All Ethiopian 2015 DV Winners Meet Here!

[God-Is-Love]

I haven't forgotten this thread. I read every single post on the thread and in the forum as a matter of fact. I haven't posted because I've not come across an issue that hasn't been resolved, you guys are doing a great job commenting and responding to one another as it is so there hasn't been a need for me to comment.

Great Mom! As your name is!

 

[God-Is-Love]

guys

I am working on the spreadsheet and it will be posted so soon

I am wondering what we can do to attract our country men to this forum : it will be a huge boost for b there process
we have almost 5000 selctees from Ethiopia and our thread have about 23 of this people ; so we shall promote this site and attract them to share there experience and ideas
any comments regarding this ?

I fully agree ZGREAT. Many would get these amazing informations and inspiring experiences if they came here. But, how shall we tell them to join? You know, in Ethiopia, winning DV is kept in secret till visa is approved. I don't see any way to invite them. May God lead them as He led us here.
Concerning the spreadsheet, I appreciate what you are doing. I'm by your side. I would try to help you if I were not on mobile.

 

[usken go]

I fully agree ZGREAT. Many would get these amazing informations and inspiring experiences if they came here. But, how shall we tell them to join? You know, in Ethiopia, winning DV is kept in secret till visa is approved. I don't see any way to invite them. May God lead them as He led us here.
Concerning the spreadsheet, I appreciate what you are doing. I'm by your side. I would try to help you if I were not on mobile.

Interesting comment here. Why, in your opinion would Ethiopian selectees keep it as a secret until the visa is issued? Why while it is obvious that a selectee needs a lot of help?

 

[God-Is-Love]

Interesting comment here. Why, in your opinion would Ethiopian selectees keep it as a secret until the visa is issued? Why while it is obvious that a selectee needs a lot of help?

What do you think it is?
The first thing is to avoid frustration in case of failure. Once you declare you are a winner, everybody thinks you will surely go. If you are not granted visa, imagine how difficult it would be to explain.
The second thing is.....surprise.

 

[God-Is-Love]

Interesting comment here. Why, in your opinion would Ethiopian selectees keep it as a secret until the visa is issued? Why while it is obvious that a selectee needs a lot of help?

one more thing, how could you know there is somebody to help without any payment until you got this forum?

 

[usken go]

They say that shared knowledge multiplies. For example am sure somebody shared with you info that this forum exists, or you bumped into it somehow then invited someone else...
At selection stage, you are still in the lottery and only ignorance would make anybody laugh at you for not going through the interview though yes I agree that this is very likely to happen. I know a couple who had lived together for long without marrying formerly. When one of them was selected, they were all systems go! A farewell party, sold things etc, but also quickly FORMALISED THEIR MARRIAGE. Tell you what, this did them in. The stigma has never left the poor man.

 

[q boss]

Ethiopian Dv Winner Meet Here(2015)
Zr r 24ethiopian u should join z group (its on Facebook )

 

[Sm1smom]

They say that shared knowledge multiplies. For example am sure somebody shared with you info that this forum exists, or you bumped into it somehow then invited someone else...
At selection stage, you are still in the lottery and only ignorance would make anybody laugh at you for not going through the interview though yes I agree that this is very likely to happen. I know a couple who had lived together for long without marrying formerly. When one of them was selected, they were all systems go! A farewell party, sold things etc, but also quickly FORMALISED THEIR MARRIAGE. Tell you what, this did them in. The stigma has never left the poor man.

Some clarification regarding this story for anyone who may be in a similar situation. Admittedly I do not know the couple referenced in this story nor have I heard of them before, however, AFAIK, getting married after DV selection does not automatically lead to a denial. IMO, the couple did precisely what ought to be done to enable them process the selection as a couple. What matters is to be able to show the CO at the time of the interview that the marriage isn't a fake/sham marriage, if you can show you've had an existing relationship prior to the selection, the CO will approve the petition assuming you meet the other eligility requirements.

 

[Sm1smom]

Ethiopian Dv Winner Meet Here(2015)
Zr r 24ethiopian u should join z group (its on Facebook )

Your posts are becoming more and more difficult to decipher. Can you please stop using SMS format to post in the forum?

