I don't think we have a definitive answer - and in that respect, a person can take a decision. If the rule is unclear to us, it will be unclear to COs. That ambiguity will lead to decisions on both sides of the argument. So, whilst I tend to lean toward "elective cross charging is legal" in some circumstances, I think there is some risk in the approach, so I would not recommend it. It's just "stress". Now in you case of course, you should be OK apart from if the CO thinks about the limit placed on Ukraine - but again - that is a point which many COs might not even know.
Thanks. I did my homework anyway. I have dozens of similar successful cases from Russian (raevsky's) forum. It seems to be quite common mistake for ex-USSR countries. There is also a reference to the following document
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-108hhrg93387/pdf/CHRG-108hhrg93387.pdf
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Normal rules of chargeability may allow persons of one nationality to utilize a different nation of chargeability either to make themselves eligible
or to improve their chances. For example, an alien from a high admission country, ineligible for a diversity visa, may qualify for a derivative diversity visa as the spouse or child of an applicant from another country. And since marital status is determined not at the time of application or selection, but at the time of the principal applicant’s admission to the United States, anyone the applicant marries before admission to the U.S., even though not named on the application, is entitled to derivative status as a diversity immigrant.
An alien from a high admissions country may apply for derivative chargeability through a spouse or parent of a different nationality even if the spouse or parent is not himself or herself applying for the diversity visa lottery. In such cases, both persons are considered to be applicants for purposes of cross-chargeability, and both must be issued visas and apply for admission simultaneously. Because chargeability is determined primarily by place of birth, a national of an ineligible country may qualify for the lottery if born in an eligible country, e.g. the child of Chinese diplomats born in Malawi while parents were on temporary assignment there. Conversely, children born in ineligible countries while parents were on temporary assignment, may claim the chargeability of the foreign state of either parent.
The statutory requirements of a high school education ‘‘or its equivalent’’ or ‘‘at least 2 years work experience in an occupation which requires at least 2 years of training or experience’’ are also challenging and problematic.
These are not problems that need to be or can be corrected. In my opinion they are inherent in the notion of a diversity visa lottery. Instead of trying to get the diversity visa lottery to work better, we should get to the root of the problems by abolishing the discriminatory visa lottery itself.
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So I think I should be pretty safe on behalf of chargeability. "
improve their chances" means what it states. This applies to the case if both countries are eligible and you choose the one that is better.
Thanks