in Beijing advises the public to be cautious in all dealings with individuals or companies that claim to offer assistance in obtaining U.S. visas. While many of these organizations provide legitimate immigration and visa-related information and services, some seek to mislead customers into paying for services they will not receive or do not need. These “visa scams” often promise successful visa applications, winning diversity lottery entries, or documents they say will ensure visa issuance. They may claim special knowledge of or access to U.S. consular processes. Visa scam artists contact prospective targets via websites, e-mail contact and in person.

General Visa Applications

There should be no need to work through a third-party when applying for a U.S. visa. The latest information on applying for a U.S. visa is detailed on the Embassy's website at http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn

The U.S. Department of State does not endorse, recommend or sponsor any information or material shown on non-governmental websites (using the suffixes ".com," ".org" or ".net") that provide immigration- and visa-related information and services. These websites may ask for payment for services, forms, and information about immigration procedures which are otherwise free on the U.S. Embassy website.

Applications for Diversity Visa Lottery

China (mainland-born): For DV-2006, natives of China (mainland-born) are not eligible to apply because China has sent a total of more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. within the past five years.

Those Born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR and Taiwan: Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR and Taiwan are eligible for participation in DV-2006.

Some companies or websites posing as the U.S. Government have sought money to "complete" entry forms for the Diversity Visa (DV) lottery. The U.S. Government charges no fee to enter the annual DV program. Every entry received during the lottery registration period will have an equally random chance of being selected within its region. Receipt of more than one entry per person, however, will disqualify the person from registration, regardless of the source of the entry.

No other organization or company is authorized by the Department of State to notify Diversity Visa lottery applicants of their winning entry. The online registration period for the DV-2006 Program began on November 5, 2004, and will end on January 7, 2005. Applicants selected in the Diversity Visa random drawing are notified by the Department of State, Kentucky Consular Center and provided instructions on how to proceed to the next step in the process.