2014 DV Australian winners

[2014hopeful]

Well, it's official, 11 March at 10am I get my chance to convince them that I'm worthy!

Just a couple of quick questions for you lovely people... I'm guessing a copy of my degree transcript will be enough to meet the educational requirement? I actually have three degrees - do I need copies of all of them (bearing in mind that two are from the UK so will be a little more complicated to get!)?

Also, I there is some question mark over whether they will deem me eligible for the visa. Long story short, I was born in the UK. I AM eligible (I fall under one of the exceptions for people born in non-chargeable countries), but I have some doubt over whether they will accept the proof that I provide. I need to know what the worst case scenario is. Say they turn me down for the visa (I'd be disappointed but I'd live), would I then have to get a tourist visa every time I go to the US, having previously been denied a visa, as opposed to going under the visa waiver? What about a student visa? I've quite separately applied to a few US graduate school for (yet more!) study. Would being turned down for the Greencard affect my chances of getting a student visa?

Thank you, you oracles of diversity visa knowledge! This site has been invaluable in guiding me through this process, so even though I'm not much of a contributor, I really do appreciate your collective efforts!

 

[Britsimon]

Well, it's official, 11 March at 10am I get my chance to convince them that I'm worthy!

Just a couple of quick questions for you lovely people... I'm guessing a copy of my degree transcript will be enough to meet the educational requirement? I actually have three degrees - do I need copies of all of them (bearing in mind that two are from the UK so will be a little more complicated to get!)?

Also, I there is some question mark over whether they will deem me eligible for the visa. Long story short, I was born in the UK. I AM eligible (I fall under one of the exceptions for people born in non-chargeable countries), but I have some doubt over whether they will accept the proof that I provide. I need to know what the worst case scenario is. Say they turn me down for the visa (I'd be disappointed but I'd live), would I then have to get a tourist visa every time I go to the US, having previously been denied a visa, as opposed to going under the visa waiver? What about a student visa? I've quite separately applied to a few US graduate school for (yet more!) study. Would being turned down for the Greencard affect my chances of getting a student visa?

Thank you, you oracles of diversity visa knowledge! This site has been invaluable in guiding me through this process, so even though I'm not much of a contributor, I really do appreciate your collective efforts!

About the education, yes take the degree transcripts BUT also take A level and GCSE results (you went through the UK ed system I think). Sometimes a picky CO will expect the high school equivalent proof (A levels) even though your degree exceed that - so take it all.

There are two ways a failed DV attempt could affect a temp visa application. The first is that you fail for some important reason that will then be revealed and could be found during the temp visa interview. That doesn't seem likely. The second way is that you have shown immigrant intent. So - if you do need a future student visa you will have to demonstrate that you have strong ties to your home country and that your previous immigrant intent is not still an issue.

Good luck for March 11th!

 

[2014hopeful]

Thanks Britsimon!

Hmmm... GCSE/A-level certificates (well remembered by the way!) might be tricky. I'll have to see what's hidden away in storage.

Does that mean that if I'm turned down then I won't be able to travel under the visa waiver programme and I'll have to go to the consulate to prove that I have no immigrant intent every time I travel to the US? That would be a massive pain in the derrière!

 

[SusieQQQ]

Thanks Britsimon!

Hmmm... GCSE/A-level certificates (well remembered by the way!) might be tricky. I'll have to see what's hidden away in storage.

Does that mean that if I'm turned down then I won't be able to travel under the visa waiver programme and I'll have to go to the consulate to prove that I have no immigrant intent every time I travel to the US? That would be a massive pain in the derrière!

Not necessarily. I got a visitor visa while we had an immigration petition in progress, valid for 10 years, but the best people to ask would be the consulate.

Out of interest, why are you concerned that you can't prove eligibility?

 

[Britsimon]

Not necessarily. I got a visitor visa while we had an immigration petition in progress, valid for 10 years, but the best people to ask would be the consulate.

