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Beech1814 said:
I have an email (which is legal) from a senior officer at the Education Dept. stating that my education is well above yr 12 and if I wanted to apply for Uni (which I have) I would have a ranking score of XX. So I am pretty confident with that.
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Beech, I am a little concerned about whether the Consulate will accept an email as confirmation that you have completed 12 years of schooling. I realise that an email might be regarded as a legal document (in a court of law) but I am not convinced that the Consulate will necessarily accept it. They have their own requirements and dont have to observe legal principles... I think you should reduce your risk and try to get some official certificate or something to prove that you did 12 years at school, rather than risk getting into a "legal" debate with the consulate over the acceptability of a piece of paper. Good luck mate.
 
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Beech1814 said:
AJK,

Congrats to you also! I am pretty nervous about the interview.... but I've been working pretty hard like you since the first NL to get all my documents in order. Do you live near the consulate or will you have to also fly into Sydney?
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Hi Beech,

Thanks.

i am actually in London, UK so will do my interview in the local consulate.

Looking forward to the inteview, but nervous also.

Cheers,
AJK
 
Superkruz, I also have an offer from University to study for a 4 yr bachelors degree, ranking scores from my local government, and also an assessment by a US evaluator that proves my high school diploma. I feel pretty confident that I have the equivalency.




Superkruz said:
Beech, I am a little concerned about whether the Consulate will accept an email as confirmation that you have completed 12 years of schooling. I realise that an email might be regarded as a legal document (in a court of law) but I am not convinced that the Consulate will necessarily accept it. They have their own requirements and dont have to observe legal principles... I think you should reduce your risk and try to get some official certificate or something to prove that you did 12 years at school, rather than risk getting into a "legal" debate with the consulate over the acceptability of a piece of paper. Good luck mate.
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Superkruz said:
Beech, I am a little concerned about whether the Consulate will accept an email as confirmation that you have completed 12 years of schooling. I realise that an email might be regarded as a legal document (in a court of law) but I am not convinced that the Consulate will nessecarily accept it. They have their own requirements and dont have to observe legal principles... I think you should reduce your risk and try to get some official certificate or something to prove that you did 12 years at school, rather than risk getting into a "legal" debate with the consulate over the acceptability of a piece of paper. Good luck mate.
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Hi Beech,

In my mind, this is sound advice. I would at least get a letter from the education department on printed stationary; if you have in fact completed year 12 or even year 10 i would get the actual certificates re-issued. I don't think it was needed, but i did exactly that for my wife even though i am the principal applicant.

It's always better to be safe than sorry.

AJK
 
Beech1814 said:
Superkruz, I also have an offer from University to study for a 4 yr bachelors degree, ranking scores from my local government, and also an assessment by a US evaluator that proves my high school diploma. I feel pretty confident that I have the equivalency.
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In that case, your evidence does seem rather compelling!!!

AJK
 
Beech,

I have no doubt that you have the qualifications required, I am just conderned that you dont have the kind of documentary proof that the US consulate requires.

All I am suggesting is that you establish exactly what they will accept rather than making assumptions. For example, if you are married, they only accept a marriage certificate, nothing else. They wont accept an affadavit from a marriage celebrant that to confirm that you are married, a letter from a police officer cofirming that you are married or anything else. Although you can provide proof to show that you are married they wont accept it if it is not the kind of proof they want.

I am not trying to criticise you, just trying to help, so I trust you're not taking my suggestions the wrong way.
 
Hey AJK,

I have an educational evaluation on Gov paper giving ranking scores for University Entry. I have done a 4yr vocational degree (apprenticeship) as soon as I left year 10 - and a 12 month Cert 4 - so, that is 5 yrs of education that has been recognized outside of actual school. I have done what you suggested some time back AJK and got my actual certificate re-issued !!
Now I just have to present it to the consulate in the correct way.

I really appreciate the feed back from you guys --- it keeps me on my toes :)



ajk said:
Hi Beech,

In my mind, this is sound advice. I would at least get a letter from the education department on printed stationary; if you have in fact completed year 12 or even year 10 i would get the actual certificates re-issued. I don't think it was needed, but i did exactly that for my wife even though i am the principal applicant.

It's always better to be safe than sorry.

AJK
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Superkruz,

I know you are not criticizing friend! I appreciate the feed back. Before I entered the lottery I looked at trying to go back and do my Yr 12 (GCE) and I was reassured that I already had the level of yr 12.
Under the "instructions for Selectees' it also mentions ( as you know)
The diversity visa selectee must have completed a 12-year course of elementary and secondary education in the U.S. or a comparable course of study in another country, sufficient in itself to qualify a student to apply for college admission. The following are not acceptable:
Equivalency certificates (such as the G.E.D.) are not acceptable.
Vocational degrees that are not considered a basis for further academic study will not be considered equivalent to U.S. high school education."

