2014 DV Australian winners

[IheartNY]

Hey guys and gals, just thought I'd throw in my details so far.
First time applying, and my CN is below 60, which according to what I've read on these forums may be the lowest number here.
I emailed through my documents about 2 weeks ago, and received a confirmation about 2 days later.
I've started putting together all the civil documents required, and I'm currently waiting on my Police Check certificate in the mail.

I guess I just need to wait until August to hear more. Good luck to everyone else here.

Wow! Congrats CamelSlayer! I guess its safe to say your interview will be in October. Let us know how it all goes

 

[Crawf33]

Hey guys and gals, just thought I'd throw in my details so far.
First time applying, and my CN is below 60, which according to what I've read on these forums may be the lowest number here.
I emailed through my documents about 2 weeks ago, and received a confirmation about 2 days later.
I've started putting together all the civil documents required, and I'm currently waiting on my Police Check certificate in the mail.

I guess I just need to wait until August to hear more. Good luck to everyone else here.

Bloody hell, good show mate! Until now I was one of the lowest around, and I'm light years behind you at just over 300 haha.

We're all in the same boat it seems - just waiting until October and beyond. Although I think waiting for the police check in the mail might be a fruitless task, because I thought they were sent straight to the US consulate? I might be wrong though.

 

[judsta]

Better late than never..

Hi There,

have followed this thread and thought I'd step aboard!

Just thought I'd post our unlikely story. My wife and I grew tired of our suburban life in metro Melbourne back in 2003, we quit our jobs, sold our cars and rented our home out (we were 27 and 29 Boyfriend/girlfriend back then) To do a winter season in Canada and a summer in Europe. Well one thing led to another and we ended up in beautiful Colorado for 6 years got married there and felt part of the community all on temporary H2b visas. Our last ditch attempt to stay was to employ an immigration attorney to go in to bat for us for the long co$tly ride of employment based residency.(2010) Well we weighed up the cost and had seen friends spend $20k US and 10 years only to be denied. We decided this temporary thing was difficult and now into our mid 30's wanted some stability.

Now in the Mountains of NZ we have a house a baby and a successful business. We think of our friends and the place we left behind daily. So it was quite a shock when we were selected in this 2014 DV lottery (case00002xxx)

Funny thing, its like now we are settled, USA is like 'oh you can come back now' (i was the one who entered, not thinking we'd be selected, 4th year in DV)

Paperwork submitted now, just throwing this ball in the air to see where it lands, we still have great connections in the USA, but we are just living life without trying to play out future events.

Cheers, Good luck all.

 

[Crawf33]

Good for you guys judsta. I've got a pretty big network of close friends in the US as well and it's been getting increasingly more difficult to leave them behind after my holiday visas bring me back home and back to work, so I did the same and here we are.

Update for me: I'd submitted my initial paperwork via email on May 9 then received confirmation that KCC had received them on May 13. I responded via email asking whether I should go ahead and start gathering my civil documents...and got a reply saying "please submit your DS-122, DS-230, passport photos etc". Shit.

Called last night and re-confirmed that KCC already has all that and it was just a clerical oversight. The woman on the phone told me to gather the stuff that won't expire (for me just a birth certificate I believe) then look at the other stuff in August when the bulletins start coming out. She said it was highly likely I'd get an October interview which was some encouraging confirmation of what I'd already suspected.

Love that waiting game.

 

[neko83]

Ghe said it was highly likely I'd get an October interview which was some encouraging confirmation of what I'd already suspected.

Good to hear - Oceania cutoff for October seems to fluctuate between 250 - 350 over the last 10 years, so if she is saying its highly likely you'll be up in October it builds my confidence having one of the higher case numbers that has been seen.

Just sent off an email to KCC asking for confirmation they have received my documents, then I am in for a loooooooong waiting game.

