DV 2015 Selectees from Ghana

[SusieQQQ]

Guys, bad news.....i was refused yesterday unjustifiably.....

my refusal was because my name was interchanged in the original entry form. instead of John Paul, it was rather Paul John in their system ( even after correcting it in the DS forms).The CO then said that because i corrected the error in the DS form when it was opened, i had tampered with the original data and that was against the rules of the lottery hence my refusal.

I'm so sorry to hear about the refusal.
(However, it is not "unjustifiable" and others have been refused for the same thing. Names in the eDV form need to be accurate.)
Wish you the best with your next plans.

 

[Sm1smom]

Guys, bad news.....i was refused yesterday unjustifiably.....

my refusal was because my name was interchanged in the original entry form. instead of John Paul, it was rather Paul John in their system ( even after correcting it in the DS forms).The CO then said that because i corrected the error in the DS form when it was opened, i had tampered with the original data and that was against the rules of the lottery hence my refusal.

Sorry to learn of your denial, it however shouldn't have come as a complete surprise to you though just like @EURO2014 pointed out above. When you asked back in March about your case, I believe @Thowa specifically pointed out the possibility of how the name change could come across to the CO and eventually lead to a visa denial:

my brother, this issue has come up before. it is one of the ways by which people try to increase their chances of winning. (to enter into the draw more than once - that is changing the positions of their names). cant say much about that but just want to draw your attention to that.

Anyway, all the best as you move on with your life.

 

[Britsimon]

Guys, bad news.....i was refused yesterday unjustifiably.....

my refusal was because my name was interchanged in the original entry form. instead of John Paul, it was rather Paul John in their system ( even after correcting it in the DS forms).The CO then said that because i corrected the error in the DS form when it was opened, i had tampered with the original data and that was against the rules of the lottery hence my refusal.

Unfortunately, as SusieQQQ said, the refusal, whilst harsh was justified. And to be clear, for EVERY case in this scenario the correct course of action is to submit the correct information in the ds260. Your refusal would have happened with or without the correction, but for some people, the correction is the only way to proceed to ensure documents match, background checks are correct and so on.

Anyway, I'm sorry to hear about it. Try again in October.

 

[yaa88]

Barka da sallah

 

[Uptown]

I'm so sorry to hear about the refusal.
(However, it is not "unjustifiable" and others have been refused for the same thing. Names in the eDV form need to be accurate.)
Wish you the best with your next plans.

Susie qqq Enlighten me on this scenario.
Am from Kenya
The Edv form while applying has an option to fill in three names. ( first name, second name and last name)
I have four names Hezekiah ,James ,Chege, Muriu.
My initial application I filled James as my first name, Chege as my second name and Muriu as my last name. So on my one nl letter has names in this order James Chege Muriu.I have always used James as my first name.
On the ds260 I indicated all the names Four of them as they appear in my passport in this order Hezekiah, James ,Chege ,Muriu.
Now some of my documents like highschool certificate have three names where James is the first name.
Am worried , I don't know if my case is similar to K-Jay.. Can my names situation cause visa denial.

 

[usamommy2015]

Susie qqq Enlighten me on this scenario.
Am from Kenya
The Edv form while applying has an option to fill in three names. ( first name, second name and last name)
I have four names Hezekiah ,James ,Chege, Muriu.
My initial application I filled James as my first name, Chege as my second name and Muriu as my last name. So on my one nl letter has names in this order James Chege Muriu.I have always used James as my first name.
On the ds260 I indicated all the names Four of them as they appear in my passport in this order Hezekiah, James ,Chege ,Muriu.
Now some of my documents like highschool certificate have three names where James is the first name.
Am worried , I don't know if my case is similar to K-Jay.. Can my names situation cause visa denial.

You could post in the Kenyan forum. This may or may not lead to denial. Depends on the CO. Can you not change the passport to the 3 names?

 

[Uptown]

You could post in the Kenyan forum. This may or may not lead to denial. Depends on the CO. Can you not change the passport to the 3 names?

Birth Certificate has four names, Just managed to have national identity card changed and now has four names so my police certificate will have four names. And on ds260 I wrote all my names.
In short am trying to have all documents to covering all names.
I remember initial electronic diversity visa form having only three box names.
First, second and surname.
Removing one name from my passport that might prove more difficult cause would mean changing birth certificate.

 

[usamommy2015]

Birth Certificate has four names, Just managed to have national identity card changed and now has four names so my police certificate will have four names. And on ds260 I wrote all my names.
In short am trying to have all documents to covering all names.
I remember initial electronic diversity visa form having only three box names.
First, second and surname.
Removing one name from my passport that might prove more difficult cause would mean changing birth certificate.

