Dear Editors,

We, the selected participants (1,439 people and their family members) of the Green Card lottery from Azerbaijan, who are currently in a very difficult situation, kindly ask you to hear our voices and help us in bringing our problem to notice of the appropriate authorities.

Millions of people around the world participate in the Diversity Visa program, conducted annually by the US State Department, and applicants are selected using a special computer program in the form of a random selection. For many years, for those who have been involved in this program for years, sometimes for decades, the chance of being selected is less than 1%. And we were very happy when we found out that we were chosen.

Of all the participating countries of the program, only for participants from Azerbaijan the visa interviews are conducted not in Baku, but in the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi. However, the interviews of the current period which were supposed to start in September 2020 due to the pandemic, began about seven months later – in March-April of this year. Due to the limited time, starting from July, interviews for participants are intensively scheduled in all embassies of the world; however, for reasons unknown to us, this process is moving extremely slowly at the US Embassy in Tbilisi. The US Embassy in Tbilisi accepts only a few people for an interview every week. This now leads to the fact that people even with small case numbers actually lose their chance. The problem is that the process will end in September (there are 2 months left). According to the latest statistics, out of 1,419 cases waiting for an interview, just 74 received invitations, and just 51 (about 4%!) were issued a visa (this is a very small figure as compared to other embassies).

We have repeatedly written and called the US Embassy in Georgia about this. However, they recommend that we should contact the Kentucky Consular Center (KCC). The KCC, in turn, claims that interviews are appointed on the basis of a request for admission of participants by US embassies in different countries.

Thus, we, the participants from Azerbaijan, along with the problem of being unable to pass an interview for a DV visa in our own country for many decades, are currently faced with the utterly slow distribution of invitations by the US Embassy in Georgia.

We don't deserve such a slipshod attitude !  After the initial selection for participation in the lottery, we spent a significant amount of efforts, time, and money on preparing the requested documents and evidence to patiently wait for interviews. But now the joy of this "victory" has turned into a nightmare for our families, and some of them already think that it would be better if we did not "win" at all. Because for those who participate in the program, the opportunity to get even a tourist visa to the United States is already disappearing.

We have faithfully done everything that required from us by the KCC. Taking into account the Covid-19 pandemic and demands to stay on the territory of Georgia for 10 days, we are ready to comply with other pandemic-caused requirements just to speed up the process.

We are not just figures waiting for an interview, we are numerous human destinies - men, women and children.
Please help us with solving this problem and bringing it to notice of the US Ambassador to Georgia.
With kind regards and respect,

Numerous participants of the Diversity Visa 2021 program and their family members from Azerbaijan.