K-1 & Diversity Visa Lottery

[Asackerm 3]

My fiancé and I just submitted a K-1 package in July (yes I know going the spouse route is better but we have family and logistical reasons why we couldn’t do that).
 

Can he apply to the visa lottery (he meets the qualifications) while our K-1 is pending? At the rate things are moving it feels like the timelines would be similar and he would have a full green card instead of dealing with AOS once he’s here on the K-1. 
 

We have a few red flags that make me panic our K-1 will be denied (large age difference, mostly online relationship due to Covid, government restrictions and a 500 day waiting period for a tourist visa interview, prior marriages) and if it won’t affect our K-1 review/approval, I would feel more comfortable if we had both in process even though the lottery is a long shot.  
 

i just don’t want to do anything that would add yet another red flag to our file for the K-1. 

[Mike E 11,730]

8 minutes ago, Asackerm said:

My fiancé and I just submitted a K-1 package in July (yes I know going the spouse route is better but we have family and logistical reasons why we couldn’t do that).

Do tell. Sometimes people make these decisions with incorrect assumptions.  
 

8 minutes ago, Asackerm said:

Can he apply to the visa lottery (he meets the qualifications) while our K-1 is pending?

Yes.  

8 minutes ago, Asackerm said:

At the rate things are moving it feels like the timelines would be similar and he would have a full green card instead of dealing with AOS once he’s here on the K-1.

In any given year he has a 2 percent chance of running the DV lottery.  It’s a safe bet that the K-1 visa will be issued before he gets a DV immigration  visa. 

8 minutes ago, Asackerm said:

We have a few red flags that make me panic our K-1 will be denied (large age difference,

Then marry and live together outside the USA 

8 minutes ago, Asackerm said:

mostly online relationship due to Covid, government restrictions and a 500 day waiting period for a tourist visa interview, prior marriages).

Another reason to marry.  

[Boiler 43,869]

55,000 winners

 

Last number I saw was 13 million applicants

[Asackerm 3]

1 minute ago, Mike E said:

Do tell. Sometimes people make these decisions with incorrect assumptions.

I’m a single mother with minor children, family, a house, and a good job. Uprooting and living in South America for a few years is not going to happen. 
 

The documentation to get married outside the US is cumbersome and we’d both like my children there. 
 

I know the green card lottery is a small chance, but we’d like to give it a shot as long as it won’t put another red flag on our existing visa application.  

[Mike E 11,730]

2 minutes ago, Boiler said:

55,000 winners

 

Last number I saw was 13 million applicants

So you are saying there’s a chance?

😂

[Mike E 11,730]

1 minute ago, Asackerm said:

The documentation to get married outside the US is cumbersome and we’d both like my children there.

Yes I figured this might be the issue. The Utah zoom marriage solves this issue. 

[Asackerm 3]

Just now, Mike E said:

Yes I figured this might be the issue. The Utah zoom marriage solves this issue. 

We considered that as we’re online gamers and met that way so it would be appropriate, but it’ll be another 6 months until I can see him again in person to meet the qualifications for a zoom wedding to be acceptable (again, single mom and expense) so that would mean restarting the visa process 9 months+ after submitting our first visa. So almost a year of wasted time. 
 

Only reason we would consider that is if we were told outright we have zero chance of fiancé visa getting approved. 

[Mike E 11,730]

Just now, Asackerm said:

 Only reason we would consider that is if we were told outright we have zero chance of fiancé visa getting approved. 

You won’t know for sure until the decision after the K-1 visa interview.  
 

If the decision is no, then the only route to be together is marriage.  

[Asackerm 3]

2 minutes ago, Mike E said:

You won’t know for sure until the decision after the K-1 visa interview.  
 

If the decision is no, then the only route to be together is marriage.  

Yeah, that’s what we’re prepared to do. 
 

In the meantime it sounds like we can take a shot at the lottery and it won’t hurt. I figure my bad luck in life needs to pay off sometime lol

[Mike E 11,730]

2 minutes ago, Asackerm said:

Yeah, that’s what we’re prepared to do. 

It doesn’t seem like it:

 

13 minutes ago, Asackerm said:

I’m a single mother with minor children, family, a house, and a good job. Uprooting and living in South America for a few years is not going to happen. 

 

Edited October 20, 2022 by Mike E

[Asackerm 3]

Just now, Mike E said:

It doesn’t seem like it:

 

 

As in, if our k-1 doesn’t get approved, we’ll get married abroad and file for spouse visa. No, I would not relocate unless this process drags on for a decade and my kids are out on their own. Then I’d consider it for part of the year if work allows. 

[Mike E 11,730]

2 minutes ago, Asackerm said:

As in, if our k-1 doesn’t get approved, we’ll get married abroad and file for spouse visa. No, I would not relocate unless this process drags on for a decade and my kids are out on their own. Then I’d consider it for part of the year if work allows. 

And during each year of that decade he files DV. @Boiler ‘s nine hrs suggest a 0.5 percent chance per year.  So the chance of  getting  DV in 10 years of trying is;

 

1 - 0.995^10 = 5 percent. 
 

I had thought it was 2 percent per year, or 

 

1 - 0.98^10 = 18 percent in 10 years of trying. 

[Boiler 43,869]

I have not looked at it, but with the ever spreading world wide web and smart phones etc etc, I would expect the number of applicants to expand significantly. It is free.

 

Some major potential players such as India and Nigeria are not eligible but still a lot of potential applicants.

[SalishSea 16,988]

1 hour ago, Asackerm said:

We considered that as we’re online gamers and met that way so it would be appropriate, but it’ll be another 6 months until I can see him again in person to meet the qualifications for a zoom wedding to be acceptable (again, single mom and expense) so that would mean restarting the visa process 9 months+ after submitting our first visa. So almost a year of wasted time. 
 

Only reason we would consider that is if we were told outright we have zero chance of fiancé visa getting approved. 

Chance of willing DV lottery is close to enough to zero - you have a MUCH better likelihood of K-1 approval.

 

[SusieQQQ 11,585]

Haven’t read all the posts but yes he can. I was just this past year helping on another forum, a K1 beneficiary who got selected for DV. There are huge advantages to both partners IF you get selected - regardless  timeline - most notably no i864 for USC spouse and immediate unconditional green card for foreign citizen. Yes of course chances of being selected are small, but they are above the zero chance you have if you don’t even enter. You gotta be in it to win it. 
 

fun fact : both my current boss and I are dv visa winners. People do get selected!