As you will see above John Paul was denied a visa because he listed his name as Paul John. It is upto the CO to decide.

 

[Uptown]

As you will see above John Paul was denied a visa because he listed his name as Paul John. It is upto the CO to decide.

His case different than mine cause he interchanged names. But my scenario I haven't interchanged any names. In short you are saying having four names is visa denial. I guess on ds260 clearly explains to provide all names you have (aliases)

 

[usamommy2015]

His case different than mine cause he interchanged names. But my scenario I haven't interchanged any names. In short you are saying having four names is visa denial. I guess on ds260 clearly explains to provide all names you have (aliases)

I am not saying anything of that sort. I am saying they may or may not accept. Some cheeky people will apply under multiple names like Paul John, then John Paul then just Paul, then Just John to have higher chances of winning. They will check to see if you did a double entry. They will check to see if maybe the omission was to commit a fraud etc. So end of day every case is different which is why all cases go through interview. Hope I cleared your doubts.

 

[Uptown]

I am not saying anything of that sort. I am saying they may or may not accept. Some cheeky people will apply under multiple names like Paul John, then John Paul then just Paul, then Just John to have higher chances of winning. They will check to see if you did a double entry. They will check to see if maybe the omission was to commit a fraud etc. So end of day every case is different which is why all cases go through interview. Hope I cleared your doubts.

Thanks you are correct there. Am assuming it would even be worse if I failed to indicate my extra name on the ds260.
My question was I have always used James as my first name. But realistically as per my birth Hezekiah should have been my first.
But you see on ds260 on names section I wrote them in the right order ( Hezekiah James Chege Muriu )
You are right it depends with the CO. But I guess one can never stop worrying if you have done everything right.

 

[EURO2014]

Susie qqq Enlighten me on this scenario.
Am from Kenya
The Edv form while applying has an option to fill in three names. ( first name, second name and last name)
I have four names Hezekiah ,James ,Chege, Muriu.
My initial application I filled James as my first name, Chege as my second name and Muriu as my last name. So on my one nl letter has names in this order James Chege Muriu.I have always used James as my first name.
On the ds260 I indicated all the names Four of them as they appear in my passport in this order Hezekiah, James ,Chege ,Muriu.
Now some of my documents like highschool certificate have three names where James is the first name.
Am worried , I don't know if my case is similar to K-Jay.. Can my names situation cause visa denial.

DV-2016 instructions clearly state the following in respect to this matter:

"You must provide the following information to complete your E-DV entry:
1. Name – last/family name, first name, middle name – exactly as on your passport." (underline included). Meaning that if you have more than two first names, simply use the first two in their respective order as listed on your passport (you stated that you posses a passport, just to avoid any doubt on that point). It's rather straight forward really.

Source: http://travel.state.gov/content/dam...Translations/DV_2016_Instructions_English.pdf

If you followed these instructions you won't have any problem. If you did not follow instructions, you may or may not have a problem, as evidenced by various postings on this forum. You will unfortunately only find out for sure at the interview itself, after having paid the DV fee. Good luck!

 

[Britsimon]

DV-2016 instructions clearly state the following in respect to this matter:

"You must provide the following information to complete your E-DV entry:
1. Name – last/family name, first name, middle name – exactly as on your passport." (underline included). Meaning that if you have more than three names, simply use the first three in respective order as listed on your passport.

Source: http://travel.state.gov/content/dam...Translations/DV_2016_Instructions_English.pdf

If you followed these instructions you won't have any problem. If you did not follow instructions, you may or may not have problems, as evidenced by various postings in this forum. You will unfortunately only find out for sure at the interview itself, after having paid the DV fee. Good luck!

I always have a bit of a problem with that instruction. There is an assumption there that the name on the passport will be exactly the legal name. There are countries where that in itself is not a true statement because there are common mistakes made - and there are other reasons why this might not be the correct name.

In my opinion, the legal name of someone is established (usually) firstly by the birth certificate. The BC is used to obtain the first passport and if all is well, the two should match. Later a name change might occur (as in a marriage) and there is an official document (such as a marriage certificate) that connects the dots between the original name at birth with a new or modified name. Passports may or may not match that. My wife, for instance, still travels on her maiden name passport (because Spanish people don't change their names in marriage) whilst her GC, USA DL, UK DL and so on is in her married name. She should correct the passport, but she does not HAVE to correct it - and I confirmed that at immigration yesterday (she has to show the marriage cert to connect the dots).

The point is - people should use their LEGAL name, hopefully that will be what is shown on the passport, but the instruction above is slightly "lazy" advice.

