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DV 2017 OC Selectees

Sorry, extremely late reply!

So, if my visa to enter expires mid October, i enter early October for a weekend then come back, say next September, that doesn't raise any red flags with immigration? (I can handle if it raises a few questions) Is a weekend too short for an activation trip? And after activation, I can hold off for 12 months, provided i have a reason? (after which I dont imagine leaving the US anytime soon) Also, with mailing of the green card, is it signature required sorta deal, or do they just mail it to the address, coz I have an address/person i can trust with it but I'm not sure how strict the delivery of it is.

What she said above ^^
 
Sorry, extremely late reply!

So, if my visa to enter expires mid October, i enter early October for a weekend then come back, say next September, that doesn't raise any red flags with immigration? (I can handle if it raises a few questions) Is a weekend too short for an activation trip? And after activation, I can hold off for 12 months, provided i have a reason? (after which I dont imagine leaving the US anytime soon) Also, with mailing of the green card, is it signature required sorta deal, or do they just mail it to the address, coz I have an address/person i can trust with it but I'm not sure how strict the delivery of it is.

Technically you can leave again as soon as you've entered, but tbh I don't think I know anyone who had an activation trip as short as a weekend. I would certainly expect to be questioned on the timeline you've laid out so be sure to follow Emily's advice above.
 
Me again. Our Green cards and Ssns have arrived already but we don't have one for the baby. I know this is because we haven't paid the fee for him but I can't seem to find out how to pay it.
Who should I contact to find out or does anyone know how to do it?
 
Me again. Our Green cards and Ssns have arrived already but we don't have one for the baby. I know this is because we haven't paid the fee for him but I can't seem to find out how to pay it.
Who should I contact to find out or does anyone know how to do it?
Contact USCIS
 
hello, i'm a bit unsure as to what i put down on my DS260 now for education, for some reason i think i went with the o'net score and not the year 12 graduation because i didn't have the certificate at the time, I've since sent off to get a copy of my year 12 certificate, my question is do i have to run with o'net and show my last 10 years working experience or can i just take my certificate to the interview?
 
Hello guys
I got my visa in few days ago.
all the information is correct on visa.
But in the “Immigrant Data Summary” sheet:
1) the spell of my mother name is incorrect: the right is “masoome” and entered “mahsoome” (I said this to officer but he told “not matter”,
2) My father name and surname moved(the name is ali ,surname is “karimi” but I filled in ds260 name:”karimi” and surname: ali (I didn’t know this and therefor I did’nt said it to officer.

the both mistakes are corect in birth Documents.

What do I do?
 
Hello guys
I got my visa in few days ago.
all the information is correct on visa.
But in the “Immigrant Data Summary” sheet:
1) the spell of my mother name is incorrect: the right is “masoome” and entered “mahsoome” (I said this to officer but he told “not matter”,
2) My father name and surname moved(the name is ali ,surname is “karimi” but I filled in ds260 name:”karimi” and surname: ali (I didn’t know this and therefor I did’nt said it to officer.

the both mistakes are corect in birth Documents.

What do I do?

Unless any of these are actually part of your own name it doesn't matter. What matters is that the name on your visa matches the name on your passport.
 
Hello guys
I got my visa in few days ago.
all the information is correct on visa.
But in the “Immigrant Data Summary” sheet:
1) the spell of my mother name is incorrect: the right is “masoome” and entered “mahsoome” (I said this to officer but he told “not matter”,
2) My father name and surname moved(the name is ali ,surname is “karimi” but I filled in ds260 name:”karimi” and surname: ali (I didn’t know this and therefor I did’nt said it to officer.

the both mistakes are corect in birth Documents.
Unless any of these are actually part of your own name it doesn't matter. What matters is that the name on your visa matches the name on your passport.

What do I do?

Sahand asked the CO about this. The CO said it doesn't matter.
A couple of days ago, Sahand asked me this identical question. I said it doesn't matter.
Now Sahand asked here and SusieQQQ said it doesn't matter.

Hopefully Sahand will now understand.
 
We opened a checking which doesn't help your credit, but it's good to have it.

Open a secured credit card. You likely won't get approved for an unsecured credit card because of a lack of credit history. Open a secured card, put $1k to $2k in it, and spend. pay off, spend, pay off, spend pay off. Amazon will be your best friend for a while.

After just under a year, if you're good with managing the card, Bank of America will make it unsecured and return the $1k to $2K (however much you put on the card) to you.

That's what we did.

Hi @EmilyW can we open a secured credit card during the activation trip? Without a permanent US address.
 
Hi Guys

Activating this week through LAX on way to NYC - anybody have recent activation experience / tips they can share from LA? We have a reasonable short transit window to make the connecting Qantas flight so keen to expedite the processing as quickly as possible

Again appreciate your feedback!
 
Hi Guys

Activating this week through LAX on way to NYC - anybody have recent activation experience / tips they can share from LA? We have a reasonable short transit window to make the connecting Qantas flight so keen to expedite the processing as quickly as possible

Again appreciate your feedback!

How short is short? LAX is a mess. The immigration officers are jerks.
 
If you transiting, there will be Qantas staff who can give you an express pass.

Make sure your envelope is visible because the staff can push you through to a quicker queue.

Last time we came in, we bypassed all the queues because our younger son was sick and holding his sick bag (Qantas wouldn't let him throw it out on the plane). We've had good experiences with LAX immigration officials so your mileage may vary (given @guestgulkan monkeyman had buttholes).

When we activated, we landed with 45 minutes to spare between immigration and getting on our next flight. Qantas will hold flights back if there is a delay or if they know there are people stuck in immigration. They won't hold hold the plane forever, but they will delay it for a while.
 
How short is short? LAX is a mess. The immigration officers are jerks.

Yes you had a bad experience, so maybe you should stick to saying your personal experience wasn't a good one, rather than make such a blanket statement. Your experience is not the experience everyone else coming through LAX has had.
 
Big thanks to this forum. Visa approved in April. Going to SF for 2 weeks and LA for 1 week. Activation POE is San Francisco.

Questions:
(1) when I visit the SSA office in San Francisco to get a SSN - can SSA office send the SSN to a Virginia address instead of a California address ?
(2) can green card be sent to Virginia (as per DS260)? But I plan to live in California.
(3) can a 2 year re-entry permit be sent to Virginia as well? Even though I plan to stay in California.
(4) is there a physical address mail redirection service thing available in California? I need one to prove my address for mail purposes.
(5) open a bank account. Do I need proof of address to open an account with Chase Bank or Bank of America? I have seen in this forum that BOA doesn't need proof of address (correct)?
(6) I have an Australian Amex card - thinking of global transfer to a US Amex. When should I contact the US Amex? Do Amex want proof of address and SSN for Amex global transfer? How long does Amex card take to send? Can they send card to a Virginia address?
(7) I plan to apply for a 2 year re-entry permit in December (on my second US trip); should I do anything in the first activation trip to prepare for this re-entry permit? I can't settle in the US for 2.5 years as I'm a uni student in Australia and 2.5 more years to go.
(8) I don't have anyone i know in California. A distant cousin lives in Virginia, and the GC should arrive in Virginia address. I can't bear cold weather so will ultimately settle on the west coast.

Thanks.
 
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