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DV 2015 Oceania winners

EmilyW said:
Good on you guys! Spreadsheet all updated with our newest graduates.

I completely forgot you were up today, @Hershal. I had you on the spreadsheet but completely lost track of you, you dark horse.
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Emily, yeah I have been a bit of a dark horse as we were not 100% sure we were going to get approved. But looking back at it now we had nothing really to worry about.

AussieGemma, Yeah i think he did have a beard, but to be honest the whole thing was so surreal that I can't really remember now. :) Nice guy though.

Deb, my wife and I were sitting down the back against the wall, we were ticket 216, if you had your interview at 10:30 then it must of been around the same time as us as we were out of there at about 11:00 (Suppose to be a 9:45am interview).

That door when you first walk in, must admit is quite heavy, was not expecting it. I can see how it can get confusing for people walking in there for the first time, there is no real direction, just a ticket machine and some seats, at first I didn't know if the ticket was for the cashier or what it was for.

I don't know if you were still there but there was a young girl complaining about the fee involved for the Visa. She did say she paid online, and now she had to pay again. Hopefully she had it all sorted out as its never good when you get with unexpected charges, or you pay for something you didn't have to beforehand.
 
Deb7a said:
Well Emily I didn't want to jinx myself so I never said it, but I really thought I was going to be the first one to blot the copybook. You will be fine. There is no reason to worry. If I got through you will too. No doubts.
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Deb, If you were stressing about not get through, then I don't know what I was like.

We had so many different stuff going on while this whole green card thing was happening.

  1. Had to Get Married straight away when we found out we had been accepted for further processing, We were planning December 2014, but had to bring it forward to July 2014 to lodge our DS-260
  2. My Wife had to get a new passport, Which if she was Australian would not be too much of an Issue, however being aGerman Citizen living in Australia, we had to get her named officially changed in Germany before we could get her a new passport in her married name.
  3. I realised my passport was due for renewal in December this year so decided to get a new one.
  4. We found out in late December last year that we were pregnant, so that added to the complications of the medical etc. Originally we thought, not an issue won't need to get a chest x-ray, however we looked it up and we had to definitely get one, we decided thats fine after talking on the forums and looking up ourselves the risks. The doctor told us he wasn't going to do it, then he emailed the Sydney consulate, they replied saying it must be done. Not a problem, however.... the radiology place that does the scans said they would not do it as it was not "medically needed." We had to come back the week after, after we saw our obstetrician, and got the ok, and we finally got it done. We thought that was going to be the end of it.
  5. My Education I thought was going to be an issue, as I did 12 years of education down an alternative pathway due to family reasons

So with all these things happening we thought it would be an issue, however in the end none of it mattered. The fact we got married, changed passports and where pregnant, not an issue at all. They just said oh you have a new passport, didn't even have to show the old ones, even though we had them.

At the end of the day I think it comes down to a few things to pass the interview.

  1. Education
  2. Police Clearance
  3. Medical
  4. Organisation
So for all the people out there that are worried, don't be, it felt more like being at the RTA and redoing your license. Tick and flick all good, here is your "green card"

Sorry if its a bit of a rant, we just few back to Perth so pretty wrecked and need to wake up tomorrow and actually take in the whole ordeal.
 
Congrats to the three approvals yesterday. I'm sure that will take a while to realize the enormity of it all - and you will doubt your choices at various times over the next couple of years. It is hard to uproot yourself, make new friends and a new life - but its exciting too....

About the interviews. OC interviews are going very well - you guys are all over-prepared - and that is exactly how it should be. For those that are yet top do their interviews, don't get complacent. Those who have over-prepared make it look easy, but that is because they have everything in place and more than is needed. You never know when the CO you meet will be having a bad day and pick up on something. At those times it is very comforting to know you can pull out that extra document and diffuse the concern. Keep up the good work!!!
 
Hershal said:
Deb, If you were stressing about not get through, then I don't know what I was like.

We had so many different stuff going on while this whole green card thing was happening.

  1. Had to Get Married straight away when we found out we had been accepted for further processing, We were planning December 2014, but had to bring it forward to July 2014 to lodge our DS-260
  2. My Wife had to get a new passport, Which if she was Australian would not be too much of an Issue, however being aGerman Citizen living in Australia, we had to get her named officially changed in Germany before we could get her a new passport in her married name.
  3. I realised my passport was due for renewal in December this year so decided to get a new one.
  4. We found out in late December last year that we were pregnant, so that added to the complications of the medical etc. Originally we thought, not an issue won't need to get a chest x-ray, however we looked it up and we had to definitely get one, we decided thats fine after talking on the forums and looking up ourselves the risks. The doctor told us he wasn't going to do it, then he emailed the Sydney consulate, they replied saying it must be done. Not a problem, however.... the radiology place that does the scans said they would not do it as it was not "medically needed." We had to come back the week after, after we saw our obstetrician, and got the ok, and we finally got it done. We thought that was going to be the end of it.
  5. My Education I thought was going to be an issue, as I did 12 years of education down an alternative pathway due to family reasons

So with all these things happening we thought it would be an issue, however in the end none of it mattered. The fact we got married, changed passports and where pregnant, not an issue at all. They just said oh you have a new passport, didn't even have to show the old ones, even though we had them.

