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Give us an update when you arrive. imho LAX immigration are total jerks.

All these people talking about getting married, Australian states have a one month notification period. If you want a vegas-style "quickie" marriage New Zealand has a three day waiting period. Steps: elope, flight to NZ, quickie wedding, honeymoon while you're there, DS260 submit. That's...

I wonder if she is a member of our top secret DV2015 Facebook group..

This year there have been changes to the photo filtering algorithm which may result in a higher cutoff than usual, however 2xxx is really high. My old OC rule-of-thumb is 1500 = 50% chance. My number was borderline. My advice to another high number person is to go along with your life as...

Can't you login to the DS260 website and check? Did you print it out by any chance?

Hi awf - I stretched my win out for years. Selected May Interview September the year after - 16 months Activation trip on last day - 6 months after that Permanent move - 12 months after that

Citibank gold membership requires 150k in investments or similar, so I'd probably go the AMEX route. Also I know HSBC have something similar. With AMEX they don't care about the volume of transactions, just how reliable you are in paying it off. With SSN and GC we didn't have a problem. Both...

According to this page, if you are a Citigold member then yes. The AMEX global transfer program is well regarded. You could get an Australian AMEX now then use its history to get an american AMEX. I can't overstate how important credit history is in the US. They check your credit score...

Hi Wingpin, you can get SSN and Bank account immediately, however the AMEX, secured credit card and drivers license (depending on state) require SSN first. Drivers license often has some residency requirements so you probably need a bank statement and lease as well. Also you may want to wait...

The DMV in Nevada is third-world. The queue to get your queue number (yes, there is a queue for the queue) is one hour, and then the wait is anything from 3 to 7 hours. I'm not exaggerating for effect. They have a screen that shows the queue time and last visit it was 7.5 hours. I've never...

Hey @SusieQQQ great to be back. It was a close call but I managed to make the big move. My company transferred me from Australia to Las Vegas. If you're ever in the area let me know!

Hi Lottic, I did this a few months ago, so Activation Feb 2016 5 Month return trip Sep 2016 (only in the USA for 3 days) * Permanent move Jan 2017 I got hassled pretty badly when entering LAX for the 5 month trip. They always ask "how long have you been away?". When I answered "5 months" he...

Helloo Oceanians of DV2018!

Seven Corners insurance doesn't cover you for Obamacare anyway.

Ok finding a job (remotely). As @Britsimon alluded, my job is fairly specialist so they were prepared to hire outside their area, however I think many of these points have value for everyone. You should start by reading this from an OC DV-er. One piece of advice he says is: "foreign = visa...

Yes I have a degree, no I didn't get it evaluated, no one even checked it, but I did convert my GPA into the USA numbering system for my resume. I used this free service to do it: http://www.wes.org/students/igpacalc.asp

Hello everyone - long time! I know I'm a DV2015-er, forgive me for posting here. Back in the days of DV2015 being a selectee was much more stressful. Hoping and praying each month to make the cutoff. Refreshing your browser constantly to see if visa bulletin had changed. Hours in excel...

A conundrum - save $2K-ish, or a year of waiting that I may not care about. hmm

I know it's a different embassy but most Fijians have historically hung out in the OC forum with the Aussies and Kiwis.

Thanks Suzie - I know you've already said yes but I just want to double-check. Any greater than 6 month period spent outside the USA resets the citizenship timer to the beginning?