Every year, at least fifty thousand immigrant visas are awarded through the Green Card Lottery, which is also known as the Diversity Visa Program. Applicants are only able to qualify according to birth, as opposed to citizenship. Individuals who are selected through the Green Card Lottery are given the opportunity to submit an application for permanent residence in the United States. So, what happens when a Green Card Lottery winner marries an F1 visa holder?
Go Home and Wait
As a F1 student visa holder marrying a Green Card Lottery winner, you may be wondering if you will be allowed to stay in the United States after your F1 student visa expires. Technically, you will not be allowed to remain in the country once your student visa expires. However, you do have other options.
Getting married to a Green Card Lottery winner will not provide you with a visa number, nor will it be current. The waiting time for the spouse of a green card holder to become current is a minimum of two years, and may be as much as five years.
Stay and Work
If your F1 student visa expires, you must return to your home country to wait out the process. On the other hand, you have the option of OPT. Optional Practical Training is an authorization for temporary employment for individuals who hold an F1 student visa. Graduate students and undergraduates with an F1 student visa are allowed to work in the United States for a period of twelve months while on a student visa.
In order to qualify for Optional Practical Training, you must find a job in a field that relates to your degree program. The many types of employment that are allowed during the initial OPT period include:
- Employment through an agency, working a minimum of twenty hours per week
- Multiple employers in related fields
- Part- or full-time paid employment, working a minimum of twenty hours per week
- Self-employed business owner, working a minimum of forty hours per week with proper licensing in a field related to the completed degree program
- Short-term multiple employers as a performing artist, maintaining a list of gigs, including duration and date
- Work for hire through a contractual relationship
- Unpaid internships or volunteer work, as long as no labor laws are violated, working a minimum of forty hours per week
Seeking Legal Advice
If you are an F1 visa holder marrying a Green Card Lottery winner, you most likely have a number of questions. A qualified immigration attorney should be willing to offer you some answers and help you succeed.
