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All Fees associated with the DV lottery

J

Joecool123

Member
As we all know, DV lottery entry itself is free. What about the fees after "winning" the lottery?

For example, fees to see the immigration officer, Form fees, etc.

Does anybody know how much will it cost in total to get the physical green card?
 
You pay $330 for each visa at the time of interview and a $165 USCIS fee, which gets you the physical GC. These are the two fees we all pay and which are payable for every DV entrant around the world. Both are paid in USD.

The balance of costs are location dependent. These will include medicals, vaccinations, police checks, travel to the consulate. I did a recent calculation and it cost my family of four $5899AUD (which is around $4700 USD).

This is for consular processing. AOS processing is different. @Sm1smom's spreadsheet has a breakdown of the AOS costs.
 
Slight correction to the above, the USCIS fee of $165 is only paid by those who actually get the visa and will use it. All the other fees are payable before you get the visa, including the visa fee which is actually a visa interview fee and not refundable if you get denied.
The medical fees are the other big cost, and can vary quite a lot by country - in line with typical doctor fees doing the same thing - but general feedback is that the panel doctors load the costs.
Then different countries charge different fees for civil documents, plus some people will need to travel to the city (typically only one embassy per country will do immigrant visa interviews) so travel and possibly accommodation may need to be factored in.
 
hello , i have been selected for the further processing in 2016 lottery but i have a problem that i never noticed .
my family name is "ABDOVEIS" but in my passport is "ABDOVEISI" and in other files like birth certificate , and my card service .
my question is do i have to change all of that ?
or if a dont change them can i change it in the future .
thanks for your answer
 
Please don't post the same question multiple times in non-relevant threads.

mehranabd said:
hello , i have been selected for the further processing in 2016 lottery but i have a problem that i never noticed .
my family name is "ABDOVEIS" but in my passport is "ABDOVEISI" and in other files like birth certificate , and my card service .
my question is do i have to change all of that ?
or if a dont change them can i change it in the future .
thanks for your answer
Click to expand...
 
Hello, I had thought that the DV Fees were only the interview fee and the USCIS fee.

I am told at my local embassy (Nicaragua) that aside from the $330 I have to pay a VISA processing fee which is $325 more per applicant. Does this sound right to any of you who have gone through all the process? Have you had to pay more other than the $330 and USCIS?

Thank you.
 
RBR said:
Hello, I had thought that the DV Fees were only the interview fee and the USCIS fee.

I am told at my local embassy (Nicaragua) that aside from the $330 I have to pay a VISA processing fee which is $325 more per applicant. Does this sound right to any of you who have gone through all the process? Have you had to pay more other than the $330 and USCIS?

Thank you.
Click to expand...

The fees should be $330 paid at the embassy on the day of interview.
Then $165 additional if approved (Green Card fee).

In addition there is a medical needed prior to the interview. That is at the physician chosen by the embassy. Could that be the $325?
 
Britsimon said:
The fees should be $330 paid at the embassy on the day of interview.
Then $165 additional if approved (Green Card fee).

In addition there is a medical needed prior to the interview. That is at the physician chosen by the embassy. Could that be the $325?
Click to expand...

That may be it, the Nicaragua US embassy says this on its website (and the $325 is kind of middle of that range):

Fees:
For visa fee information, see this site*. On top of the visa fee, applicants must pay for their own medical examinations and vaccinations.
Vaccination Requirements and Medical Examination fees:
US$ 220.00 - US$ 440.00
Fees must be paid in cash at the time of the medical examination.

*(which results a 404 error ! but is trying to link to the DoS page on visa fees).
 
Hi, thanks for you comments. This came as a surprise for me as well. However, I paid for medical exams directly to the physician and not the embassy. Also, the USCIS fee is not paid locally, but online, before I travel (preferably). Today the embassy clarified that the $325 is just for the paper work and the imprinting (issue) of the visa onto the passport. So I still have to pay the USCIS fee and the $325 to the embassy, aside from the $330 of the interview. I fear this only happens in my country and there is nothing I can do about it.
 
The KCC replied regarding my inquiry and indicated: "The total fee for each applicant, set in accordance with the law, includes: a charge for diversity visa processing, an immigrant visa application processing charge, and an immigrant visa security surcharge." As usual, there is never a clear answer on this.
 
RBR said:
The KCC replied regarding my inquiry and indicated: "The total fee for each applicant, set in accordance with the law, includes: a charge for diversity visa processing, an immigrant visa application processing charge, and an immigrant visa security surcharge." As usual, there is never a clear answer on this.
Click to expand...

That is a clear answer. They are saying the $330 includes all these things. So - ask you embassy what the heck the $325 is about.
 
Check this link for an immigration site which suggests that the fees are combined:

http://www.immihelp.com/immigrant-visa/immigrant-visa-fees.html

Notice that for the DV the breakdown is: (apparently 2012 prices): Application $220, Security Surcharge $74, DV Processing $330. A combined total of $624. This is similar to the breakdown indicated by KCC.

Those who have only paid $330 are in luck. My embassy, is charging the extra $325 in concept of application and security surcharges. Take it or leave it. Nothing that could be done.
 
I repeat, this is the first time I have ever heard of an embassy charging more than $330. It is not everyone else who is "lucky" but you that is unlucky I think.... :(
 
Thank you for all your comments. I found this valuable information at the GPO which is an official publication from the Federal Registry.

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-03-29/pdf/2012-7569.pdf

Read in page 5:
"The Diversity Visa Lottery fee encompasses the costs of processing the immigrant visa application and the embedded immigrant visa security surcharge. Accordingly, the Department does not charge the separate Other Immigrant Visa Application Processing Fee or Immigrant Visa Security Surcharge to Diversity Visa applicants."

This was stated March 29 2012. I would think my embassy has not been informed. With this, I hope they adjust the price to the $330 as they are not supposed to charge for anything else.
 
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