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The "been there done that" thread: life in the US after DV

Pierre82 said:
Very true and lets hope our chance is in this one. Things are not looking good in the near future for this program.
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I only said to hubby yesterday that even if I was lucky enough to be selected, I would only feel confident once I had that green card in hand! :) Let's see what this year brings, and all the very best @Pierre82 :)
 
Trafford1980 said:
I love this post. Encapsulates how my wife and I feel about things. We’d both entered the DV Lottery approximately 15 times before we were successful. In this time we have obtained university degrees together, gotten jobs, married, had three children, studied more, changed careers, bought a house, sold a house, flew to New York as a starting point for a family “gap” year, and stayed there for almost 12 month on tourist Visas. Fifteen years later, and at the end of our time in the U.S we were finally successful in the DV Lottery. Now we’re back in Aus and preparing to make the move permanently. Our friends tell us we’re brave, but behind our backs tell each other that we’re insane. Our parents, migrants themselves, can’t understand why we’d leave “the weather” for brutal New York Winters. We know it’s not going to be easy, we still feel constantly overwhelmed, as we have been for the last six months. We’re not sitting on a financial goldmine, we’re saving hard for this move. We have three children and they’re all used to an easy-going middle-class Aussie lifestyle. We’ll need to be prepared, we’ll all have to hustle. However, if didn’t take this chance we know that in the future, the pain of regret will outweigh the sacrifices our whole family are making now.
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And I love THIS post! It resonates so much (sorry for veering off the topic of the thread but I do love to read Aussie stories <3). Two degrees and 7 attempts later, my "move to the US" genes are as strong as ever!. Good luck to you and ty for sharing your story. :)

Q
 
EmilyW said:
@Gharrison, Susie gives great advice here. I'll message you my accountant's details. She is amazing and has many Aussie clients for whom she does returns. You will need an extension. Most accountants closed off their returns windows (i.e. the time they will accept new clients) 2-3 weeks ago in order for them to have enough time to file before the end of April.

I would always advise Aussies to go through an accountant. Given the way the US sees our superannuation (they don't see it as a pension fund, they see it as a garden variety investment account), how they work capital gains (so in Oz, we wouldn't pay capital gains on a primary residence, here you do), and FBAR reporting... you get peace of mind using an accountant who can file the paperwork and get you deductions.
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Thanks Emily. I'll definitely try to find an accountant. Hopefully someone will get back to me as I'm not sure how easy it is to even file for an extension if the useless social security office hasn't even processed my husband's SSN yet! Kind of regretting arriving here a month before tax time now, but it couldn't be helped.
 
Gharrison said:
Thanks Emily. I'll definitely try to find an accountant. Hopefully someone will get back to me as I'm not sure how easy it is to even file for an extension if the useless social security office hasn't even processed my husband's SSN yet! Kind of regretting arriving here a month before tax time now, but it couldn't be helped.
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It doesn’t matter when you did or didn’t arrive this year, you would still have had to file a tax return because you became green card holders last year.
 
SusieQQQ said:
It doesn’t matter when you did or didn’t arrive this year, you would still have had to file a tax return because you became green card holders last year.
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Yes of course, I fully realise that. I just meant that if we were able to get here a month or so earlier, we would have had more time to get the social security numbers sorted, and speak to a tax agent before they "close off" to new customers.
 
Writing this from Nashville TN where we are currently searching for a home to purchase and relocate to.
We had our consular interview at the start of January and entered the US on the 3rd of May. After two flights starting in Australia, 17 hours and dealing with a two year olds meltdown somewhere in the air near Hawaii, we arrived at LAX, yellow envelopes in hand found the right queue to get into and went through the immigration process. After a brief initial fingerprinting and processing we were led through corridors of LAX with another couple (from the Philippines) by an immigration officer to a waiting area.
It was so easy!
I was expecting to be interviewed again or asked a bunch of questions. Nothing! Officer asked if our address was still correct, stamped our passports and said welcome home!
Just like that, after years of trying, we are now US Permanent Residents!
Our SSN’s came in the mail a week after arriving at LAX. Very impressed as I had planned to visit an office this week to check the application was in.
Got preapproval on our home loan application today (HSBC, expat mortgage for no credit history) and have found a few houses we like.