Out of interest, why are you concerned that you can't prove eligibility?

Agreed.

His concern is prooving his parents were only temporarily in the UK when he was born.


Hopeful, once you have had the interview please post the experience explaining how you proved (thinking positive) the temporary stay. Knowing what worked ( or didn't) would be helpful to others in a similar situation.

 

[2014hopeful]

Hi Susie, Britsimon's spot on, my concern is with proving that my parents were not "resident" in he UK when I was born. I've done quite a bit of research into the law and policy in that area and unfortunately, it's as clear as mud. I'll have a reasonable amount of evidence indicating the temporary nature of their stay but nothing absolutely definitive, so it seems to me that there's s bit of a risk that an unsympathetic immigration officer might interpret their stay as amounting to residency for the purposes of my visa application.

Britsimon, I'd already thought of that actually. I'll definitely provide a write-up, whichever way it goes.

Thanks for the ongoing advice, guys. Much appreciated.

 

[Britsimon]

Hi Susie, Britsimon's spot on, my concern is with proving that my parents were not "resident" in he UK when I was born. I've done quite a bit of research into the law and policy in that area and unfortunately, it's as clear as mud. I'll have a reasonable amount of evidence indicating the temporary nature of their stay but nothing absolutely definitive, so it seems to me that there's s bit of a risk that an unsympathetic immigration officer might interpret their stay as amounting to residency for the purposes of my visa application.

Britsimon, I'd already thought of that actually. I'll definitely provide a write-up, whichever way it goes.

Thanks for the ongoing advice, guys. Much appreciated.

Thanks Hopeful - Good luck!

 

[AmyJ]

Got our interview date - March 18!

Suddenly seems a lot more real. I was away visiting friends for the weekend and my husband (he's the one who won) called to read the letter to me. Then he started researching through all the documents required, medicals, police checks, etc and called me again in a panic. I had to laugh, I did all this research last year when we first found out we'd won and I already have a folder with print outs of requirements and all the documents collected so far. We even went last week to submit our police checks! All we have left to do is the medical - then obviously turning up for the interview :-D. I've given him the task of researching places to live - we're aiming for Burbank or North Hollywood.

Just a question with the medical, when I called the doctor' office in Brisbane the receptionist told me we couldn't book in until we had been issued with a case number starting with "SYD". Reading through the 2NL, the ONLY number referred to is the original case number starting with 2014. Do we just add the SYD to the start of this number when booking in or am I missing something?

 

[OnTheGo]

Got our interview date - March 18!

Congratulations!

[...]

...researching places to live - we're aiming for Burbank or North Hollywood.

Wow, that sounds very specific! How come you picked these two LA suburbs in particular?
Have you been there many times?

Have you had enough of Brisbane humidity to be seeking Californian sun, or have you considered Florida, at all?

 

[AmyJ]

Thanks OnTheGo

My husband wants to get into animation. LA is where it's at and almost all the studios are in Burbank, so we figured we move nice and close.

We've visited America twice - in 2012 we did a 5 week trek visiting LA, Vegas, New York, Miami and Orlando. Ended up at Disneyworld in the middle of Spring Break D'oh!! November just gone we spent 2 weeks in LA. Love the place, so different yet similar to Australia. We are both very much looking forward to the big move. Aiming for late April/early May.

How about you?

 

[OnTheGo]

Thanks OnTheGo

My husband wants to get into animation. LA is where it's at and almost all the studios are in Burbank, so we figured we move nice and close.

We've visited America twice - in 2012 we did a 5 week trek visiting LA, Vegas, New York, Miami and Orlando. Ended up at Disneyworld in the middle of Spring Break D'oh!! November just gone we spent 2 weeks in LA. Love the place, so different yet similar to Australia. We are both very much looking forward to the big move. Aiming for late April/early May.

How about you?

Sounds awesome! It is always interesting for me to learn where my fellow Aussies are going and why.