This is where it is good for me - I have completed a 4yr vocational degree - and the 4yr Bachelor at University is a course that is related to my already completed vocational. So my vocational degree is considered a basis for further academic study.

It has been a long road, heheh - I am open to feedback. We are all here to help and make suggestions :) It's about us all being able to get over the line and do it right :)

Like I said to AJK - now I just have to present all of this correctly.


Superkruz said:
Beech,

I have no doubt that you have the qualifications required, I am just conderned that you dont have the kind of documentary proof that the US consulate requires.

All I am suggesting is that you establish exactly what they will accept rather than making assumptions. For example, if you are married, they only accept a marriage certificate, nothing else. They wont accept an affadavit from a marriage celebrant that to confirm that you are married, a letter from a police officer cofirming that you are married or anything else. Although you can provide proof to show that you are married they wont accept it if it is not the kind of proof they want.

I am not trying to criticise you, just trying to help, so I trust you're not taking my suggestions the wrong way.
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Guys,

You may have seen my other post about the I134.

Just wondering what you guys have done in order to provide an Affidavit of Support with your application?
Have you found sponsors, have you filled the I134 in yet?


AJK
 
AJK,

I am thinking that I need to start the process now for the affidavit of support. I know there is 'sorry for being so vague' a .gov site that gives you indications for the minimal $$$'s that is required for an entrant. I have seen the info before and I am above the 'poverty line' that is required, but Im wondering if I should have a sponsor as back up.

Are you using a sponsor or ?

ajk said:
Guys,

You may have seen my other post about the I134.

Just wondering what you guys have done in order to provide an Affidavit of Support with your application?
Have you found sponsors, have you filled the I134 in yet?


AJK
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Hi Beech1814,

I am having both! I will demonstrate quite a bit of savings; you need approx $10 000 USD per person i believe.

I have also got a friend in the USA willing to sign an Affadavit of Support for my wife and myself as well, so i am getting that done.

If you are single, i believe they can be a little more lenient on this, but as i have said previously. It is better to be safe than sorry.

AJK
 
Hey AJK,

Yeah - I have the $10k saved. But I am also thinking it is better to have the affidavit in my back pocket. Hopefully I won't need to use it - BUT IF I do - I'll have it there.
Are you downloading the I134 it from the travel.gov site?
What are your thoughts regarding my last educational blurb?
 
Beech1814 said:
I have seen the info before and I am above the 'poverty line' that is required, but Im wondering if I should have a sponsor as back up
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Here is a link to the 2009/2010 poverty guidelines. I read somewhere that you must have proof of funds of at least 125% of the poverty guideline amount OR have an AOS - you dont need both. Stuff like a car, a house is generally not accepted (apparently) because they require liquid assets, ie something that can easily be turned into cash in a very short period of time & that can be taken with to the US.
 
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Superkruz said:
Here is a link to the 2009/2010 poverty guidelines. I read somewhere that you must have proof of funds of at least 125% of the poverty guideline amount OR have an AOS - you dont need both. Stuff like a car, a house is generally not accepted (apparently) as what they need is liquid assets, ie something that can easily be turned into cash in a very short period of time & that can be taken with to the US.
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Superkruz,

As far as i am aware, it is only 100% for DV winners, but 125% for family based visa's. Some consulates say it needs to be 5x this amount, so it seems alittle woolly what is actually required. In practice they seem to way all this amongst other factors like region, consulate, family status (married, single etc), work history and education.

I would suggest you have as much as you can, and if you can get an Affidavit of Support, definately have that handy at interview as it appears to trump everything else.

Beech, as previously suggested i would just find out the best way off expressing you education history. From what you've said earlier, you clearly have the required education, the biggest challenge will be simply presenting it to the consulate in a manner that they are expecting or confortable with.


Can you give the consulate a call? Find out what evidence they will accept; this will simplify things for you and them!

AJK
 
Beech1814 said:
AJK -
thanks for your input. I will consider calling them.
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Beech,

Keep in mind this is all moot, if you can qualify based on your previous work history! You qualify based on either Education or Work History, not both!

AJK
 
Hey Guys,

Just got an email back from KCC with my interview date!!
Thank you for your inquiry.

An interview for this case has been scheduled at the American Consulate/Embassy of London on October 6, 2010. A notification letter was sent to you on August 16, 2010. Please direct any further questions regarding the processing of your case to this embassy.
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That's awesome news elrotciv!

My interview is around 2 weeks after yours.

Would love to hear about your experience when you interview is complete.

Cheers,
AJK
 
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