Filed 130 and then won the GC lottery. Now what?

[Mayday 0]

So we filed on March 17. It’s a marriage based green card application. We’re still waiting to hear. (There was an RFE issue that affected the clock.)

Oddly enough, my immigrant husband “won” the visa lottery this week. We’re unsure if we should pursue the lottery option or else wait for the green card application to be approved. Time is of the essence in our case. My husband had a job offer he can’t accept until he gets his EAD. We will do the lottery if it means we can get that EAD faster. (In theory, the green card application should be faster than the lottery.)

What would get us that EAD faster – lottery or GC application?

Thanks in advance.

[milimelo 4,481]

Don't know what your husband's case number is so we can't predict when he'd have the interview for DV but you should know that no interviews for DV can happen before October 1. Check below on current and past visa bulletins to see when they were processing numbers for your region in the past year and hopefully you can draw some conclusions how fast he can expect his interview.

http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/law-and-policy/bulletin.html

I'd still stick out with the I-130 as it's already sent in.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Go with the spousal visa. There is no limits for visas when a USC petitions a spouse.

Visas are limited in the DV lottery. If your husband gives up his spot, it can go to another person who wants to immigrate to the US.

Please don't use up a spot that can benefit another person when your husband has another path to immigrate to the US.