 

[claaaiiirrreee]

Hi!
i was also in for a huge surprise when i logged in to check my status and it said that i had been selected (CN: 2014OC00002xxx) considering this is only the second year i have applied i am super happy

Anyway i have had a bit of a search around the forums and cant seem to find a clear answer for the questions i have so i thought I'd just ask and see if anyone could help ( i have emailed Kentucky but I'm a bit inpatient

So... previous to the results coming out i booked a holiday to the US for 6 weeks and then after that i am going to settle in Canada for a few months where i have family on a working holiday visa. Does anyone know if i can enter the USA on a tourist visa while my DV lottery application is being processed? or will the fact i have an application for immigration pending deny me entry into the US when i go for my holiday?

also, i haven't yet sent off my forms, can i wait till i arrive in Canada in October (and depart the US) to send off my forms? does anyone know when the cut off date is to have my forms submitted?

Thanks and hope someone can shed some light on this for me

 

[james88]

So... previous to the results coming out i booked a holiday to the US for 6 weeks and then after that i am going to settle in Canada for a few months where i have family on a working holiday visa. Does anyone know if i can enter the USA on a tourist visa while my DV lottery application is being processed? or will the fact i have an application for immigration pending deny me entry into the US when i go for my holiday?

I've seen different answers on situations like this and I'm in a similar conundrum. I'm in the US on an F-1 student visa, and I usually travel to Canada each Christmas to visit family. However, now that I've sent my forms off to KCC and hence started the process of applying for an immigrant visa, I'm now showing immigrant intent. So I need to find out for sure that, if I do my usual drive up to Vancouver this Christmas, will I have issues re-entering the US? If its likely I would have issues re-entering, I'm just going to stay put for now until I fly home to Australia for consular processing, don't want to risk anything.

I'm going to ask one of the immigration specialists at my school to see what their take is.

Because I've sent my papers off to KCC, I guess I'm showing immigrant intent in a way, and the F-1 and tourist visas are non-immigrant visas.

Does anyone else know more?

 

[Crawf33]

As much as I find forums a great source of anecdotal evidence, I do prefer to confirm my information from the horse's mouth.

Regarding the visa waiver program, I just called the embassy in Canberra. My intention is to travel on the VWP from August to October for a holiday then return to Australia for my green card interview whenever that is.

The embassy told me that this is completely acceptable, but I must bear in mind that I still may be turned away at my point of entry to the United States if I cannot prove that I'm returning to Australia after the 90 days is up. So basically, it's no different to any other holiday under the VWP wherein you have to show you have no intent to stay permanently from that particular arrival.

Hope that helps others.

 

[claaaiiirrreee]

I've seen different answers on situations like this and I'm in a similar conundrum. I'm in the US on an F-1 student visa, and I usually travel to Canada each Christmas to visit family. However, now that I've sent my forms off to KCC and hence started the process of applying for an immigrant visa, I'm now showing immigrant intent. So I need to find out for sure that, if I do my usual drive up to Vancouver this Christmas, will I have issues re-entering the US? If its likely I would have issues re-entering, I'm just going to stay put for now until I fly home to Australia for consular processing, don't want to risk anything.

I'm going to ask one of the immigration specialists at my school to see what their take is.

Because I've sent my papers off to KCC, I guess I'm showing immigrant intent in a way, and the F-1 and tourist visas are non-immigrant visas.

Does anyone else know more?

Yeah I know I can't seem to find a clear answer anywhere but if I don't hear back from the consulate in the next few days I might give them a ring and report back

I remember seeing on the status log in page that you can view your status ( if you we're chosen or not) until the 30th September 2014 so I guess maybe I have until then to submit my forms? Of cause I'm going to submit then as soon as I leave the US in October this year but that means I can still go on my holiday and not get denied entry!!

 

[Vichel]

Yeah I know I can't seem to find a clear answer anywhere but if I don't hear back from the consulate in the next few days I might give them a ring and report back

I remember seeing on the status log in page that you can view your status ( if you we're chosen or not) until the 30th September 2014 so I guess maybe I have until then to submit my forms? Of cause I'm going to submit then as soon as I leave the US in October this year but that means I can still go on my holiday and not get denied entry!!