 

[SusieQQQ]

They say that shared knowledge multiplies. For example am sure somebody shared with you info that this forum exists, or you bumped into it somehow then invited someone else...
At selection stage, you are still in the lottery and only ignorance would make anybody laugh at you for not going through the interview though yes I agree that this is very likely to happen. I know a couple who had lived together for long without marrying formerly. When one of them was selected, they were all systems go! A farewell party, sold things etc, but also quickly FORMALISED THEIR MARRIAGE. Tell you what, this did them in. The stigma has never left the poor man.

Some clarification regarding this story for anyone who may be in a similar situation. Admittedly I do not know the couple referenced in this story nor have I heard of them before, however, AFAIK, getting married after DV selection does not automatically lead to a denial. IMO, the couple did precisely what ought to be done to enable them process the selection as a couple. What matters is to be able to show the CO at the time of the interview that the marriage isn't a fake/sham marriage, if you can show you've had an existing relationship prior to the selection, the CO will approve the petition assuming you meet the other eligility requirements.

Exactly as per mom says. What did them in was not getting married, but probably not realizing that they needed to show that this was not a green card marriage - and this is something where a forum like this would have been helpful. There are MANY success stories of people marrying and in fact this sounds like one of the few cases of a genuine marriage being denied.

I do understand why people want to keep it quiet, at least till after the Interview, and certainly something else the people in the story did wrong as they are clear that you should not do anything like resign until you have your visa in hand. We hardly told anyone IRL what was happening until we had the visa and had decided to make the move.

 

[God-Is-Love]

I do understand why people want to keep it quiet, at least till after the Interview, and certainly something else the people in the story did wrong as they are clear that you should not do anything like resign until you have your visa in hand. We hardly told anyone IRL what was happening until we had the visa and had decided to make the move.

You got my point @SusieQQQ. I know a friend who said 'good bye' to friends before his interview date. I don't want to tell what happened to him.
I believe it's good to stay as we were until visa is approved. It's good to keep things confidential to avoid later frustration. That's why we are using screen names here.

 

[usken go]

You got my point @SusieQQQ. I know a friend who said 'good bye' to friends before his interview date. I don't want to tell what happened to him.
I believe it's good to stay as we were until visa is approved. It's good to keep things confidential to avoid later frustration. That's why we are using screen names here.

I wake up everyday being thankful that I got selected, I get the visa or I don't, this I will always remember and thank my maker. I often seek advice and wide ranging opinions from friends and those who won earlier. Then I came across this invaluable forum. Yet I am also wary and worry about falling by the wayside, either at the embassy or in America. Talk of a turmoil inside.
To share about this or to keep it under wraps till you have the visa.......its tricky.I chose the former albeit with caution.

 

[usken go]

You got my point @SusieQQQ. I know a friend who said 'good bye' to friends before his interview date. I don't want to tell what happened to him.
I believe it's good to stay as we were until visa is approved. It's good to keep things confidential to avoid later frustration. That's why we are using screen names here.

I wake up everyday being thankful that I got selected, I get the visa or I don't, this I will always remember and thank my maker. I often seek advice and wide ranging opinions from friends and those who won earlier. Then I came across this invaluable forum. Yet I am also wary and worry about falling by the wayside, either at the embassy or in America. Talk of a turmoil inside.
To share about this or to keep it under wraps till you have the visa.......its tricky.I chose the former albeit with caution.

 

[usken go]

Some clarification regarding this story for anyone who may be in a similar situation. Admittedly I do not know the couple referenced in this story nor have I heard of them before, however, AFAIK, getting married after DV selection does not automatically lead to a denial. IMO, the couple did precisely what ought to be done to enable them process the selection as a couple. What matters is to be able to show the CO at the time of the interview that the marriage isn't a fake/sham marriage, if you can show you've had an existing relationship prior to the selection, the CO will approve the petition assuming you meet the other eligility requirements.

