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DV 2019 Oceania Selectees

I was looking at mobile prices over there and holy moly it's expensive. Do they charge you for a first born as well or something?

Anyone suggest a good plan for a newbie to the country that doesn't want to get locked down into contracts straight away.
 
Bob22 said:
I was looking at mobile prices over there and holy moly it's expensive. Do they charge you for a first born as well or something?

Anyone suggest a good plan for a newbie to the country that doesn't want to get locked down into contracts straight away.
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I have a t-mobile plan that I pay $3 a month for - pretty much just so I can keep the same number for the past 3 years. The other plans they start at about $45/ month.
PCS Metro I think has some around $25/ month
 
Mijoro said:
That is so awesome, I bet you hardly slept last night. How long do you think it took all up? I have a similar interview time slot and am trying to organize flights back to Queensland.
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I had a flight booked for 7pm but I managed to get them to put me on an earlier flight at 2:20pm ... I was out of the consulate just after 12pm.
 
lozsul said:
How long have you booked to be in Australia for to cover your medical + interview + wait time for passport? From what I've read, most people are approved at the interview and then receive their passports back within a few business days (and then the GC later in the mail). Can you return to the US as soon as you have your passport back?
Many thanks for this, it's what I guessed but wasn't 100% about.
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I have booked the medicals for the wife and I a week prior. If they don't have the medical on the day then they will hold the passports and visa until the medical is received as long as you have completed it prior to the interview. With the medical in Sydney and a full immunization record I'm hoping that it doesn't take the doc 7 days to send the paperwork to them via express post.

Once you get the passports back you are free to travel. I work in the airline industry so luckily I can book standby travel travel up to the day of travel which means as soon as we get the passports we will probably leave the following day to get back to Chicago (if there are spare seats on the plane of course).
 
Bob22 said:
I was looking at mobile prices over there and holy moly it's expensive. Do they charge you for a first born as well or something?
Anyone suggest a good plan for a newbie to the country that doesn't want to get locked down into contracts straight away.
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T-Mobile has great family plans without any contract. 4 lines for $160 which has unlimited data, messages overseas, free data when traveling overseas and works in Canada and Mexico as if you were in the USA. Cancel anytime you like. Also comes with free Netflix and MLB TV pass (if you like baseball).
 
SusieQQQ said:
Sure I can understand you don’t want to worry about every little thing. As long as you have some way to address this if asked, direct from the official DV instructions (which some people might consider it being “listed”):

“If you are selected to apply for a DV, you must demonstrate that you will not become a public charge in the United States before being issued a visa. This evidence may be in the form of a combination of your personal assets, an Affidavit of Support (Form I-134) submitted by a relative or friend residing in the United States, an offer of employment from an employer in the United States, or other evidence.”
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I won't get into details, but I'm not worried about that aspect at all.
 
DougNNNN said:
I won't get into details, but I'm not worried about that aspect at all.
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No, many of us didn’t need to be, but please don’t make a general statement (like “don’t worry about it because it’s not on the list”) then say “well it doesn’t apply to me personally” when you get corrected. Kind of against the spirit of the forum.
 
Quick question for those that have completed their journey - how long did the point of entry process take? I guess a better way to ask is how long should I wait to book a connecting flight? I was planning on flying into LA (landing at 7:10am) and then onto my final destination - flight leaving at 10:30am. Is that long enough?

btw - I got my passport back today, 2 day turnaround is pretty impressive!!!
 
SusieQQQ said:
No, many of us didn’t need to be, but please don’t make a general statement (like “don’t worry about it because it’s not on the list”) then say “well it doesn’t apply to me personally” when you get corrected. Kind of against the spirit of the forum.
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Pretty sure I can say what I want, as long as I'm not personally attacking anyone, or posting falsehoods.

People were getting focused on something that I stated was not specifically requested, and as such, I saw no reason to stress about it. Simon says it's on the website. I'm saying I'm not caring about it.

Not sure what the issue is. Moving forward.
 
Aidyn said:
Quick question for those that have completed their journey - how long did the point of entry process take? I guess a better way to ask is how long should I wait to book a connecting flight? I was planning on flying into LA (landing at 7:10am) and then onto my final destination - flight leaving at 10:30am. Is that long enough?

btw - I got my passport back today, 2 day turnaround is pretty impressive!!!
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That is an impressive turn around!

Three hours is cutting it fine I reckon.
 
Aidyn said:
Quick question for those that have completed their journey - how long did the point of entry process take? I guess a better way to ask is how long should I wait to book a connecting flight? I was planning on flying into LA (landing at 7:10am) and then onto my final destination - flight leaving at 10:30am. Is that long enough?

btw - I got my passport back today, 2 day turnaround is pretty impressive!!!
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That is a bit tight. You could leave it that way and check if there are later flights if you miss the connection. LA is a pretty big airport - so can have long lines in immigration, AND then a big airport for connections to domestic flights.
 
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Aidyn said:
Quick question for those that have completed their journey - how long did the point of entry process take? I guess a better way to ask is how long should I wait to book a connecting flight? I was planning on flying into LA (landing at 7:10am) and then onto my final destination - flight leaving at 10:30am. Is that long enough?

!!
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Mmm... possibly fine but also potentially risky. Assume half an hour from touchdown till you reach the queue - a bit shorter if you fly business class. Anywhere from 30-90 minutes in the queue average. Are you on one ticket/bags booked through? That would make it slightly faster but you’d still have to collect and drop off bags, and go through security again. Are you changing terminals? That can add time too. Check average times in security for time of day & terminal you’d be going through, and shuttle timetable if you need to change terminals. You’d need to be at the next gate by probably 10.
 
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My consulate in Auckland suggested at least 4 hours. We've decided to spend a few days in LA as a tourist before moving onto Austin.
 
Thanks everyone for the advise, I know previously I've 2.5 hour stop overs in LA and I do remember it being a pain to get from one end of the airport to the other but I always made it with time to spare. That said I think I'm going to change to an earlier flight into LA (6am) and stay on the 10:30 connecting. If for some reason I don't make it through in time or am delayed there is a later flight that I can either get bumped to or just buy another ticket if I need to.
 
Aidyn said:
Thanks everyone for the advise, I know previously I've 2.5 hour stop overs in LA and I do remember it being a pain to get from one end of the airport to the other but I always made it with time to spare. That said I think I'm going to change to an earlier flight into LA (6am) and stay on the 10:30 connecting. If for some reason I don't make it through in time or am delayed there is a later flight that I can either get bumped to or just buy another ticket if I need to.
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We got delayed in secondary for 2 hours on our activation trip due to the CBP guys being focused on security concerns about a family in front of us. It’s hit and miss with whether secondary adds any time or not when you are going through the immigration process, especially at the big busy airports like LAX. I always take the attitude that I’d rather spend an hour surfing free airport WiFi if I’m too conservative, than panicking about trying to make a flight or the hassle of rebooking if I’m not conservative enough.
 
My last trip to LAX, (October last year), we had a 2 hour stopover prior to our whole family flying to Seattle. Seemed to be ample time when we planned it.

My fingerprints were "too dry" to scan properly, so I was "detained" for 3 hours, while the family had to fly to Seattle without me. I'd leave sufficient buffer for those "what if" moments. LAX can be a pain to get through, especially if you're in the slightest hurry. Personally, I'm planning on going to Hawaii as my point of entry, (half the initial flight time), and staying a couple of days. Or failing that, San Francisco. San Francisco is simply a nicer airport, and not as dreary as LAX. The flights aren't as frequent as to LAX, but they are there.
 
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