Summary: This report discusses how the State Department processes visa applications for the "visa lottery" authorized by the Immigration Act of 1990. Under this legislation, 40 percent of the 40,000 special immigrant visas that the State Department can grant each fiscal year through 1994 should be available to Irish citizens. The State Department established a one-week period in October 1991 for individuals to apply by mail for visas and rented a post office box in Merrifield, Virginia, to receive the applications. In public instructions, the State Department emphasized that mail received at the post office box before or after the one-week period would not be processed. According to the Postal Inspection Service, many people went to great lengths to ensure that their mail would arrive on time, with some individuals actually traveling to Merrifield the week before the application period to mail applications. GAO discusses (1) why the State Department tried to process the applications in the order they were received, (2) if accepting multiple applications was appropriate, (3) the possibility that companies advertised and charged fees to help aliens file applications and other paperwork, and (4) whether the State Department managed the lottery properly. GAO also explores ways to prevent firms from charging excessive fees to help aliens file applications or other paperwork for future lotteries.