@ Mom, weddings in Kenya are in many cases quite expensive. It is no unusual to find couples living together for many years until they have the means and this includes a goof network of friends, before walking down the isle.
I have talked of the only case I know, could be there were others out there.
I initial observation including in this forum is that after the v. denial, many tend to keep it inside.
I opine that convincing the CO in a situation like this becomes a bit interesting.

 

[SusieQQQ]

Another advantage of the forum may be to help people realise that if they know of a genuine marriage that was denied, that this is not in fact what usually happens, and to help other genuine couples avoid the same thing. As long as the relationship is genuine, you should have enough evidence, its sad that the people you know obviously didn't realise they needed to bring evidence of their relationship.

 

[Sm1smom]

@ Mom, weddings in Kenya are in many cases quite expensive. It is no unusual to find couples living together for many years until they have the means and this includes a goof network of friends, before walking down the isle.
I have talked of the only case I know, could be there were others out there.
I initial observation including in this forum is that after the v. denial, many tend to keep it inside.
I opine that convincing the CO in a situation like this becomes a bit interesting.

I understand how expensive and such a big deal weddings in some parts of Africa can be and that it is not unusual for couples to start living together without going through the formal/marriage ceremony at the initial stage, hence the non possession of a marriage certificate in such cases. And if such a couple attends a DV interview thinking all we have to do is show our marriage certificate, then they obviously haven't done their home work and the possibility of being denied is very high indeed. However that does not mean people will be denied simply because they formalized their marriage after the selection.

For all we know, this couple you talked about, did they list their marital status as 'single' or 'married' on their eDV application? If they listed themselves as married and have no evidence whatsoever (such as maybe pictures of a traditional wedding ceremony taking place way before the eDV registration, evidence of living together since then, etc) and simply show up with a marriage certificate post eDV selection, then the CO has every reason to be suspicious and deny them.

 

[usken go]

I understand how expensive and such a big deal weddings in some parts of Africa can be and that it is not unusual for couples to start living together without going through the formal/marriage ceremony at the initial stage, hence the non possession of a marriage certificate in such cases. And if such a couple attends a DV interview thinking all we have to do is show our marriage certificate, then they obviously haven't done their home work and the possibility of being denied is very high indeed. However that does not mean people will be denied simply because they formalized their marriage after the selection.

For all we know, this couple you talked about, did they list their marital status as 'single' or 'married' on their eDV application? If they listed themselves as married and have no evidence whatsoever (such as maybe pictures of a traditional wedding ceremony taking place way before the eDV registration, evidence of living together since then, etc) and simply show up with a marriage certificate post eDV selection, then the CO has every reason to be suspicious and deny them.

So much the reason I keep praising this forum. It's only here where the intensity of focus needed to answer the questions you pose can be found. U can bet that people go to the edv w/site and read the requirements then go about trying to fulfil that without seeing the need of endeavouring to prove themselves beyond doubt (e.g see the discussion on knec and direct forwarding of a confidential copy in the Kenyan thread). You have heard of people keeping it under wraps about being selected all the way to the visa interview. Others go to the lawyers, fake websites etc for advice.
He doesn't like talking about it at all and you know its wise to let old wounds heal.

 

[Ormania]

cheers toooooo!, btw Ormania, I think Tew's and mine Gender is not as u....... keep in touch bro!

Oh Sorry! Didn't know that.

 

[Ormania]

Hi guys,

It seems everybody is in the excitement mood for receiving the 2nd nl and approaching vb.....

And i like the fact that all are helping each other. Good job guys, good job.

I will post the second part of my overall experience after a month or so. I didn't want to divert you attention,
I want you guy to just be focused on preparing for the interview. I will keep poping up to check on you guys though.

CHEERS!

 

[God-Is-Love]

Hi guys,

It seems everybody is in the excitement mood for receiving the 2nd nl and approaching vb.....

And i like the fact that all are helping each other. Good job guys, good job.

I will post the second part of my overall experience after a month or so. I didn't want to divert you attention,
I want you guy to just be focused on preparing for the interview. I will keep poping up to check on you guys though.

CHEERS!

Ormania, had you registered your appointment (online at the official page of US embassy in addis ababa) before you went for interview?