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2013 DV Australian winners

bella8188 said:
Argh, already have another question! So far, google has been no help.

How do you become a resident of a state? I'm still looking into getting my license done, and apparently one of the documents you need to bring with you is proof of residency for that state. Anyone have any suggestions of where to look for info about becoming a resident of a state (I'm looking into MA).
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I'm only guessing, but I think I'm right on this because I've done this in the past for Oz and Canada .... something that shows you're a resident like a gas bill, electricity bill, rental lease, mortgage document, mobile phone contract, car/home contents insurance ... all stating the address you're living at. You can drive on your foreign license for a while ... depending on the state, so before you get your license, you'll be living somewhere and getting set up with the basics, like getting your gas, electricity, phone, cable, etc., hooked up. Those bills/contracts will have your address on it, establishing residency.
 
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I'm going through LAX tomorrow morning, will post up my POE experience. I have a flight just under 3 hours after I arrive (I know, I know), so fingers crossed I don't miss it.
 
reality7 said:
I'm going through LAX tomorrow morning, will post up my POE experience. I have a flight just under 3 hours after I arrive (I know, I know), so fingers crossed I don't miss it.
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Woo hoo! All the best with that. I think you should be okay with having 3 hours between flights - as long as there's no delay on the first leg. Here's hoping there won't be and it will be smooth sailing for you .... let us know how it goes!
 
Vichel said:
Yes, the $330 is paid at the Embassy during your interview. There is another fee though, after you're successful. It's the "USCIS Immigrant Fee" of $165 - a new fee they brought in as of 1 Feb 2013 ... bugger! You have to pay that sometime after your successful interview and before you go the US to endorse your GC for the first time. You pay online at their USCIS website with a credit card and keep the receipt to show them. The instructions for all that are in the package they give you when you get your passport. There's a super secret sealed envelope with a big "Do Not Open" on it, containing who knows what, to be opened by the officer at your POE.
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Thanks for this. I noticed the following words on the email I received after my Sydney interview to tell me that my visa was issued.

“Permanent & Conditional Residents must pay USCIS Immigrant Fee:
Foreign nationals who seek permanent residence in the United States and receive an immigrant visa will need to pay a USCIS Immigrant Fee beginning February 1, 2013. Please read through the attached information before paying the fee to ensure that you are not exempt.”

I can access the payment site through a link from the email, but this is the only place I recall seeing the fee even mentioned. The linked payment page sets out the fee as being USD 165.00 and reads:

“The USCIS Immigrant Fee is now in effect. Any individual who on or after February 1, 2013 receives an immigrant visa package from a United States consulate or embassy abroad (including Canada and Mexico) must pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee. (…) Submit your payment after receiving your visa package from DOS and before you depart for the United States.”

I was going to ask if anyone knew if we were exempt for any reason. But it appears not. I’m certainly not complaining about having to pay fees to get permanent residency, but you all should know to expect this one on top of everything else.
 
Vichel said:
The other date on our visa is when we have to validate/endorse our GC visa before: 21 July 2013. I thought they gave you 6 months but that's just over 4 months since our interview. Is that the same for you?
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Mine definitely gives me a full six months from the date the visa was issued (which was three months after the interview). Perhaps you should ask them if it's a mistake.
 
Darlinghurst said:
Mine definitely gives me a full six months from the date the visa was issued (which was three months after the interview). Perhaps you should ask them if it's a mistake.
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Hmmm, makes me wonder why. It's no big deal that it's that date as we plan to cross the border a couple of months earlier than that but I'm curious nevertheless. Not sure who to call but perhaps I will.
 
Bella -

Yep - Plan is to leave on 4th may - POE - Honolulu - Flights were crazy expensive to LAX - $1600 vs $600!

Two more questions from me, if anyone can help. First, about fees - not including the police check and medical fees, is the only other fee I have to pay the $330 one? And is that paid at the embassy? I don't need to pay any other fees beforehand, like at the Post office?

Others have already answered it but yes there is the 165 after you get your visa back...

And second question was that I recieved a copy of my medical results in the mail - should I bring that along to the interview, or will they already have it?

I had mine already from the doctor (Sydney) so not sure about this...
 
Vichel - Mine was 6 months - that does seem odd but maybe doesnt matter if your going early?

Your trip sounds great! We are also doing San Antonio and a couple of days at a dud ranch!
 
Petamiss said:
Vichel - Mine was 6 months - that does seem odd but maybe doesnt matter if your going early?

Your trip sounds great! We are also doing San Antonio and a couple of days at a dud ranch!
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I think your medical is only valid for 6 months, so they adjust the visa expiry to reflect that.

Did you get your medical done early?
 
dafang said:
I think your medical is only valid for 6 months, so they adjust the visa expiry to reflect that.

Did you get your medical done early?
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Oh thank you, dafang! You're a genius. Now I can stop worrying ;)

Yes, we had our medicals done at the end of January, so that makes sense - 6 months after equals 21 July. Thankfully, it's not an issue for us. We were out of Canada for a month in late Jan/Feb so we couldn't have our medical done then.
 
