Anything yet USA Dream?
2011 DV Lottery Winners from Australia Report Here!
- Thread starter USA Dream
- Start date
Anything yet USA Dream?
In answer to your question TamaraM, you have 6 months to enter the US once you have been issued your Visa. Therefore at the interview, when they ask you when you plan on moving to the US you have to give them a time frame within 6 months or they have grounds to refuse you
Hope this helps.
Hi Beech1814,
First of all huge congratulations!
Just out of interest, how many times have you entered the lottery??
Thanks
Hi Leahsmg - this was my fourth attempt. What about yourself- how many times have you entered?
This will be my first attempt! And believe me it's not for lack of wanting it, this is just the first time in my life I have been truly in the position to do this right!
I am so so ready for this, I just hope that luck is on my side. I'm nervous about the fact that this is only my first entry.
I am so so ready for this, I just hope that luck is on my side. I'm nervous about the fact that this is only my first entry.
Leahsmg - many people have been randomly chosen on there first attempt. Don't give up hope. Good Luck
Thanks for that leahsmg - I had a feeling it was something like that. It makes our somewhat high CN a kind of good thing in terms of getting organised (kids schooling etc)...
And FYI this was really our first time entering too - we entered back in 2002 I think, but it seems so long ago that this felt like our first - so don't give up hope! I know it's totally random, but I also know what it's like to juggle statistics around in your head when you are waiting...I'm sure a lot of us do it!
Very best of luck to you.
And FYI this was really our first time entering too - we entered back in 2002 I think, but it seems so long ago that this felt like our first - so don't give up hope! I know it's totally random, but I also know what it's like to juggle statistics around in your head when you are waiting...I'm sure a lot of us do it!
Very best of luck to you.
Thanks TamaraM
Great to hear that you are also pretty much a first timer. I completely agree with you - although it is totally random, my head is constantly buzzing with 'what-ifs'.
If you have anymore questions though I can try and help you out. For the past year I have been researching and getting my head around the whole process so I'm pretty full bottle on the whole thing. All my paperwork is ready to go right up to the interview paperwork required (aside from the Medical of course). Now I just need that golden NL!!
Great to hear that you are also pretty much a first timer. I completely agree with you - although it is totally random, my head is constantly buzzing with 'what-ifs'.
If you have anymore questions though I can try and help you out. For the past year I have been researching and getting my head around the whole process so I'm pretty full bottle on the whole thing. All my paperwork is ready to go right up to the interview paperwork required (aside from the Medical of course). Now I just need that golden NL!!
Oh fantastic ancatdubh! You must be relieved it's pretty much over! Not sure if you've mentioned before, but where abouts are you headed?? And if you have time, can you tell us a little about the interview?? Did they give you an actual time or did you wait in a queue on the day? Many/any other DV winners there with you?!? Where were your initial fingerprints done that weren't accepted? Were they friendly or no-nonsense? Sorry - I have a tonne more but will leave it at that, lol!
leahsmg - thanks, for that. i do have one regarding the medical - googled and googled and can't seem to find out how long prior to the interview the medical can be done. I wonder if we can go ahead with any vaccinations that need doing, aside from the actual medical itself...and now that I think of it , I wonder what extra vaccines the average Australian generally needs...(Husband is needle-phobe and the kids are whole other story, lol.)
And fellow what-iffer, have you ever managed to find out how many people actually apply per-region each year? I have never been able to work out if it is drawn as a world-wide pool, or per region, which makes me therefore wonder, if it is per region, what Oceania's odds are given we are issued with relatively little each year...if that makes even an ounce of sense??
leahsmg - thanks, for that. i do have one regarding the medical - googled and googled and can't seem to find out how long prior to the interview the medical can be done. I wonder if we can go ahead with any vaccinations that need doing, aside from the actual medical itself...and now that I think of it , I wonder what extra vaccines the average Australian generally needs...(Husband is needle-phobe and the kids are whole other story, lol.)
And fellow what-iffer, have you ever managed to find out how many people actually apply per-region each year? I have never been able to work out if it is drawn as a world-wide pool, or per region, which makes me therefore wonder, if it is per region, what Oceania's odds are given we are issued with relatively little each year...if that makes even an ounce of sense??
TamaraM - The results of the medical are valid for between 6-12 months from the date the medical is carried out (12 months of course if you are healthy and have no problems of note that have to be reassessed). Due to the fact that your CN is higher I wouldn't have it done too early as you definitely want to make sure you have plenty of validity on it when your interview comes around.
