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DV 2015 Oceania winners

tjn said:
Hi all,

Thanks for the helpful advice provided here (still going through the pages)..the strong sense of community here is great!
My CN is 7XX and I have an interview scheduled in Feb. If all goes well, then I have until July (when the med exam results expires) to get to the US to activate the GC. However, for my job I won't be able to move there straight away. Given that the GC is valid for 1 year away from the US then it should still be valid until July 2016...which is the deadline for moving there permanently. Just wondering whether I have to provide some proof for not being able to move there straight away as I've heard that the longer you take to move there, the more they question you at the airport at reentry. My main reason for staying here is to gain as much work experience as I can before I look for a job over there. Another issue with this is that I will be taxed twice if I keep working here .

Still trying to figure out how to transition the move there..seems like a daunting process!
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They are pretty understanding about that first year after activation.

Regarding tax - you will have to report tax twice - but you probably won't pay tax in both places.
 
tjn said:
Hi all,

Thanks for the helpful advice provided here (still going through the pages)..the strong sense of community here is great!
My CN is 7XX and I have an interview scheduled in Feb. If all goes well, then I have until July (when the med exam results expires) to get to the US to activate the GC. However, for my job I won't be able to move there straight away. Given that the GC is valid for 1 year away from the US then it should still be valid until July 2016...which is the deadline for moving there permanently. Just wondering whether I have to provide some proof for not being able to move there straight away as I've heard that the longer you take to move there, the more they question you at the airport at reentry. My main reason for staying here is to gain as much work experience as I can before I look for a job over there. Another issue with this is that I will be taxed twice if I keep working here .

Still trying to figure out how to transition the move there..seems like a daunting process!
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A couple of misconception here:
- The GC does not have a 1 year validity, the plastic GC is valid for 10 years (except in the case of a marriage based GC, in which case the initial card is valid for 2 years). And the 10 year validity does not mean one looses their LPR status if the card isn't renewed or one doesn't become a USC.
- There is no 1 year deadline for moving over to the US permanently

Upon arrival at the POE and having your LPR status activated, the IV now becomes a temporary GC (upon endorsement) and can be used in place of the actual plastic GC. Yes, the temporary GC is valid for one year, it does not necessarily mean that is the deadline for permanently moving over to the US. Once you have the plastic GC, there's no need to use the temporary GC on your passport again regardless of whether it has expired or not.

Also, the fact that a new immigrant could be excused for going back home and staying up to 1 year before returning is not tied to the expiration date of the temporary GC, it's just a way of showing that they understand one may need to go back home for that long to tie up loose ends before immigrating permanently.
 
Had our medical today, all good and will do a proper post after our interview in 2 weeks. Hope everyone's preparations are going well.
 
AussieGemma said:
Had our medical today, all good and will do a proper post after our interview in 2 weeks. Hope everyone's preparations are going well.
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I did my medical today too, are you in Melbourne @AussieGemma?
I have 2 things to say about Medibank, first of all they emailed me and told me to bring 3 photographs (you actually need 4).
Then when I went to get my chest X-ray Medibank hadn't given me the correct form so I had to go back to Medibank to get it. I wasn't impressed after paying $520 that they couldn't give me correct paperwork to take to the X-ray....so beware if anyone else is going to Medibank Melboure.
 
Yes we did ours at Medibank. When we went to do our X-Ray I had to walk back to pick up the paperwork. The X-Ray receptionist phoned them and said they had already sent two people without paperwork this morning! So it must have been you. We were told to bring 3 photos which we did. Fortunately I work in the City and will drop the 4th photos in tomorrow. All up an expensive exercise of about $1700!!
 
Doing your medical at George st. Medical in Sydney appears to be cheaper. $486 was the total cost, [that was with the combined vaccination for tetanus, dyptheria, whooping cough, so subtract $45 if no vaccinations needed]. I read in a few posts that Medibank add on a 10% gst to take the total over $500? Dr. Waks was a lovely doctor by the way. He really wants to get you to America [rude receptionists there though]. Oh, and i needed to bring in 6 photos there, and he used them all. So each medical practice seems to have different requirements and pricing.
 