At the end of the day I think it comes down to a few things to pass the interview.

  1. Education
  2. Police Clearance
  3. Medical
  4. Organisation
So for all the people out there that are worried, don't be, it felt more like being at the RTA and redoing your license. Tick and flick all good, here is your "green card"

Sorry if its a bit of a rant, we just few back to Perth so pretty wrecked and need to wake up tomorrow and actually take in the whole ordeal.
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Yes I can understand why you were stressed. A lot of little fussy bits there that understandably had you worried. I filed for divorce in January, but they barely registered that. It was my work that had me worried. But fortunately my title and job description so closely matched another profession they couldn't really deny me. As he was questioning me I realized I had more control of that situation as I was almost guiding him to the correct conclusions. As has been said before, confidence is the key, but don't be cocky or smart assed. I would have seen you as I was sitting second row from the wall in front of the cashier from 8.30 to 10.30 so I must have been in your line of vision. Wish I had have known. I really needed a distraction. So glad it's over. Congrats to you and your wife....and baby to be
 
A distraction would of been good. I was more just going over in my head what I was going to answer the CO questions. But again once you get yo there and you present a strong case then all should be good.

@Britsimon
Yes being over prepared is the best way to go. I would of kicked myself if they asked for something and we didn't have it. I'd rather take another 2kg of paper work with me as backup than be denied. As it was we thought we messed up as my wife's Austrian police clearance although was in English as well didn't actually say it was a police clearance or from Austria. He was like not to worry that's ok. He was smart enough to work out what the form was all about.

If you fill in the checklist you can't really go wrong. If your worried about anything on the checklist that might need explaining defenately take some backup
 
Deb7a said:
Well that comes directly from the doctors surgery so I would contact them first. But I am not really sure it's imperitive to have it. I would think that would be in the sealed envelope maybe?
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DS-3025 ??? Whats this? I thought all we needed to take for POE was the visa, the packet they give you and the x rays?
 
ozimattskey said:
DS-3025 ??? Whats this? I thought all we needed to take for POE was the visa, the packet they give you and the x rays?
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DS-3025 is the vaccination records. When you got your medical done I believe that the doctor should of copied this and given you a copy. We both have a copy inside our X-Ray Scans. Maybe the DS-3025 will be inside the package they give you as it was part of your medical anyways.
 
Hershal said:
DS-3025 is the vaccination records. When you got your medical done I believe that the doctor should of copied this and given you a copy. We both have a copy inside our X-Ray Scans. Maybe the DS-3025 will be inside the package they give you as it was part of your medical anyways.
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Ah ok cool thanks Hershal it should be in there then. I'm getting a little nervous, I fly out on the 31st of March for POE and my visa expires on the 8th of April, I just want to get it done!!!
 
For those who did not get the DS-3025, stop stressing. It's not going to be required at the POE. It's actually for your personal records, just like the the X-Ray scans. If you really need a copy, contact CS that performed your medical exam.
 
Yeah. You'll need the vaccination forms for kids going into school but for adults, just like our X-rays, no-one ever wanted them...
 
Sweet. Yeah I got a copy for my records too as I had none until we applied for the green card.

Our POE is going to be on the 25th March. We planned a holiday so we got esta waivers last week Incase we did not get approved. Not that it matters now :)
 
I got home from Sydney just now and saw an email from the Consulate saying the CO had returned my Education/employment and work experience records. He also didn't keep a copy of my police report. So I have had to email them off, hope it doesn't hold things up too much as my flight is in just over 3 weeks :eek:
Is it time to put my crappy pants on again?
 
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Hershal said:
Sweet. Yeah I got a copy for my records too as I had none until we applied for the green card.

Our POE is going to be on the 25th March. We planned a holiday so we got esta waivers last week Incase we did not get approved. Not that it matters now :)
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I recall that you were planning to have the little one here before you go to the US? Is that still happening?
 
Deb7a said:
I got home from Sydney just now and saw an email from the Consulate saying the CO had returned my Education/employment and work experience records. He also didn't keep a copy of my police report. So I have had to email them off, hope it doesn't hold things up too much as my flight is in just over 3 weeks :eek:
Is it time to put my crappy pants on again?
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Oh bugger. Just get it too them ASAP. Fingers crossed it won't take them long to sort.
 
Thanks Em, ever my supporter. You know I was thinking about what you are going through right now, and you have absolutely nothing to worry about re your interview. Going under your husband's education, it's in the bag. They really don't ask that many questions. I honestly think they don't really want to know too much, it just complicates things. So stop worrying, it will be a great outcome for you too.
 
EmilyW said:
I think I've reached peak panic. From here, the only place is realistic optimism and tequila shots at the bar.
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Ha ha you are a cot case. Just like me. I'm going to stress about my bloody documents now. God will this ever end? Lol.. I think I've aged quite a lot this past 9 months. I used to look good for my age. I look a bit rough now.
 
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