• Hello Members, This forums is for DV lottery visas only. For other immigration related questions, please go to our forums home page, find the related forum and post it there.

Advice re eligibility for an Australian born in the UK

2

2014hopeful

Registered Users (C)
Hello all,

Just hoping to get a few words of advice about my eligibility for the 2014 DV. I'm from Australia and won the lottery this year. My number is 2014OC000007XX so I'm hopeful of an interview sometime next March or thereabouts.

My question relates to my eligibility based on country of birth. In short, I was born in England, which is ineligible for the DV lottery. My father had been doing some postgrad study there and my mother was along for the ride, when I was unexpectedly conceived. I was born shortly after my father finished his studies and within six months, we had returned to Australia. Since my parents were in the UK temporarily, I understand that I should still be eligible for the DV under my Australian nationality as "an alien born in a foreign state in which neither parent was born or had residence at the alien's time of birth". Is that correct? My parents were both born in Australia and were not actually residing in the UK (although the distinction between study and residence may be a fine one).

Now here's where it gets a bit complex. We returned to the UK when I was 6 and I then spent most of my life until my mid-twenties moving back and forth between the UK and Australia. Along the way, I picked up a UK high school education, UK undergrad and UK master's degrees, as well as UK citizenship. I left the UK in 2004 and have been back in Oz since 2006. I also have a couple of Australian postgrad qualifications (clearly I won't struggle with the educational requirement!), however all the interviewer will have to rely on regarding my early years is my word. I have no proof that my parents were only in the UK temporarily, nor that we moved back to Australia straight after I was born. I'm guessing my high school and further studies in the UK might make it look like I lived there permanently until I was an adult (which I didn't).

My question is this: will it be sufficient for me simply to explain the situation to the interviewer or will they need further proof that my parents were only in the UK temporarily? If so, is a statutory declaration by my father likely to suffice? Secondly, I read somewhere that to be counted as an Australian for chargeability purposes, it would be sufficient to establish that my parents were in the UK temporarily. Given that they were only there because of my father's studies and we moved back following my birth, I assume this would count as a temporary stay in the UK. Is that correct?

Thoughts gratefully appreciated! Many thanks in advance.
 
The bottom line when it comes to an issue like this per US INA is.....DOCUMENTARY PROOF, nothing less, nothing more!!

Read ALL following threads fully, you WILL find answer how to deal with your situation. (Do not post on those threads though)
If you still feel unsure (I doubt!) come back to this thread and re-post your queries.

Hope this helps.

Best!

http://forums.immigration.com/showt...hip-Both-countries-eligible-Wrong-elegibility

http://forums.immigration.com/showthread.php?313716-Chargeability-please-need-help-asap

http://forums.immigration.com/showt...ing-DV-lottery-with-Dual-Eligible-Citizenship

http://forums.immigration.com/showthread.php?558308-Parents-chargeability-and-post
 
Thanks NuvF. They made for some interesting reading, although they didn't entirely answer my question.

The DV 2014 instructions state (at p6):

​
"Finally, if you were born in a country not eligible to participate in this year’s DV program, you can
​
be “charged” to the country of birth of either of your parents as long as neither parent was a
​
resident of the ineligible country at the time of your birth. In general, people are not
​
considered residents of a country in which they were not born or legally naturalized, if they are only
​
visiting the country, studying in the country temporarily, or stationed temporarily in the
​
country for business or professional reasons on behalf of a company or government from a
​
country other than the country in which the applicant was born. If you claim alternate
​
chargeability, you must indicate such information on the E-DV Entry Form, in question #6. Please be aware
​
that listing an incorrect country of eligibility or chargeability (i.e., one to which you cannot
​
establish a valid claim) may disqualify your entry."

The way I read this, I should be fine because neither of my parents were born in the UK or were legally naturalised there. My understanding of the instructions is that that fact alone should make me eligible. Added to that is the fact that my my father was only studying, so my parents were only in the UK temporarily. The thing I'm not sure about is whether I have to prove both of these facts, or whether the mere fact that my parents were not born or naturalised in the UK should be sufficient to make me eligible.
 
Thanks NuvF, I appreciate your guidance. Forgive all the questions, but what do you base your understanding on? It is an intuitive reading of the DV Instructions, or do you have some personal or professional experience of this?

My own understanding doesn't necessarily align with yours, but assuming I'm wrong, do you have any ideas how I might go about proving that my parents were only in the country temporarily? I can get a copy of my father's transcript from the London university where he was studying, but that doesn't prove that they were only there temporarily, or indeed that they actually left! Any ideas?
 
