• Hello Members, This forums is for DV lottery visas only. For other immigration related questions, please go to our forums home page, find the related forum and post it there.

DV-2015 winners and 2016 applicants South america and the Caribbean

Guarapa said:
Hi @mrtolix . I'm glad you had success in unlocking your DS260.
Bank statements are a good proof you can present to support your case. Real estates or car ownership are not of much help. Please check the @Britsimon blog entry about Affidavit of Support and financial supporting statements here: http://britsimonsays.com/all-about-public-charge-affidavit-of-support-i-134/. It is a very good resource in helping you plan what to take to the interview. Go through it and then come back with more questions if you still have any.

Again, good luck!
Click to expand...

Are you specifically talking about Venezuela when you say real estate ownership is not much help? Because I interviewed elsewhere but a routine question at the consulate I interviewed at - and also asked of us despite more than enough in bank statements - was whether we owned real estate and how much. Of course, one needs to be able to sell it and transfer the proceeds to the US for it to be of significance in the decision about public charge.
 
SusieQQQ said:
Are you specifically talking about Venezuela when you say real estate ownership is not much help? Because I interviewed elsewhere but a routine question at the consulate I interviewed at - and also asked of us despite more than enough in bank statements - was whether we owned real estate and how much. Of course, one needs to be able to sell it and transfer the proceeds to the US for it to be of significance in the decision about public charge.
Click to expand...
Hi Susie,
Exactly; I meant the specific case of Venezuela. There is right now a strict control over exchange of local currency into US dollars; those enforcements are actually under review as we speak and assets valued in local currency will certainly be devalued once again soon. Even if you manage to sell your house within a timeframe short enough to allow you have your assets "liquid" by the time you scheduled your trip, you may still face trouble exchanging it into hard currency. Again -as with every subject discussed here- the last word will be on the CO. I did not meant to say "helpless at all". I still encourage @mrtolix to bring all he can collect to the interview.
 
Guarapa said:
Hi Susie,
Exactly; I meant the specific case of Venezuela. There is right now a strict control over exchange of local currency into US dollars; those enforcements are actually under review as we speak and assets valued in local currency will certainly be devalued once again soon. Even if you manage to sell your house within a timeframe short enough to allow you have your assets "liquid" by the time you scheduled your trip, you may still face trouble exchanging it into hard currency. Again -as with every subject discussed here- the last word will be on the CO. I did not meant to say "helpless at all". I still encourage @mrtolix to bring all he can collect to the interview.
Click to expand...

Ok. I got confused because you directed him to britsimon which is a general info site.
(But why is there a difference between transferring house proceeds and what is in a bank account?)
 
Susie,
First, I think it is a good idea for everyone embarked in this journey to check Simon's blog at first, then come here with questions not specifically addressed there in order to save everyone time and effort. I did it myself and that's mainly why I posted very few questions over here (good for you Simon! :D)

To answer your question I may say that, in general, the social/politics/economics situation in Venezuela have so many implications in all aspects of everyday life (scarcirty of many supplies, power outages, etc) that it would be way too long to even dare to table a partial list of causes and consequences here. For the purposes of this discussion, let's say that the political system there -combined with the expectations of the people- have caused the value of personal assets to become severely distorted. Cars for example are overvalued while houses are undervalued. You may find that in many cases the ratio of real estate to car value is 3:1 or even lower whereas in countries with sensible political stability this is in average 10:1.

To make a long story short, the discretion of the CO to judge if any asset you have there is of any value to allow you supporting your household during the first months in the US is probably wider than in most of the embassies worldwide. It may or may not help your case at all. As already said, the more your take with you to the interview, the better. I am just giving a word of advice on getting the most he can.
 
mrtolix said:
It is required to translate my bank account statements Work references and any other civil document?
Click to expand...
I'm just getting the civil documents translated... Just the birth certificate, the police records, my high school diploma, my university degree, and the marriage certificate. Just what the other guys have told me they got asked for.
 
Hi all! The official rate to pay the visa fees went from 6,30VEF/USD to 10,00VEF/USD according to the ustraveldocs site!
 
Cornelio said:
Hi all! The official rate to pay the visa fees went from 6,30VEF/USD to 10,00VEF/USD according to the ustraveldocs site!
Click to expand...
Still quite affordable, man. Best of luck next Monday! Looking forward to read your interview testimonial soon.
 
Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D:D:D:D:D


My dear friends, I've just arrived home really tired but happy!

