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DV 2015 Oceania winners

EmilyW said:
I'd always aimed for a May date (as that is when my number went current) so April is good for me.

We'll be good @CBDK, I am hoping we are the same day and that we can have a celebratory champagne (or a slab of beer, whatever suits) after!
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Right now I want water, coconut water and a berocca! I'm going to make the most of Sydney summer and go for a swim...something I'll miss in NYC
 
Essey said:
Hi all, I'm writing from my hotel in LA! My POE experience was the most simple and smooth part of this whole process. I arrived at LAX and went to customs and there was signs for the PR/US Citizen line or Visitor line, but no sign for 'new immigrants', so I asked a lady and she said to queue in the Visitor line. I handed over my sealed envelope, passport and customs card and the lady didn't even blink twice, she just looked at my passport then said "so you won the lottery" and then took my fingerprints on the electronic fingerprint thing and typed a bunch of stuff into the computer. I had a different address on my customs card to the address I put on my application so she asked which one I wanted my green card sent to then she took me to around to another area and said I needed to do my fingerprints for my green card.

Another guy took my index finger print in ink to go on my green card and got me to sign my name. It's a really small box to sign your name so he let me have two practice runs because as he said, "this will be on your card for the next 10 years". He even asked if I was sure I was ready after the second go, because I think it was a bit shaky but at that point I didn't think my signature was going to be getting any better after a 14 hour flight lol!

Then he opened the sealed envelope, did some stuff on my passport and gave me a piece of paper which I've attached a photo of and said "welcome to the USA", basically told me what was on the paper and that was it! It was all over in less than 15 minutes. They didn't need any extra photos or documents such as the DS260 or my x-Rays. They said the Green Card would arrive in 3-6 months.

So that's that! I kind of can't believe this process is finally over after first being selected May 2013 for DV2014 and not progressing, getting selected again for DV 2015 and finally attaining permanent residency! I will say I had a huge grin on my face walking out of customs :D
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Nice!! Glad you had a good experience after the wait for the postman for your visa pack ;) all the best!!!

@SuicideBlonde are you interviewing Tuesday or Tuesday week!?!?!?! Getting excited for you! Yay!

Husband flys/activates DFW next Friday and daughter and I FTJ 19th Feb!

Been busy on eBay selling up so we can ship outa here!! Lol I am selling everything that is not fixed down (think I am a little addicted!)
 
AimLK said:
Nice!! Glad you had a good experience after the wait for the postman for your visa pack ;) all the best!!!

@SuicideBlonde are you interviewing Tuesday or Tuesday week!?!?!?! Getting excited for you! Yay!

Husband flys/activates DFW next Friday and daughter and I FTJ 19th Feb!

Been busy on eBay selling up so we can ship outa here!! Lol I am selling everything that is not fixed down (think I am a little addicted!)
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This coming Tuesday ! 3 days to go!
On our way to the airport to sydney now to spend some time with friends beforehand. Then seeing family for 2 weeks. Leaves us 2.5 weeks when we get home till the move. Starting to get nervous - so much to do!

We are also on a selling spree-eBay, gumtree, however we can get rid of it! We have about 10 boxes of books and keepsakes going to family for storage, the rest is being sold and donated and we will take a few suitcases with us!

I have all our documents in my laptop bag and it seems like it's all too simple now after all this time waiting!
 
Good luck blonde!!

I will keep an eye out for your experience :)

Just a quick question, does anyone know if a child under 14 years old has to have the medical certificate or just a record of immunisations? Also does the child have to be at the interview? I read somewhere on this forum that under 14 year olds do not have to be there.
 
Some consulates don't require children. Sydney definitely does.

For kids, they don't have to have the blood tests and x-rays, I believe? Just the record of immunisations and, of course, results of the medical.
 
EmilyW said:
Some consulates don't require children. Sydney definitely does.

For kids, they don't have to have the blood tests and x-rays, I believe? Just the record of immunisations and, of course, results of the medical.
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All consulates require everyone who needs a visa to be at the interview...that includes kids. Under 14s are exempted from tourist visa interviews but not immigrant visa ones.
 
SuicideBlonde said:
Awesome! how did you go finding a rental? We are worried about trying to get approved for one without having employment straight away (though we'll have sufficient savings!).

from memory of others posts, I think if your SSN doesn't apply promptly you can go chase it at an office and may have to reapply ?
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Well I am kind of in a unique position where my partner is American so he just applied for the lease primarily under his name as it was easier. I think it depends on the area you want to live, but for this place he needed to do a credit check and show salary of 2.5 times the rent and security was 1 month rent plus $650 for the cat. They actually said a few people had applied for the place previously but failed the checks so it seems that for the Hollywood Hills area (and maybe LA generally), the threshold is pretty high.

Having said that, the agents are pretty friendly and easy to talk to and we actually negotiated $75 per month off the rent so I reckon if you build some rapor with the agent and can show you've got the cash to pay, they will probably work with you. You do need a SSN first though as this is part of the application. Obviously many people have done it before so I'm sure it's possible.
 
Can anyone advise how long to allow for POE? Our POE is Honolulu and I need to book a flight to the Big Island after we enter. I was thinking about 3 hours for the flight in case we get held up. When we entered with our B1/B2 Visa it was quick, however there is more involved for immigration.
 