I can't, however, see any problems with having your vaccinations done earlier (as these have completely different expiries to the Medical). This is something I would do myself actually as they generally have years of validity. I would suggest booking an appointment with one of the doctors certified to do the actual US medical to have the vaccinations done simply because the list of vaccinations required is long but you won't need all of them and they will know which ones you will need to satisfy requirements. Go to the US embassy Canberra website. Click on "VISAS". Then "Immigrant Visas". On the left select "Medical Examination Instructions" and on that page select "doctors" in blue. This will take you to the list of physicians in Australia qualified to perform the US Visa medical examination. (sorry I would have posted the link but it wouldn't let me).
Getting the required vaccinations done early will save you a lot of time down the track.
And in answer to your question regarding statistics, I have not been able to find any solid figures which could give us any idea of the true probability of winning. I do, however, know that it is not drawn as a world-wide pool - applicants are divided up into regions first (due to the fact that they have certain allocations per region per year). I don't know how many applications for the Oceania region are submitted on average (but would love to). I have gathered though that although Oceania is allocated only a relatively low number of Visas (just over 1000) we are a low application region. I believe we have fairly good odds here!
Hope this helps.
I can't, however, see any problems with having your vaccinations done earlier (as these have completely different expiries to the Medical). This is something I would do myself actually as they generally have years of validity. I would suggest booking an appointment with one of the doctors certified to do the actual US medical to have the vaccinations done simply because the list of vaccinations required is long but you won't need all of them and they will know which ones you will need to satisfy requirements. Go to the US embassy Canberra website. Click on "VISAS". Then "Immigrant Visas". On the left select "Medical Examination Instructions" and on that page select "doctors" in blue. This will take you to the list of physicians in Australia qualified to perform the US Visa medical examination. (sorry I would have posted the link but it wouldn't let me).
Getting the required vaccinations done early will save you a lot of time down the track.
And in answer to your question regarding statistics, I have not been able to find any solid figures which could give us any idea of the true probability of winning. I do, however, know that it is not drawn as a world-wide pool - applicants are divided up into regions first (due to the fact that they have certain allocations per region per year). I don't know how many applications for the Oceania region are submitted on average (but would love to). I have gathered though that although Oceania is allocated only a relatively low number of Visas (just over 1000) we are a low application region. I believe we have fairly good odds here!
Hope this helps.
Wow ancatdubh... give the spare NL to me...give it to me
heheCongratulations on finally getting your actual Visa from DV-2010 and for your DV-2011 NL (even though you don't need it)! Luck is on your side my friend.
If you could give us a detailed insight into the interview you just went through that would be great.
I truly am lost for words.
I arrived back into Australia on Sunday, 23 May 2010 (three days ago) from the USA feeling so depressed that I had to leave my partner who is a US citizen there. We were at a loss as to what the future held for us seeing as neither of us felt comfortable with rushing into marriage (with a K-1 visa).
We always knew the immigration thing would be a hassle, which is why as soon as we started dating I looked up options and found the DV lottery, this was on 30 November 2010, I literally submitted my application an hour before the application deadline from a hotel room in Brisbane with a photo I took with the web cam on my laptop.
Today, Tuesday, 25 May 2010 I think I had a mild heart attack when I checked the mail. I am 2011OC0000066* and from what I can tell OC gets roughly 1,800 visas each year so that's a good sign. For those interested (postage time etc.) I'm from regional Queensland.
So a police check (should be okay, the Queensland Police Service offered me a position a year ago) and a medical (I'm 24 so not worried) is what I have to look forward to.
I really can't believe my luck. Damn the 14 hour time difference, my partner is sleeping at the moment so I can't tell her the good news.
I arrived back into Australia on Sunday, 23 May 2010 (three days ago) from the USA feeling so depressed that I had to leave my partner who is a US citizen there. We were at a loss as to what the future held for us seeing as neither of us felt comfortable with rushing into marriage (with a K-1 visa).
We always knew the immigration thing would be a hassle, which is why as soon as we started dating I looked up options and found the DV lottery, this was on 30 November 2010, I literally submitted my application an hour before the application deadline from a hotel room in Brisbane with a photo I took with the web cam on my laptop.