We have not made a final decision as to where we will be going (we don't expect our EU based interview before July!) ...but it has to be somewhere warm and sunny, and close to the ocean. Florida and California are the two natural choices and the only two states that we have actually visited a few times. Actually, it's been a VERY long time since we did the SD to SF via NV trip, but we visited FL again a year ago and were really excited.

My wife and I are currently living in Germany, our native country. We actually lived in Brisbane for many years, until we moved back in 2011 - however, we found that we simply cannot be happy here in Europe! We would have been back in OZ by now, if it wasn't for this new opportunity. In many ways, it makes so much sense to be living in the US for us (even just cutting the distance to Europe in half, compared to continuing to travel all the way from Australia).

We love Brisbane and actually visited a few months ago, and are still impressed with the inner city developments. We are also still excited about Sydney (where we also lived for a few years), but if we were to return it would have to be inner city living, close to CBD and river (BNE) or harbor/ocean (SYD) ... and we investigated many things during our recent trip - and it's just completely ridiculous how expensive living in Australia has become...grocery, public transport, renting and property, you name it ... all the essentials.

Don't get me wrong...I realize that some of the nicer parts of suburban California can be pretty pricey, too when it comes to real estate.
But from what I can tell in my early observations (online) - you can actually afford to be renting, unlike Sydney where you need a monthly budget close to $3k for rent alone and often STILL only get shabby, 1970's brick style units. What it seems to be is, that in the USA there is more diversity in neighborhoods and that is reflected in the price of living there. Whereas, in Australian cities, it's just expensive no matter where.

I am surprised about the low cost of buying property in FL. Combined with the fact that tax wise it is appealing compared to California and has lots of water views from anywhere, it is still one destination to consider for us.

Then again, the humidity of Florida summers remind me of the often disgusting sticky days in Brisbane ... so weather wise I always compare Sydney to LA, and Brisbane to Miami.

California certainly excites me from a landscape diversity point of view, the nature, the hills and the coast line. So perhaps we will be moving there - unless it is for a job offer, how do you make such an important decision? I really think we need to visit in the next few months to revive our memories. I still remember very well what San Diego was like a long time ago ... when I "streetview" into the area today, it looks like they have done a lot of water front development. We never really spent that much time in LA itself, except for Sunset Blvd and we also hiked on that mountain near the Hollywood sign, where Downtown LA (and the smog, lol) can be seen in the distance.

At the end of the day, we have become so used to be traveling and moving around the globe, that it is unlikely for us that settling in the USA will be a matter of packing up and moving to one predetermined place - rather than decide on a city and move there and see what it's like and then be open to move to a different neighborhood, city or even state until it all fits together - lol

 

[scorpz]

Ooh interesting. Thanks Susie. I read something the other day that stated that someone who has lived in USA for a while and then took a trip outside less than one year was questioned and had to prove that they maintained their residence during the absence. I assume they give newbies wrapping up affairs in the home country a little more latitude, but it underlines your point - you could always face a grilling...

Thanks OnTheGo, britsimon and SuzieQQQ! Great answers as always, I really do appreciate it.

One last question: when I have the actual interview, do they have to take your passport off you for a certain amount of time? (I remember Crawf saying something about this.) If I'd have to travel back to Sydney for the interview I guess I'm just wondering how long I'd be stuck there for before I could return to Asia (where it looks like I might be living at that stage).

 

[Britsimon]

Thanks OnTheGo, britsimon and SuzieQQQ! Great answers as always, I really do appreciate it.

One last question: when I have the actual interview, do they have to take your passport off you for a certain amount of time? (I remember Crawf saying something about this.) If I'd have to travel back to Sydney for the interview I guess I'm just wondering how long I'd be stuck there for before I could return to Asia (where it looks like I might be living at that stage).

Expect to be without your passport for a few days - perhaps up to a week. If that is a problem you might be able to arrange to go back and collect it.