AussieGemma said:
Can anyone advise how long to allow for POE? Our POE is Honolulu and I need to book a flight to the Big Island after we enter. I was thinking about 3 hours for the flight in case we get held up. When we entered with our B1/B2 Visa it was quick, however there is more involved for immigration.
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3 hours is too short. 4 or 5 hours to be safe. Don't forget you are going through immigration - that means you probably have to get your bags and go back though security to get the next flight.
 
AimLK said:
WoooHOO!!! Nice going Erika :) yep that document balls-up sounds pretty much in line with our experience too - sorry you had that stress after a massive flight but glad it all worked it out. SO FINALLY we got our visa packs Christmas Eve - talk about testing our patience just that little bit more. We needed to leave to drive to Brisbane but was waiting for the Postman- it may have involved my husband getting in the car in the hope to catch him on a nearby street (LOL) - we just wanted to see those bloody passports/visas after a 4 week wait from our interview date!!!!!!! All good now, I just said to Nick it has been nice not to think about it for a few days :) SO POE Dallas 22nd Jan for Nick and 6th Feb for Clara and I. Cant wait to hear how your car trip was.

Super massive congrats to those recently successful - 'noice' work OC2015 :)
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AimLK said:
WoooHOO!!! Nice going Erika :) yep that document balls-up sounds pretty much in line with our experience too - sorry you had that stress after a massive flight but glad it all worked it out. SO FINALLY we got our visa packs Christmas Eve - talk about testing our patience just that little bit more. We needed to leave to drive to Brisbane but was waiting for the Postman- it may have involved my husband getting in the car in the hope to catch him on a nearby street (LOL) - we just wanted to see those bloody passports/visas after a 4 week wait from our interview date!!!!!!! All good now, I just said to Nick it has been nice not to think about it for a few days :) SO POE Dallas 22nd Jan for Nick and 6th Feb for Clara and I. Cant wait to hear how your car trip was.

Super massive congrats to those recently successful - 'noice' work OC2015 :)
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Our interviewer told me when I first arrived at my interview that they didn't have my ds260 and then came upon it after 15 mins, I thought this was very strange not to mention nerve wracking after waiting to get the interview, did your interviewer have short curly hair and was a larger woman, as if it's her I will def be taking extra copies of everything, anybody know how you can get extra copies of the 260?
Thanks for giving us a heads up Claire :)
 
Congrats to those who have received their Greencards already. What an exciting time.
We are now in Canada, it is cold cold cold LOL. It is very American like here, but definitely still a commonwealth country ( quite expensive on the whole).
We spent 2 weeks in USA and I really get why people want to live there, I fell in love with Napa, and Lake Tahoe was spectacular, but a bit too many Audis for us to fit in Hahaha !.
We drove from Utah to Lake Tahoe, and I don't think the scenery changed at all in 10 hours of travel LOL. Lots of desert and dead foliage.
I know its not happening for us this year but fingers crossed we will have our day. We are only about an hours flight from NYC so I am happy with that for now :)
There is quite a good possibility that my husband would get work offered in USA once he has completed his training, and the type of companies he will be working for will have their own immigration teams.
We are off to Florida for spring break in a couple of months ( it will be different times than the USA, so hopefully not quite so busy) so it will be nice to have a break from the Snow !!!!!
Good luck for those who have interviews coming up :)
 
hopefulinnz said:
We drove from Utah to Lake Tahoe, and I don't think the scenery changed at all in 10 hours of travel LOL. Lots of desert and dead foliage.
We are only about an hours flight from NYC so I am happy with that for now :)
We are off to Florida for spring break in a couple of months ( it will be different times than the USA, so hopefully not quite so busy) so it will be nice to have a break from the Snow !!!!!
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Hi HINZ, The drive from Utah to Denver through the Rockies is amazing! Maybe one of the best drives in the world?
In Florida a good idea is to watch the Schwarzenegger movie True Lies then drive to Key West. Never seen anything like it.

I also lived in Canada for a couple of years and off-topic but here's my brain dump:
  • PC Financial - (President's Choice) bank account with no fees is good. And it has inter-bank transfers for free I think. PC Financial is really CIBC.
  • Chase Amazon Credit Card - No FX Fees, No annual fee, and 1% cash back. Gold!
  • The biggest mall in North America is in Edmonton - it's got roller coasters, submarine, shooting range, sea lion park, water-slide park with wave pool, and over 1000 shops.
  • Montreal is a lot of fun, you feel like you're in France
  • Niagara falls - the Canadian side is better
  • Quebec City is North America's only walled city, beautiful
  • Vancouver is one of the best cities in the world when it's not raining. Watch the sea planes landing by the bay. It's warm by Canadian standards.
  • Lake Louise near Calgary is similar to Maroon Bells / Aspen Colorado.
 
EmilyW said:
Has something changed with regards to police certificates. I could have SWORN that previous advice was that you go through your state police to get the federal check.

Now the official advice is to go direct to the federal check? At least it's clearer at any rate, particularly about whether to get name or finger print check (name check is now confirmed to be ok).

http://travel.state.gov/content/vis...ntry/AS.html#policecertificatesallaustralia-4
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That does seem new :/ it definitely used to say go through your state police and only AFP if you're living overseas currentlg. We got ours through Vic police...eep I hope they will be okay on Tuesday !
 
I think it's pretty new advice and that you would have gotten a National Police Certificate anyway, Blondie.

I didn't declare a speeding fine from 1996 on my DS260 because I thought it was a traffic offence / infringement. I hope that doesn't come back to bite me! I know @Britsimon is laughing at me right now for being so freaking pedantic.
 
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