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Reporter: This is Anna Demidchik - a 27 year old law student from Russia.
For several years - she submitted an entry - to the green card lottery -
that could give her permanent residency in the United States.
In early May, she got the news - she'd been hoping for.
Anna: There was this winning notification - saying..congratulations!
...please get your papers and ship them to Kentucky Consular Center
...as soon as possible.
Reporter: The news seem to be too good to be true - and it was.
Two weeks later - she was alerted to this statement
on the State Department's website - saying the lottery
had suffered a computer glitch - and the results were now invalid.
Anna: I thought that...could not be happening - I never heard of
... this kind of thing happening at all - I mean how could the
Department of State...like a huge government agency - have a glitch on their website.
Reporter: The mistake affected about - 22000 applicants across the world.
Among them - people like "Ugoo Anieto" - a Nigerian - who moved to Texas
2 years ago - to study for a PHD in molecular biology.
Ugoo: You heard the story...we WON...and the Department of State
invalidated the results.
Reporter: Anieto has wanted to live in the U.S. - ever since he was a boy.
When he idolized Michael Jordan - and hung a map of the United States on his bedroom wall.
Ugoo: Ever since - I came..I have tried to make this place...my home...you know
...much as I love to...enough to go to Nigeria - anytime I get the opportunity
...I am pretty much comfortable here...so, I just like it the way it is.
Reporter: The State Department responded to the error - by releasing this video
on youtube.
"Although we receive large numbers of entries - everyday during the 30-day
registration period - a computer programming error caused more than 90% of the selctees
to come from the first 2 days - of the registration period.
The computer error that caused this unfair, non-random result has since been corrected."
Reporter: The State Department - is holding a second lottery draw
results of which will be known around July 15.
But this is little solace to the victims of the mistake - and so a lawsuit is being prepared
against the State Department - on behalf of the 22000 people affected.
Till last result though - people like "Anna Demidchik" continue to pursue the American dream while they can.
Partly as the result of this experience - she says..she is interested
in becoming an immigration lawyer - when she graduates next year.
Anna: I might have to push even harder...to uh..be the best
attorney possible...to make myself known - in the immigration law community.
So, I could possibly get..uh..work visa - and then maybe an employment-based green card.
That's what I'm planning to do now - basically the same thing...as I planned...
before the green card - but now it's just more stress.
And I'm working even harder at that.
For the Wall Street Journal - this is Neil Hickey in Washington.