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CP or AOS?

L

luckluck

Registered Users (C)
This forum is great and people here are so helpful. We have a little trouble here and we would like to have your suggestions. Thanks.

Case: EU00012XXX
My husband is the winner.
Both of us are here on H1B, status expires in Sep 09, which is great if we will get GC.

Our plan (before we won) was actually to go back to Europe around November and rest for some months and then go to school in East Coast in May 09 (with F1 – haven’t applied yet).

Now due to the lottery we are not sure whether it’s better for us to change status here or to go back to apply for the DV (since we are going back anyway).

Thanks in advance for all your help.
 
CP
If you are back in Europe anyway, then there is no need to even consider AOS.
It went absolutely flawless. Simple, easy and quick.
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I received my green card yesterday and would like to thank everybody on this forum for their input and advice. I got so much out of it! My special thanks go to those who dedicate countless hours of their spare time to help people they do not even know, like Lucy MO, Tazmania... . Thanks.
Good luck to everyone, DV-08, DV-09 with processing the green card and then in the US. :)

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05/03/07 NL1 CN2008EU0017XXX
03/07/08 NL2
04/11/08 interview Frankfurt, Germany
04/17/08 immigrant visa received
04/18/08 POE, PHL, PA
05/06/08 1st welcome letter
05/15/08 GREEN CARD, 2nd welcome letter :D
 
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Thanks for the suggestions; we are going with CP, yeah!

Are we going to receive some other forms after we send out these two? Or we just have to wait until the case number becomes current?

Another question: Do you think we should quit our job before we leave, since we are going to school next year? On the other side, we heard that we need to have a job offer letter.
 
You will receive a second notification letter by the time your number is going to be current that informs you about your scheduled interview date.

Review catseyes' thread about the general proceedings, it will answer almost all of your questions.

It will be your own personal decision, whether you want to quit a job or not. Nobody can give you advice on this. In general, plan your life just as if you do not have the green card lottery going on. Even with your case number, which will hopefully be current not to far away, there is never the guarantee that you will eventually receive permanent resident status through the diversity visa lottery. Review Tazmania's thread about upcoming bills, that might change the whole situation, if it might become effective. However, in general, it is a very good thing to have a job or job offer in the US when you are having your interview. Good luck! :)
 
For those who went or are planning to do CP, I have these questions:

1) Based on previous years, my number should be current in November. Would my CP interview be in November for sure? or it can be anytime after November?

2) How long before the interview KCC notifies me about it? are we talking about few days, few weeks, months?

3) Does anybody have experience with or recommend an airline/agency to get "open tickets" (meaning that I buy them but use them whenever I want)

I am asking these questions because I am currently working in TX and I cannot leave for a long time, since my number will be current in November, and therefore most probably the interview will be in Nov-Dec, I'm afraid the plain ticket may be very expensive. But also, I have to get there on time to get the police certificate, exams, etc, etc. Any suggestions are welcomed !!!
 
Thanks so much, Ludger and asd22.
We are just hoping our number will become current before May, otherwise we may loose the opportunity to go to school.
I agree with Ludger 100% that we shouldn't plan our life around this Lottory, however our original plan was to go to school in May 09 and apply for F1. Now if we start DV process, we'll not be able to do F1 any more......
 
@matutelandia

1) usually the interviews are scheduled for the month your number is current, however, you can talk to the american embassy in your country to reschedule if you have a reasonable reason to do so. In my opinion, there is nothing more important than that. (other than you are giving birth, etc...)

2) you receive the 2nd NL a few weeks before the interview, but you can call KCC as soon as your number is current, they will tell you the date and you can prepare. If your CN is that low, the advance notification (visa bulletin) will state you probably in September already.

3) An open ticket, e.g. a ticket you can rebook free of charge is probably much more expensive than a regular ticket for November. Go to the websites of your preferred airlines and check their offers.
What I did (Germany): I went to the german consulate general in NYC, got the application for the police certificate and had it mailed to my home address in Germany. I came three days before the interview to put final paperwork together and had a leeway space of 2 weeks after the interview to get the immigrant visa. As soon as I got it I rebooked the flight for $60 and came back to the US asap.

@luckluck

Given the past years, there were at least 2500 new numbers per months current as an average for EU. That means that EU12XXX should be around Feb. Check the bulletin of the last years. My number was EU17XXX and it became current in April. If you are denied the DV, you don't have to worry about F1 anymore anyway. However, remember, if all your paperwork and statements are in correct order and you are healthy and have no criminal background, you should probably not worry too much. At last, they are doing the lottery because they want people to get the GC. Besides that you are already in the US on an H1B.
 
to Ludger

Thanks again for all your help. We really appreciate it.
My husband is German as well:) We chose to have interview in Berlin.

We had an hour consultation with a halfway helpful lawyer and he told us we should receive DS 231 and DS 232 in a month or so from KCC. We are so confused as we thought DS 230 and DSP 122 are the only forms we receive before our number becomes current. Have you ever heard of these two forms? Is he making this up to get $$$?
 
luckluck said:
Thanks again for all your help. We really appreciate it.
My husband is German as well:) We chose to have interview in Berlin.