Carolineinthecity said:
I did my medical today too, are you in Melbourne @AussieGemma?
I have 2 things to say about Medibank, first of all they emailed me and told me to bring 3 photographs (you actually need 4).
Then when I went to get my chest X-ray Medibank hadn't given me the correct form so I had to go back to Medibank to get it. I wasn't impressed after paying $520 that they couldn't give me correct paperwork to take to the X-ray....so beware if anyone else is going to Medibank Melboure.
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I booked my medical for 2 weeks away but I have a conflicting story about photos from 2 different places. Now when I first booked with one company they said I needed 3 x US Size photos. As this wasn't going to be a good time for my medical I rang up another place and got a different appointment. They are telling me that I need 5 x Aus Size photos.

Can any one confirm what we need? As it seems to be conflicting information?

Regards
 
Hershal said:
I booked my medical for 2 weeks away but I have a conflicting story about photos from 2 different places. Now when I first booked with one company they said I needed 3 x US Size photos. As this wasn't going to be a good time for my medical I rang up another place and got a different appointment. They are telling me that I need 5 x Aus Size photos.

Can any one confirm what we need? As it seems to be conflicting information?

Regards
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It honestly seems to depend on the doctor you see, but I went to Medibank and needed 4, so I think that anyone asking for less than 4 you should just bring 4 anyway. With Medibank, their email is sent out by administrative staff who don't actually have anything to do with conducting the medical so they have no idea that the information is incorrect and the doctors don't know that patients are being told the wrong thing or aren't doing anything about it. The DV selectee instructions say to bring 3 photos, which is what I think they based it on, but I remember my doctor saying he had just gone to a training course on US immigrant medicals and they had just changed how many photos were needed. The DV selectee instructions hasn't been updated either so the additional photos requirement is obviously new as of this year.
 
Essey said:
It honestly seems to depend on the doctor you see, but I went to Medibank and needed 4, so I think that anyone asking for less than 4 you should just bring 4 anyway. With Medibank, their email is sent out by administrative staff who don't actually have anything to do with conducting the medical so they have no idea that the information is incorrect and the doctors don't know that patients are being told the wrong thing or aren't doing anything about it. The DV selectee instructions say to bring 3 photos, which is what I think they based it on, but I remember my doctor saying he had just gone to a training course on US immigrant medicals and they had just changed how many photos were needed. The DV selectee instructions hasn't been updated either so the additional photos requirement is obviously new as of this year.
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Yeah 3 seems to be the normal, but now being told to different sizes aI really don't know what to do here, Maybe I should just get 5 USA size and 5 AUS size to cover me completely for both myself and the wife. The doctor surgery says that if you do the USA size they cut them down anyways as they don't fit the page, but from what i can tell, the whole dimensions compared to an Australian size is quite different

Hopefully there will be no issue on photos when you get the interview.
 
Hershal said:
Yeah 3 seems to be the normal, but now being told to different sizes aI really don't know what to do here, Maybe I should just get 5 USA size and 5 AUS size to cover me completely for both myself and the wife. The doctor surgery says that if you do the USA size they cut them down anyways as they don't fit the page, but from what i can tell, the whole dimensions compared to an Australian size is quite different

Hopefully there will be no issue on photos when you get the interview.
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That's bizarre - I used USA size and I know others have too, and even been told to by the medical centre. I do know someone else who used Australian passport size photos for their medical and they were fine too so I actually don't think it matters for the medical. The important one is the photo you take to your interview which must be USA size.
 
We used US photos for the Medical. The photos are going on US forms which you have to write many US dates so we are using the same photos for our interview. Not that the dates had anything to do with it but thought I'd mention it. It's hard writing US dates! We had our photos done at Teds and the guy gave us 4 extra photos for nothing which I was happy with.
 
Hi All,

I heard back from the AFP with regard to the police check.

This was their response with regard to "full disclosure".

"If you require a complete disclosure you will need to select Commonwealth Purpose- code 33 Immigration/Citizenship."

So that's nice and clear. Also, there is a section for my wife to put her maiden name as well.
 
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