We are driving this weekend to Savannah GA for a short holiday before flying back to Canberra where we will commence our relocation. Selling our house there, furniture, resigning our jobs etc

So much to do but cannot wait to start our lives here in our new home!
 
Aussiemika said:
Writing this from Nashville TN where we are currently searching for a home to purchase and relocate to.
We had our consular interview at the start of January and entered the US on the 3rd of May. After two flights starting in Australia, 17 hours and dealing with a two year olds meltdown somewhere in the air near Hawaii, we arrived at LAX, yellow envelopes in hand found the right queue to get into and went through the immigration process. After a brief initial fingerprinting and processing we were led through corridors of LAX with another couple (from the Philippines) by an immigration officer to a waiting area.
It was so easy!
I was expecting to be interviewed again or asked a bunch of questions. Nothing! Officer asked if our address was still correct, stamped our passports and said welcome home!
Just like that, after years of trying, we are now US Permanent Residents!
Our SSN’s came in the mail a week after arriving at LAX. Very impressed as I had planned to visit an office this week to check the application was in.
Got preapproval on our home loan application today (HSBC, expat mortgage for no credit history) and have found a few houses we like.

We are driving this weekend to Savannah GA for a short holiday before flying back to Canberra where we will commence our relocation. Selling our house there, furniture, resigning our jobs etc

So much to do but cannot wait to start our lives here in our new home!
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Hi
We are leaving next week for our initial visit. Did you get an entry ESTA? I think no but wanted to check. And did you just visit on normal tracel insurance??
Can't wait...have interviews at preschools, a conference to attend and excited for whats to follow!!
 
Hello Guys
do i need to report the USCIS of my new address , application for each fmily member and the childre? and not necessery the A-number ?
what about the Socal security office, we have to do it ? f do, in person or online? i'm moving to another city but the same state.
is there anything else we need to report or change address?
thanks a lot for your kind and your help.
 
Sam2015 said:
Hello Guys
do i need to report the USCIS of my new address , application for each fmily member and the childre? and not necessery the A-number ?
what about the Socal security office, we have to do it ? f do, in person or online? i'm moving to another city but the same state.
is there anything else we need to report or change address?
thanks a lot for your kind and your help.
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You can do it online here, for each family member. https://egov.uscis.gov/coa/addressChange.do
It says A number optional but definitely put them in.
No need to inform social security etc.
 
Any one hear about the DL real ID is good to do it not? To use when you travel between the sytates instead of the GC from 2020.
Thanks
 
Sam2015 said:
Any one hear about the DL real ID is good to do it not? To use when you travel between the sytates instead of the GC from 2020.
Thanks
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Of course getting the Real ID or DL is a good idea. You might as well apply for it now.
 
Sam2015 said:
Thanks I just saw it here;
https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/realid/realidfaq
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Yup, just make sure you bring the required documents for real ID. I was at the dmv a couple of weeks back and some people didn’t read the instructions and couldn’t get it.
Of course your green card or global entry card if you have one also serve as real ID. It’s not to use instead of one of these, it’s to use instead of the existing DLs which don’t have the same stringent ID checks.
 
Hello Everyone,

What documents are needed to set-up a bank account (regular checking account + debit card) as a new immigrant ?

If one just landed, and doesn't have a permanent address yet, is that a problem ? Is credit score needed ?

Sorry if this has been discussed elsewhere, i couldn't find a thread/post about this searching this forum.
 
Kassem said:
Hello Everyone,

What documents are needed to set-up a bank account (regular checking account + debit card) as a new immigrant ?

If one just landed, and doesn't have a permanent address yet, is that a problem ? Is credit score needed ?

Sorry if this has been discussed elsewhere, i couldn't find a thread/post about this searching this forum.
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Depends on the bank
No one needs a credit score to open a checking or saving account
Bank of America just requires ID, even a passprt will be ok for them
Chase requires some kind of proof of address
Not sure about Wells Fargo
I think those are the 3 big national banks, you’ll find smaller regional banks wherever you end up as well
 
Kassem said:
Hello Everyone,

What documents are needed to set-up a bank account (regular checking account + debit card) as a new immigrant ?

If one just landed, and doesn't have a permanent address yet, is that a problem ? Is credit score needed ?

Sorry if this has been discussed elsewhere, i couldn't find a thread/post about this searching this forum.
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Most of the other banks (apart from BOA) will require a form of Id (passport is ok), proof of address and social.
 
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