We had an hour consultation with a halfway helpful lawyer and he told us we should receive DS 231 and DS 232 in a month or so from KCC. We are so confused as we thought DS 230 and DSP 122 are the only forms we receive before our number becomes current. Have you ever heard of these two forms? Is he making this up to get $$$?
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You can't do the interview in Berlin, Frankfurt is the only place in Germany that deals with DV interviews!
I assume you played the lottery through an organisation and this organisation hasn't mailed you the package yet??? Because the DS230 and DSP122 are included in the first package with the notification letter!

@ matutelandia: No one knows yet how the cutoff numbers will move in the next year so it could be that your interview is in November, but it might be later or earlier.
 
Igmu said:
You can't do the interview in Berlin, Frankfurt is the only place in Germany that deals with DV interviews!
I assume you played the lottery through an organisation and this organisation hasn't mailed you the package yet??? Because the DS230 and DSP122 are included in the first package with the notification letter!

@ matutelandia: No one knows yet how the cutoff numbers will move in the next year so it could be that your interview is in November, but it might be later or earlier.
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Thanks, Igmu.
Opps, we didn't know that. Do we have to send KCC an email to change the interview to Frankfurt, or they will reset it for us anyway?
We didn't play the lottery through any organization - Just did it online like most of the others. DS 230 and DSP 122 were in our package and they are already sent back to KCC. We got confused since the lawyer told us we would receive DS 231 and DS 232 as well. I haven't seen anybody here talking about the DS 231 and DS 232 forms. I guess he is just making it up. In addition, he even said we should be careful when we fill the DS 231 and 232 forms, we shouldn't make any mistakes......
 
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Oh, I see... my guess is the lawyer just got the wrong form numbers and he was actually talking about the ones you have already sent back. No, you will not get any additional forms to fill out, but your lawyer was correct in saying that one should be careful with filling out the forms.
I would say that KCC probably automatically changes the interview place, but to make sure you could send them an email (include your name, date of birth and case number) once you can be sure that they have received your documents.
 
To Igmu

Thanks again for your help Igmu. I think many people here are actually better than lawyers and I truly appreciate all the helps I got from the forum.
 
Thanks Ludger !! those are good tips, I'll try to contact my embassy here in Houston to see if I can get the police certificate over here.
How did you do with the medicals ? Did you do them here in the US or in your home country before the interview?
 
medicals

I had the medical exam right after the interview. The Frankfurt consulate sends you to the medical check after you were interviewed, they give you some information on the way.
 
Ludger said:
I had the medical exam right after the interview. The Frankfurt consulate sends you to the medical check after you were interviewed, they give you some information on the way.
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Can you give me a bit more info on that? I thought all medical exams are done before you go to the interview......The info about doctors should be included in the second package, right? Germany is different?
 
luckluck said:
Can you give me a bit more info on that? I thought all medical exams are done before you go to the interview......The info about doctors should be included in the second package, right? Germany is different?
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I don't know if Germany is different, I know it only that way. The consulate general in Frankfurt does usually interview you and then sends you to the medical exam right after. All other green card applicants I met that day were doing it exactly as I did. It is correct that the 2nd NL has the medical information and the address of the physician's office where the examination is done and you should have all your medical records ready and your vaccinations updated and recorded as it will be required in the second NL. The information I was referring to that is given by the consulate is merely directions, a brief summary what is going to be done and, if I remember well, a short note for the physicians front desk that you are there for the medical exam for a green card. If in doubt, just call the embassy in your home country and ask them how they handle it. :)
 
Ludger said:
I don't know if Germany is different, I know it only that way. The consulate general in Frankfurt does usually interview you and then sends you to the medical exam right after. All other green card applicants I met that day were doing it exactly as I did. It is correct that the 2nd NL has the medical information and the address of the physician's office where the examination is done and you should have all your medical records ready and your vaccinations updated and recorded as it will be required in the second NL. The information I was referring to that is given by the consulate is merely directions, a brief summary what is going to be done and, if I remember well, a short note for the physicians front desk that you are there for the medical exam for a green card. If in doubt, just call the embassy in your home country and ask them how they handle it. :)
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Thanks again for the info. I'm a bit confused. Here is something I read from Catseyes' Thread:"The second package will give a list of accredited doctors for the medical exam.
You will have to make an appointment approx 1week before your interview, so that there is time for the results to come back ( HIV, Xrays...).
( That's why for people in the US, you should take about 2weeks off : time to go there, get the medical exam done and get the results , interview, and a couple of days in case there are delays in your name check )"

It looks like the Medical exam is before interview......Since our house is in Berlin, we will have to stay several days in Frankfurt if the medical exams are required to be done there.
I'm sorry that I'm just keeping asking stupid questions. Our major concern is to get everything done on time.
 
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