I think your best bet is to contact KCC and ask them what they accept as proof that your parents were only there temporarily when you were born. (And yes study is temporary - they did not have permanent residence status at the time or did not apply immediately thereafter to stay.)
 
Thanks SusieQQQ, I'll do that. Hopefully they'll accept a stat dec from my father since that'll probably be my only option!
 
2014hopeful said:
Thanks NuvF. They made for some interesting reading, although they didn't entirely answer my question.

The DV 2014 instructions state (at p6):

​
"Finally, if you were born in a country not eligible to participate in this year’s DV program, you can
​
be “charged” to the country of birth of either of your parents as long as neither parent was a
​
resident of the ineligible country at the time of your birth. In general, people are not
​
considered residents of a country in which they were not born or legally naturalized, if they are only
​
visiting the country, studying in the country temporarily, or stationed temporarily in the
​
country for business or professional reasons on behalf of a company or government from a
​
country other than the country in which the applicant was born. If you claim alternate
​
chargeability, you must indicate such information on the E-DV Entry Form, in question #6. Please be aware
​
that listing an incorrect country of eligibility or chargeability (i.e., one to which you cannot
​
establish a valid claim) may disqualify your entry."

The way I read this, I should be fine because neither of my parents were born in the UK or were legally naturalised there. My understanding of the instructions is that that fact alone should make me eligible. Added to that is the fact that my my father was only studying, so my parents were only in the UK temporarily. The thing I'm not sure about is whether I have to prove both of these facts, or whether the mere fact that my parents were not born or naturalised in the UK should be sufficient to make me eligible.
Click to expand...

You are reading that as if the comma after the word naturalized is a full stop. It isn't.

You should read it as one long sentance where the IF after naturalized is in BOLD.

"In general, people are not considered residents of a country in which they were not born or legally naturalized, if they are only visiting the country, studying in the country temporarily, or stationed temporarily in the country for business or professional reasons on behalf of a company or government from a country other than the country in which the applicant was born."

Happily for you, as Susie has pointed out, since your parents were in the UK temporarily (which you will have to prove), you are entitled to choose their country of birth as your country of chargeability. You will also therefore have to show that they were Australian citizens - and that is why Nuvf was saying both are important.

The rest of the history (your time in the UK, UK citizenship etc) are not an issue at all. Current citizenship and address history etc cannot help or hinder in the DV cases - it is based around their definition of native (i.e. place of birth).
 
Thanks Simon. After reading and re-reading it, I'm sure you (and in fairness, NuvF) are right. What's worrying me then is how on earth I can prove that my parents were there temporarily and for study. This all happened over 30 years ago! I guess the strongest evidence of the temporary nature is that my parents now live in Sydney. I can prove they're Australian citizens, but how do I prove that they were in 1979 and that they never held UK citizenship (which they didn't!)? I'm sure the British government don't hand out certificates of non-citizenship!

The only way I can think to prove this is to get statutory declarations (the Aussie equivalent of an affidavit) from both of them and have those notarised. It is an offence under Australian law to make a false representation in a stat dec, so surely the Consulate would have to accept that? Any thoughts? They certainly don't have their passports from the 70s any more, so any visas/entry/exit stamps would be long gone.
 
I think the statutory declarations would be good along with some documentation of what your parents were doing here (i.e. the postgrad study). Any documentation regarding the period of study will help - but as Susie said phoning KCC or your local consulate and asking what proof they would expect/accept might be a good idea. Ultimately just make it easy for the interviewer. They are humans and I'm sure they take no pleasure in rejecting people so they aren't trying to catch you out, they just want you to show good evidence so that their decision to approve you cannot be criticized.
 
I doubt KCC would be of any help. They will ask you to contact local embassy.

If you are writting the embassy ask them what primary/secondary documents they would need from you to establish evidence specifically to support the following statutory regulations; 22 CFR 42.12(e) [as provided in INA 202(b)(4)]

The BEST is to provide proof that parent/s had a PERMANENT ADOBE back home before,at and after your birth in UK. (by way of a house deed/lease etc.)
If that is not available make sure to come up with evidence to link the permanent connection. (temp. student visa--->graduation->PP landing seals-->take up job in AUS--> bank a/c--->Apt/house deeds/lease--->your primary edu details in AUS etc.)
Was he on leave from a job in AUS while a student in UK? if then get some doc evidence.

I am sure they will accept an affidavit as a secondary document.

I don't see you having a BIG trouble, just gather ALL what you have and could get, lay them before them and let them decide. Prepare for worst, hope for the best!

got to watch the semis mate, cheers!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top