Applying for diversity lottery from both nationalities?

[jxn 86]

A friend of mine holds both Italian and Albanian citizenship. She previously lived in the U.S. on a J-1 visa, plans on coming back as a student next year, and hopes to apply for the diversity lottery to obtain a green card.

As a holder of dual citizenship, is there a strategic benefit to applying from one nationality as opposed to the other? Can she apply in the same period under both nationalities?

Lastly, if her mother applies and wins, can my friend come as a dependent? She is currently twenty years old and unmarried.

Thanks for any help. I did a forum search and couldn't find the answer to this specific question.

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

The instructions would have answered your questions instantly...because nationality/citizenship has nothing to do with eligibility for DV. What matters is country of birth, either one's own or (if that makes one ineligible), one's spouse. So your friend can't choose. She has to put her country of birth (even if it is one that she is not a citizen of).

By the way, assuming there was a choice eg through spouse, there would be no strategic advantage in choosing two countries from the same region, as per your example of Italy and Albania as both are charged to Europe.

If she is currently 20 and her mother wins, she will almost certainly have aged out by the time interviews for DV2016 start. I don't have the calcs to hand but I doubt she will be able to take advantage of CSPA. So she will not be able to go through as a derivative.

Edited September 28, 2014 by SusieQQQ

[Buckyball 22]

The best thing to is to read the instructions in the first place. You have to use your country of birth and can only in rare case claim eligibility for another country than this.