 

[Crawf33]

One last question: when I have the actual interview, do they have to take your passport off you for a certain amount of time? (I remember Crawf saying something about this.)

I finished my interview at 10:25am on a Tuesday, and I got an email saying my passport and visa packet were in the mail (Express Post) that Friday. It was back at my place on the Monday, so four business days.

If everything of yours is squared away - i.e. you don't have to go do your medical or bring your police report in after the interview - there's no reason why you won't have a similar turnaround.

Also, a small update from me: I entered the US on November 24, which will be two months ago on Sunday. My initial address was with a friend in Colorado but I've since moved across the country to Maine. I updated my address with USCIS about a month ago.

My friend called me from Denver on Saturday to tell me that she was holding my green card in her hand. Obviously she broke federal law to do so but I forgive her. It's now shipping via next-day post to me in Maine, so I should get it tomorrow.

The last piece of the puzzle! (Except my driver's license, of course.)

 

[Lmd]

Hey all,

Been following this thread since finding out my wife was a winner way back last year.

Am waiting for a interview date but as she is in the low 800's it shouldn't be too far away so starting to get all the necessary info together.

I just went for my interview last week and asked them specifically if I needed a fingerprint check or would a name check suffice. They asked if I had changed my name and I answered no - my interviewer then said that just a name check is fine, then.

I noticed this post, which raises the question for married women (my wife). As marriage does result in a 'name change' (well in most cases lol) would it then require the fingerprint check.

Or by 'name change', are they referring to a full blown change such as 'Mary Jones' -> 'Jane Smith' etc...?

Also Crawf33, I noticed on your blog you mentioned you got additional photos taken the morning of your interview. I can't seem to find any writing requiring further photos, so just wondering if you were being extra careful or were advised to bring more somehow?

 

[liqu]

New Member

Hello, I am new here.

 

[Britsimon]

Hello, I am new here.

Hi liqu.

Where are you from? What is your case number (hide last 2 or 3 numbers)?

 

[Britsimon]

Hey all,

Been following this thread since finding out my wife was a winner way back last year.

Am waiting for a interview date but as she is in the low 800's it shouldn't be too far away so starting to get all the necessary info together.



I noticed this post, which raises the question for married women (my wife). As marriage does result in a 'name change' (well in most cases lol) would it then require the fingerprint check.

Or by 'name change', are they referring to a full blown change such as 'Mary Jones' -> 'Jane Smith' etc...?

Also Crawf33, I noticed on your blog you mentioned you got additional photos taken the morning of your interview. I can't seem to find any writing requiring further photos, so just wondering if you were being extra careful or were advised to bring more somehow?

Not sure about the fingerprint thing, but a change in surname/last name is a full blown name change.

 

[SusieQQQ]

Hey all,

Been following this thread since finding out my wife was a winner way back last year.

Am waiting for a interview date but as she is in the low 800's it shouldn't be too far away so starting to get all the necessary info together.



I noticed this post, which raises the question for married women (my wife). As marriage does result in a 'name change' (well in most cases lol) would it then require the fingerprint check.

Or by 'name change', are they referring to a full blown change such as 'Mary Jones' -> 'Jane Smith' etc...?

Also Crawf33, I noticed on your blog you mentioned you got additional photos taken the morning of your interview. I can't seem to find any writing requiring further photos, so just wondering if you were being extra careful or were advised to bring more somehow?

On the photos, somewhere buried in the selectee instructions it tells you to take 2 US-format passport photos with to the interview. Though our CO only took one.

 

[Crawf33]

Also Crawf33, I noticed on your blog you mentioned you got additional photos taken the morning of your interview. I can't seem to find any writing requiring further photos, so just wondering if you were being extra careful or were advised to bring more somehow?

It's most definitely in the checklist of things you need. You aren't allowed to use the photos you submitted with your initial application or next round of paperwork. The photo on my physical green card is the one I had taken the day before the interview in Sydney.