 

[EURO2014]

I always have a bit of a problem with that instruction. There is an assumption there that the name on the passport will be exactly the legal name. There are countries where that in itself is not a true statement because there are common mistakes made - and there are other reasons why this might not be the correct name.

In my opinion, the legal name of someone is established (usually) firstly by the birth certificate. The BC is used to obtain the first passport and if all is well, the two should match. Later a name change might occur (as in a marriage) and there is an official document (such as a marriage certificate) that connects the dots between the original name at birth with a new or modified name. Passports may or may not match that. My wife, for instance, still travels on her maiden name passport (because Spanish people don't change their names in marriage) whilst her GC, USA DL, UK DL and so on is in her married name. She should correct the passport, but she does not HAVE to correct it - and I confirmed that at immigration yesterday (she has to show the marriage cert to connect the dots).

The point is - people should use their LEGAL name, hopefully that will be what is shown on the passport, but the instruction above is slightly "lazy" advice.

Yep, you are right of course. That is most likely the specific reason why DoS refers to the passport as the legal document and basis for eDV entry, precisely to avoid these potential pitfalls. Following instructions should under no circumstances cause problems down the road. Problem is that folks sometimes simply miss reading them in the first place...

 

[Uptown]

I always have a bit of a problem with that instruction. There is an assumption there that the name on the passport will be exactly the legal name. There are countries where that in itself is not a true statement because there are common mistakes made - and there are other reasons why this might not be the correct name.

In my opinion, the legal name of someone is established (usually) firstly by the birth certificate. The BC is used to obtain the first passport and if all is well, the two should match. Later a name change might occur (as in a marriage) and there is an official document (such as a marriage certificate) that connects the dots between the original name at birth with a new or modified name. Passports may or may not match that. My wife, for instance, still travels on her maiden name passport (because Spanish people don't change their names in marriage) whilst her GC, USA DL, UK DL and so on is in her married name. She should correct the passport, but she does not HAVE to correct it - and I confirmed that at immigration yesterday (she has to show the marriage cert to connect the dots).

The point is - people should use their LEGAL name, hopefully that will be what is shown on the passport, but the instruction above is slightly "lazy" advice.

On the Ds260 personal information section NOTE: Data on this page must match the information as it is written in your passport or travel documents.". Will this rectify the initial mistake I made on initial entry?
Initial entry names - James Chege Muriu
Ds260 names as per passport- Hezekiah James Chege Muriu

 

[EURO2014]

On the Ds260 personal information section NOTE: Data on this page must match the information as it is written in your passport or travel documents.". Will this rectify the initial mistake I made on initial entry?

Sure, this is what everyone with eDV entry errors is trying to achieve. As mentioned above, you may or may not be successful with the attempt. Nobody will be able to tell you for sure what the specific outcome will be in your specific case and circumstances.

 

[SusieQQQ]

His case different than mine cause he interchanged names. But my scenario I haven't interchanged any names. In short you are saying having four names is visa denial. I guess on ds260 clearly explains to provide all names you have (aliases)

So, you left your first name off. This is kind of odd. Most people in a similar situation would leave their third name off, not their first one. (And I know of people who did exactly this and got their visas.) I understand when you say you didn't usually use it, but I also know a few people who don't use their first name in everyday life but know that it needs to come first in official documents. So, it's hard to say how a CO will view this, because while you could not fit all your names in to most people it seems strange that your first name was the one you left off. However you have your school etc certificates to show that is how you were usually known. If you're willing to gamble the costs of the visa it's certainly worth a try....

 

[USA14]

...enjoying Massachusetts...

 

[Uptown]

So, you left your first name off. This is kind of odd. Most people in a similar situation would leave their third name off, not their first one. (And I know of people who did exactly this and got their visas.) I understand when you say you didn't usually use it, but I also know a few people who don't use their first name in everyday life but know that it needs to come first in official documents. So, it's hard to say how a CO will view this, because while you could not fit all your names in to most people it seems strange that your first name was the one you left off. However you have your school etc certificates to show that is how you were usually known. If you're willing to gamble the costs of the visa it's certainly worth a try....

Thanks for your response. Sorry I forgot to mention that am not the principal applicant. My wife is. And I didn't intentionally leave out my first name. For Example my national Identity card has 3 names James listed as first.
Anyway thanks all for your response. Anyway life is a gamble.

 

[EmilyW]

FWIW, I am a derivative and my second middle name was missing from the original entry. I made sure this was corrected in the DS260 and let the KCC know of the error in advance. It wasn't a problem at interview.

But that was a missing second name. They may look differently on a missing first name but, as you said, life is a gamble. It will come down to that CO.