Will joining a US visa diversity program affect my future B1 requests?
I currently have a B1 visa for 2 years (I am Italian).
I'm not planning to move permanently to the U.S. but wouldn't mind joining the lottery for the diversity program.
B1 Visa is given under the assumptions of non-immigrant intents. Joining the diversity program would affect my future B1 renewals requests (If I'll ever need to go back again to the U.S. for work)?
Best Answer
It doesn't automatically affect it negatively, but:
If you are being interviewed for your Visa, you should be prepared to answer questions about the parallel green card lottery; basically, you need to convincingly explain your 'dual intent'; i.e. "you are trying to get the non-permanent visa and would afterwards leave the country as required; but at the same time you would gladly get a green card and immigrate".
See #10 on this government FAQ: https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Diversity-Visa/DV-Instructions-Translations/DV-2017-Instructions-Translations/DV-2017%20Instructions%20and%20FAQs.pdf
There are many discussion about cross-effecting, but no official USCIS statement. Here is one example of a qualified opinion: https://www.quora.com/U-S-Immigration-Does-entering-the-Green-Card-Lottery-Diversity-Visa-worsen-your-chances-of-getting-an-American-visa-in-the-future
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Does diversity lottery affect visa?
If your name is selected in the lottery, you may have trouble renewing nonimmigrant status while waiting for your name to be cleared for processing or getting a new nonimmigrant visa if you are outside the U.S. However, as you would be getting permanent residency anyway shortly, this would be a temporary problem.Does DV Lottery affect tourist visa?
Applying for DV lottery does not cause an automatic denial to your tourist visa. But there has been incidents where the immigration consulate refused to issue tourist visa claiming that applying DV lottery shows an intention of migrating to the US.What are the chances of winning the Diversity Visa?
Chances of winning the Green Card Lottery According to our long-term in-house analyses, the chances of winning a Green Card are currently about 1:25 to 1:75 (depending on the region you live in) \u2013 for Europeans, most recently about 1:45. This means that approximately every 45th participant actually wins a Green Card.How many times can you apply for diversity visa?
Can I submit more than one entry? Yes and No. The law governing the DV Lottery immigration program only allows one entry for each person during each DV Lottery year.Five Mistakes NOT to Make at your Immigration Interview
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Answer 2
TL;DR: No, however read below:
I am unaware of any formal guidelines on the subject. I recollect that in previous versions of DS-160 (the form you file when applying for a B-1) there was a question similar to "have you ever applied for immigration benefits/intended to immigrate to the US?". New DS-160 Does not have this question.
There were multiple discussions on trackitt regarding the subject. The consensus was that application for a DV lottery does not constitute immigration intent. Reason is that somebody else might have submitted the application for you. There are known cases when applications were submitted en masse without applicant consent (Ukraine). Immigration intent starts with filing something immigration related which 1. required your signature/physical approval. 2. names you as a beneficiary E.g. I-140 (not I-130), I-485/ DS-260 and similar.
I know 4 people playing the lottery and having little trouble obtaining B-1 visa.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.