Today, Tuesday, 25 May 2010 I think I had a mild heart attack when I checked the mail. I am 2011OC0000066* and from what I can tell OC gets roughly 1,800 visas each year so that's a good sign. For those interested (postage time etc.) I'm from regional Queensland.
So a police check (should be okay, the Queensland Police Service offered me a position a year ago) and a medical (I'm 24 so not worried) is what I have to look forward to.
I really can't believe my luck. Damn the 14 hour time difference, my partner is sleeping at the moment so I can't tell her the good news.
Hi Tamara, this is the first time we've tried, will probably be the only time as our son turns 21 in November, perhaps it's just not meant to be. However, I am really happy for everyone who is lucky enough to get the "letter". Coen, we are in regional QLD as well, but no news here . Good luck with the processes guys, and would love to hear about the journey.
IheartNY
Active Member
C'mon letterbox!!
Hello all I entered DV2011 too and I am very cross with my letterbox for not delivering me a NL today!! Im in Brisbane and the wait is doing my insides a menace!
Congrats to those in Oz that have got their NLs already. I will be speaking harshly to my letterbox and hopefully I'll have some joy this week!! xx
Hello all I entered DV2011 too and I am very cross with my letterbox for not delivering me a NL today!! Im in Brisbane and the wait is doing my insides a menace!
Congrats to those in Oz that have got their NLs already. I will be speaking harshly to my letterbox and hopefully I'll have some joy this week!! xx
Coen - congratulations! That's truly amazing. I hope it all works out for you
ancatdubh - that's nothing short of incredible, lol. Pity they're not transferable hey? Can I ask, did you chose to pick up (as opposed to post)your visas or did you have to? Were they nice to deal with? Or totally down to business...pleeease tell us more,lol!
IheartNY - best of luck - I heart NY too ;-)
leahsmg - thanks for your answers - you are a veritable font of information! I so hope you get a letter.
I'm wondering how much more confusing it's going to get for us working out the vaccinations, given i grew up in NZ, and my husband grew up in NZ, Canada, and Aus!
- woops I forgot to ask, how are people sending their paperwork to KCC?? Courier?? Fedex?? Beech1814 - how are you sending yours??
ancatdubh - that's nothing short of incredible, lol. Pity they're not transferable hey? Can I ask, did you chose to pick up (as opposed to post)your visas or did you have to? Were they nice to deal with? Or totally down to business...pleeease tell us more,lol!
IheartNY - best of luck - I heart NY too ;-)
leahsmg - thanks for your answers - you are a veritable font of information! I so hope you get a letter.
I'm wondering how much more confusing it's going to get for us working out the vaccinations, given i grew up in NZ, and my husband grew up in NZ, Canada, and Aus!
- woops I forgot to ask, how are people sending their paperwork to KCC?? Courier?? Fedex?? Beech1814 - how are you sending yours??
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h**p://auspost.com.au/internationalpost/products/eci/index.html (wouldn't let me post the URL due to being a new member) seems to be the only thing that Australia Post offer internationally that is fast or more importantly trackable. USA is Zone C according to Australia Post so it's $41.10 for a 500g prepaid envelope. The envelope is also cardboard so your photos won't get damaged in transit (my NL looks like a dog ate it because it's been bent that many times prior to delivery.)
I am sending my stuff off tomorrow so if you can recommend something else before then let me know.
What is everyone doing for their photos?
I have Photoshop so I was thinking of putting the two 2" x 2" photos in the middile of a a 6" x 4" with a 1cm white boarder so they can be trimmed, inserting my case number in the whitespace in the upper right corner, then using a photo kiosk to print the finished image.
Last week when I was in the US the Kodak kiosk at CVS had a US passport photo template that did 2" x 2" prints and checked the demisions of your head are correct. I haven't used a Kiosk in Australia for a while, I assume if you select passport they'll print the Australian size?
I am sending my stuff off tomorrow so if you can recommend something else before then let me know.
What is everyone doing for their photos?
I have Photoshop so I was thinking of putting the two 2" x 2" photos in the middile of a a 6" x 4" with a 1cm white boarder so they can be trimmed, inserting my case number in the whitespace in the upper right corner, then using a photo kiosk to print the finished image.
Last week when I was in the US the Kodak kiosk at CVS had a US passport photo template that did 2" x 2" prints and checked the demisions of your head are correct. I haven't used a Kiosk in Australia for a while, I assume if you select passport they'll print the Australian size?