Vichel said:
I'm only guessing, but I think I'm right on this because I've done this in the past for Oz and Canada .... something that shows you're a resident like a gas bill, electricity bill, rental lease, mortgage document, mobile phone contract, car/home contents insurance ... all stating the address you're living at. You can drive on your foreign license for a while ... depending on the state, so before you get your license, you'll be living somewhere and getting set up with the basics, like getting your gas, electricity, phone, cable, etc., hooked up. Those bills/contracts will have your address on it, establishing residency.
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Awesome, thanks. I am contacting my bank to get a new statement posted out, so I should be all set with that now!

I thought I wasn't allowed to use my foreign license at all, once you get the green card. Then again, I have no idea where I read that! Just being able to drive on my Australian licence for a week or two will be a huge stress off for me!

Petamiss said:
Bella -

Yep - Plan is to leave on 4th may - POE - Honolulu - Flights were crazy expensive to LAX - $1600 vs $600!
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$1600 sounds pretty expensive to LAX! I use LA as my POE, but I fly through to Boston, and that usually costs around $1600 as it is.

However, I'm planning on flying out on the 1st May, and returning to Aus in September, and flights are $1419 return, which is fantastic! And it's with Delta, which is my favourite airline. I just hope the flights stay that cheap this time next week, when I'll hopefully be able to book!

Which airline are you flying with?

Do you all have a favourite/non favourite airline for flying to the US?
 
Maybe its because I'm only looking at one way flights - there is def no advantage to that...

We are flying Jetstar to Honolulu then alaskan air to seattle, then whatever we need to around the country..

Don't have a fav, but certainly will NEVER EVER fly United again!!! Terrible Airline!
 
bella8188 said:
I thought I wasn't allowed to use my foreign license at all, once you get the green card. Then again, I have no idea where I read that! Just being able to drive on my Australian licence for a week or two will be a huge stress off for me!
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Check your state's motor vehicle bureau but new residents are given a bit of time to get a local license. In my case, 30 days but I need to get the car registered within 10 days of establishing residency. Before I can get a license, I need to organise car insurance first. And I'm pretty sure you need your SSN before you can get a license, but I may be wrong on that (so much to research!). So it'd be pretty mean to say you have to get a local license immediately. So much to do! I just hope they don't make me take a driving test! :eek: I get so nervous during practical tests. Written, I'm okay.
 
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The car thing totally confuses me too!

We are going to be travelling around for 10 weeks before getting to NYC to settle down...

Do you think I'm going to have problems with hire cars etc?

According to NY DMV - A valid drivers license from another country is also valid in NYS. You do not need to apply for a NYS drivers license unless you become a resident of NYS.

So in theory we are ok until we are a resident of a state?? - we wont be driving in Manhattan really anyway! So not really in a rush once we get there!

Just need to make sure im going to be ok on the road for 10 weeks!

Might email the car hire places.....
 
Sounds fine to me, Peta. As you say, you won't actually be a resident of any state, so you can drive around on your Oz license til then. There's no generic US driver's license or rego, it's all state-specific. If you're worried, perhaps one of those International Driver's Licenses are handy to have. You can get those at RAC. We'll be driving across the border and not resident of Florida til at least 2 weeks after and we'll be driving on our BC licenses, with BC rego and insurance til we actually get there and stay put.

But it'd be wise to call up car hire companies anyway. At least for peace of mind.
 
There are actually 2 sections at immigration - secondary and new immigrant.

I didn't list an address on the blue customs form, so was sent to secondary, after sorting that out (he said just write anything down), I went to the new immigrant processing section.

They took the packet, my finger print, signature. I told the lady I had a connecting flight, she said I would need to wait. The print guy came over at that time and I was processed, ran from there to my connecting flight terminal and made it on time :)

Despite selecting to receive a SSN at the time of entry, I was not given one, just a piece of paper saying it will take 6 months for the GC to arrive and that with the stamp (dated for 1 year) I can obtain a SSN.

All in all, fairly smooth sailing just make sure you have an address.. They never asked me anything about what I was going to do etc.
 
Thanks reality7, nice to hear it all went okay, despite the worry about your next flight. So as long as we list an address on the blue customs form, we should only have to go to New Immigrant, and not Secondary?

The whole SSN thing sounds like a pain, and a real crapshoot whether you do get sent one automatically or whether you have to go to the office and nag them about it. I was looking through old threads on this subject and see that some previous winners have had problems, while others haven't:

http://forums.immigration.com/showthread.php?548441-Automatic-Social-Security-Number-processing

Trying to establish residency, you'll be asked for your SSN most of the time, so if you just wait and assume it's on its way, but turns out it isn't, it can cause a real hassle. I think we might go to the SSA office as soon as we get there and just check to see if it will be sent out automatically or not.

Even a lot of mobile phone companies won't deal with you without an SSN. We got on with T-Mobile without one, on a no contract plan but everyone else wanted an SSN.
 
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