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DV 2015 Oceania winners

CBDK said:
I'm supposed to be working but with 2 weeks left in the office and it being a Friday an' all, i'm really struggling in the concentration department. I've spent most of the day printing personal things, photo copying personal things and calling around to sort out my life ready for this trip. @Deb7a - did you resign yet? If not, how much longer at work?
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I work for myself @CBDK so I just cut my work phone off and stopped taking patients. I have been winding it down for some time now so it was easy. I wanted two solid weeks so I can concentrate on tying things up here. Just have to pack up all the mess. Luckily I was working out of a dental surgery so I just walked away from that, but my home lab is where the mess is. I have to work out what to ship and what to pack away. It's nice to be done though. It was hard focusing at the end, so I can imagine how hard it must be for you lol
 
ozimattskey said:
Hi All,

Sorry if this question has already been posted. I think I may have landed a job in NYC and the employer is asking when I will have my social security number. Is the fastest way to obtain this to go into a social security office after POE and apply in person?

Thanks
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I ticked the box to apply for a SSN, but it never came so I went to the SSA about a month after my first POE and just applied for one. I'm sure you could go straight away though. I told them I had 'ticked the box' on my application and the girl just goes "oh really? let me check..." and then she said that I wasn't in the system so started a new one. Bring your passport and birth certificate to the SSA to speed along the process. It only took about 10 minutes and then she gave me a kind of receipt telling me that my SSN would be in the mail within 2 weeks, which it was and now I've got my SSN - relatively painless! (Unlike the DMV, but that's another story....)
 
CBDK said:
I'm supposed to be working but with 2 weeks left in the office and it being a Friday an' all, i'm really struggling in the concentration department. I've spent most of the day printing personal things, photo copying personal things and calling around to sort out my life ready for this trip. @Deb7a - did you resign yet? If not, how much longer at work?
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haha I know how you feel! Spent all weeking booking estate agents for our UK home & sorting out personal paperwork! 5 weeks left for me! Hurry up!
 
SuicideBlonde said:
We just got an apartment in LA and had to put down double security deposit (2 months rent) as we didnt have credit history plus 1 month rent up front. So be prepared for some initial outlay $$$!! We had set up a bank acct and transferred our AUD to USD into it - we paid electronically as our apartment block has a system to do that and e-cheques . I imagine if not that , they would want a cheque or money order.
We rented an apartment AirBNB initially for a few weeks so we had time to house hunt. Perhaps consider doing that. That way you can use that address to get a phone contract (what we did first - again had to put down a hefty deposit as no credit history) then used our phone contract with address on it to get a bank account. Also need a deposit for our electricity account set up. Seems the norm until you build credit!
Hope that helps!!
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Thank you SB that's very helpful!

How long did it take to get the phone contract letter? We did consider booking an AirBnB but as we are thinking of traveling for 2/3 weeks before starting work in late june/july we don't want to book it for a very long period.
 
Thanks for all the great information on here. I'll be entering the lottery in October for the first time ever. One thing I have noticed, which hasn't been mention on here...

Could the fact that the VB doesn't jump very much each month be because lots of families win? eg... 2 adults plus 3 kids = 5 VS a single person winning = 1.

Does a husband and wife count as 2 visas or is it just one?

Thanks!
 
jarz85 said:
Thanks for all the great information on here. I'll be entering the lottery in October for the first time ever. One thing I have noticed, which hasn't been mention on here...

Could the fact that the VB doesn't jump very much each month be because lots of families win? eg... 2 adults plus 3 kids = 5 VS a single person winning = 1.

Does a husband and wife count as 2 visas or is it just one?

Thanks!
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The short answer to your questions is yes. And the effect on progress is more pronounced in some regions than others.
 
GANDT-SYD said:
Yes, standard was fine.

Just make sure you select Commonwealth Purpose- code 33 Immigration/Citizenship when applying on the website.
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There is also an option there for I think # 31 or #30 which is Visa / International Work Travel or something, Make sure you don't chose this one as its not Full Disclosure.
 
@Deb7a @GANDT-SYD
Guys have you managed to pay your UCIS Fee yet? I have been trying to do it on the website but it keeps saying I can't and that the DOS or Alien Number is wrong. It also states that it may be too early to apply and suggests that I should wait until the 25th March, which is the day we fly out.....
Strange as I know the numbers are right, even put the 0 after the "a" to make it 9 digits.
 