FWIW, I had sent in my forms last year and then made 3 separate trips to the US after that and before my interview. I had the thought in the back of my mind that they might question me upon entry (or worse!) but it was never mentioned. However, I was entering the US on a B1/B2 that I got in 2011, not on the VWP, so it might be a totally different situation to going to the US with the VWP. Hope not, for your sake.

I always carried a document holder with various statements and proof that I had very good reasons for returning to my home, i.e., bank statements, house title, etc.

 

[Crawf33]

was entering the US on a B1/B2 that I got in 2011, not on the VWP, so it might be a totally different situation to going to the US with the VWP.

As I mentioned in this post above...

"The embassy told me that this is completely acceptable, but I must bear in mind that I still may be turned away at my point of entry to the United States if I cannot prove that I'm returning to Australia after the 90 days is up. So basically, it's no different to any other holiday under the VWP wherein you have to show you have no intent to stay permanently from that particular arrival."

 

[roxeegirl]

My husband AND I both were successful in this Lottery

My number is in the 6-700's and his the 1800's. Couldn't believe we both got one....so that will be an extra one for someone - I am a NZer living in QLD. Is there any other medical issues that will deny you or your family? bar the majors ones they check for??? After you are granted a green card how soon afterwards do you need to enter the US?

 

[claaaiiirrreee]

FWIW, I had sent in my forms last year and then made 3 separate trips to the US after that and before my interview. I had the thought in the back of my mind that they might question me upon entry (or worse!) but it was never mentioned. However, I was entering the US on a B1/B2 that I got in 2011, not on the VWP, so it might be a totally different situation to going to the US with the VWP. Hope not, for your sake.

so i got a reply from the visa office in Canberra saying that as long as i don't have any intention of migrating to the U.S. i can still travel as a tourist in the U.S before my interview.

hope this helps anyone who was wondering.

 

[CamelSlayer]

Police Check UPDATE

Just as an update, I received my National Police Check certificate in the mail today. To my understanding the Police Check, Proof of Education and the Birth Certificate are the only required documentation, is that correct? None of the other civil documentation applies to me.

 

[james88]

I think that's it

Just as an update, I received my National Police Check certificate in the mail today. To my understanding the Police Check, Proof of Education and the Birth Certificate are the only required documentation, is that correct? None of the other civil documentation applies to me.

Sounds like you have everything you need, CamelSlayer! Question, are you a real camel slayer? I remember hearing somewhere that there are annual camel culls in NT

If you have your immunisation records, that can help too for the medical.

Good luck and keep us updated!! So jealous of your case number!

 

[CamelSlayer]

Haha, it's more of a pastime.
I'm feeling very lucky about my case number, just hoping I haven't messed up any of the paperwork so far. I'll definitely look into getting my immunisation records ASAP.

 

[Zootfish]

Firstly, congratulations to everyone who got selected this year! As someone who has been in The States for 2 years now I remember how exciting it was when I got the envelope from the KCC.

After you are granted a green card how soon afterwards do you need to enter the US?

Unless something has changed in the last couple of years, then answer to this one is 6 months. That doesn't mean that you have to enter permanently, just enter. USCIS will process your docs and send your GC through to the address that you provide at your interview.

 

[hgavin]

I'm from New Zealand, sent my forms to the KCC on the 4th of last month. I've checked the tracking number and it says it's still held for clearance. Why would it be held for clearance for a month? Can any one shed any light on this, what shall I do?

 

[Crawf33]

I'm from New Zealand, sent my forms to the KCC on the 4th of last month. I've checked the tracking number and it says it's still held for clearance. Why would it be held for clearance for a month? Can any one shed any light on this, what shall I do?

Call the courier company and ask. They'd know better than we would!

 

[Mijoro]

I have a question about passport photos. I got mine and my daughter done and they seem very dark around the face ( we both have olive complexion) if I send the photos in and they are rejected does that mean my application is also void.