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Hershal said:
@Deb7a @GANDT-SYD
Guys have you managed to pay your UCIS Fee yet? I have been trying to do it on the website but it keeps saying I can't and that the DOS or Alien Number is wrong. It also states that it may be too early to apply and suggests that I should wait until the 25th March, which is the day we fly out.....
Strange as I know the numbers are right, even put the 0 after the "a" to make it 9 digits.
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I had honestly forgotten about that. We don't fly till July, so hadn't really crossed my mind.

I'll take a look and let you know.
 
Hershal said:
@Deb7a @GANDT-SYD
Guys have you managed to pay your UCIS Fee yet? I have been trying to do it on the website but it keeps saying I can't and that the DOS or Alien Number is wrong. It also states that it may be too early to apply and suggests that I should wait until the 25th March, which is the day we fly out.....
Strange as I know the numbers are right, even put the 0 after the "a" to make it 9 digits.
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yes
Essey said:
Hey @Deb7a did you work out how to track your green card through the UCIS website? I'm having the same issue as you.
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No @Essey, I was trying to track the progress of my passport and visa, not up to the greencard bit yet. Im sure that will be another story.

And @Hershal I have paid my visa fee. It all seemed to go smoothly and I had no issues filling the online stuff out. I fly out on the 5th April, but you got your paperwork back before me, so it's definitely not too early.

I just checked the USCIS website and my payment is "optimized" and in process. So not sure why that is not done, but I have a number and will just print that off if there is still no progress when I'm leaving. It has come out of my credit card so it should show up closed soon. It amounted to $217.45 AUD.
 
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Just paid mine too. Initially it said the format of the "A" number was wrong. On my yellow envelop there is no 0 after the A, but on the website it shows that there should be an 0. When I entered the "A" number exactly as it was on the envelop it didn't work, when I put a 0 after the A, it all went through.
 
GANDT-SYD said:
Just paid mine too. Initially it said the format of the "A" number was wrong. On my yellow envelop there is no 0 after the A, but on the website it shows that there should be an 0. When I entered the "A" number exactly as it was on the envelop it didn't work, when I put a 0 after the A, it all went through.
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We Worked it out
It was our DOS number that was wrong, I was putting the 5 digits thats on my visa sticker in my passport, which ended in 01 for myself and 02 for my wife. Seems like you only need the 2015OC117 and not 2015OC11701/02. They say that for DV Visas your DOS number should be 4 Numbers followed by 2 letters followed by 5 numbers, but following with 3 numbers seems to work instead. A little bit confusing.

Anyways done now!!! Now on to issues like

  • Credit Ratings
  • Bank Accounts
  • SSN
  • Cost of Shipping our stuff to the USA
  • Where to live...
The list goes on..... Might need to start a new thread on "Next steps after obtaining the green card"
 
Hershal said:
We Worked it out
It was our DOS number that was wrong, I was putting the 5 digits thats on my visa sticker in my passport, which ended in 01 for myself and 02 for my wife. Seems like you only need the 2015OC117 and not 2015OC11701/02. They say that for DV Visas your DOS number should be 4 Numbers followed by 2 letters followed by 5 numbers, but following with 3 numbers seems to work instead. A little bit confusing.

Anyways done now!!! Now on to issues like

  • Credit Ratings
  • Bank Accounts
  • SSN
  • Cost of Shipping our stuff to the USA
  • Where to live...
The list goes on..... Might need to start a new thread on "Next steps after obtaining the green card"
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I'm just working that out now. I was going to ship stuff, door to door, but two bags/boxes will cost $700ish, whereas extra baggage for 2 is only $140. Only problem is how me on my own is going to handle 4 suitcases plus carry on. I can't even begin to imagine. I will just have to figure it all out.
 
Deb7a said:
I'm just working that out now. I was going to ship stuff, door to door, but two bags/boxes will cost $700ish, whereas extra baggage for 2 is only $140. Only problem is how me on my own is going to handle 4 suitcases plus carry on. I can't even begin to imagine. I will just have to figure it all out.
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Last year we shipped stuff so we could travel light. So we only had 17 suitcases between the three of us... !!!
 
Deb7a said:
I'm just working that out now. I was going to ship stuff, door to door, but two bags/boxes will cost $700ish, whereas extra baggage for 2 is only $140. Only problem is how me on my own is going to handle 4 suitcases plus carry on. I can't even begin to imagine. I will just have to figure it all out.
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What else do you need to do but put it on a luggage cart between arrival/check in and again between the luggage belt and whatever transport you use?
 
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