We had an early appointment at 10:30am and the crowds at the American embassy in Caracas were unbelievable. We arrived at 9:15 and we were told to get in the general line to enter the embassy and after passing the second checkpoint we had to say we were going for an immigrant visa in order to skip other lines and go straight to the interview. When we got to that second checkpoint we had to wait about 10 minutes since “someone” took away the list of immigrant visa interviewees. I presented my 2NL, they confirmed that our interview was effectively today and let us thru. Upon reaching the immigrant visa section, we handed all our documents to the consular officer at booth 16. He’s Venezuelan and was in charge of checking all documents in the order he was asking for them: passport, passport with valid US visa, photo, birth certificate, marriage certificate, university degree, criminal records, postal (Zoom) forms, and medical examinations. I handed him a photocopy of each with the original translation. Then he asked for my wife’s papers and the kid’s papers and told me to go pay the visa fees. I paid in Bolivars ¡16.500! and then waited to be called. After 25 minutes they called me and the family. The CO was an American lady who took us an oath, asked me to digitally sign some forms by putting my fingerprints on the machine, then my wife and then me on behalf of the children. It was fast and no questions asked, she said: “Congratulations! Your visas are approved and you can now migrate to the US. You will receive in two weeks your passports through the mail along with a sealed envelope, do not open it, read carefully all the instructions. Good luck!”

We were crying! Could not believe it! I want to thank God and all of you who were there to answer any doubts I had and those who encouraged my patience too with your messages!

See you at the States!
 
Cornelio said:
Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D:D:D:D:D


My dear friends, I've just arrived home really tired but happy!

We had an early appointment at 10:30am and the crowds at the American embassy in Caracas were unbelievable. We arrived at 9:15 and we were told to get in the general line to enter the embassy and after passing the second checkpoint we had to say we were going for an immigrant visa in order to skip other lines and go straight to the interview. When we got to that second checkpoint we had to wait about 10 minutes since “someone” took away the list of immigrant visa interviewees. I presented my 2NL, they confirmed that our interview was effectively today and let us thru. Upon reaching the immigrant visa section, we handed all our documents to the consular officer at booth 16. He’s Venezuelan and was in charge of checking all documents in the order he was asking for them: passport, passport with valid US visa, photo, birth certificate, marriage certificate, university degree, criminal records, postal (Zoom) forms, and medical examinations. I handed him a photocopy of each with the original translation. Then he asked for my wife’s papers and the kid’s papers and told me to go pay the visa fees. I paid in Bolivars ¡16.500! and then waited to be called. After 25 minutes they called me and the family. The CO was an American lady who took us an oath, asked me to digitally sign some forms by putting my fingerprints on the machine, then my wife and then me on behalf of the children. It was fast and no questions asked, she said: “Congratulations! Your visas are approved and you can now migrate to the US. You will receive in two weeks your passports through the mail along with a sealed envelope, do not open it, read carefully all the instructions. Good luck!”

We were crying! Could not believe it! I want to thank God and all of you who were there to answer any doubts I had and those who encouraged my patience too with your messages!

See you at the States!
Click to expand...

Congrats Cornelio and I wish you best in the US. This is my second time trying and hoping that one day I can also enjoy that good news of getting approved. I also hope that things get better for our brothers in Venezuela. Big hello from Panama :)
 
Cornelio said:
Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D:D:D:D:D


My dear friends, I've just arrived home really tired but happy!

We had an early appointment at 10:30am and the crowds at the American embassy in Caracas were unbelievable. We arrived at 9:15 and we were told to get in the general line to enter the embassy and after passing the second checkpoint we had to say we were going for an immigrant visa in order to skip other lines and go straight to the interview. When we got to that second checkpoint we had to wait about 10 minutes since “someone” took away the list of immigrant visa interviewees. I presented my 2NL, they confirmed that our interview was effectively today and let us thru. Upon reaching the immigrant visa section, we handed all our documents to the consular officer at booth 16. He’s Venezuelan and was in charge of checking all documents in the order he was asking for them: passport, passport with valid US visa, photo, birth certificate, marriage certificate, university degree, criminal records, postal (Zoom) forms, and medical examinations. I handed him a photocopy of each with the original translation. Then he asked for my wife’s papers and the kid’s papers and told me to go pay the visa fees. I paid in Bolivars ¡16.500! and then waited to be called. After 25 minutes they called me and the family. The CO was an American lady who took us an oath, asked me to digitally sign some forms by putting my fingerprints on the machine, then my wife and then me on behalf of the children. It was fast and no questions asked, she said: “Congratulations! Your visas are approved and you can now migrate to the US. You will receive in two weeks your passports through the mail along with a sealed envelope, do not open it, read carefully all the instructions. Good luck!”

We were crying! Could not believe it! I want to thank God and all of you who were there to answer any doubts I had and those who encouraged my patience too with your messages!

See you at the States!
Click to expand...
Congratulations!!!! :)o_O nice no questions asked.....
 
Thank you all for your words! I appreciate!

In other news, we paid the fees at 10,00VEF/USD and i've just learned that such rate is valid only until tomorrow. I checked the ustraveldocs and it says so. From monday on it will be the new SICOM rate: 206,00 VEF/USD That is an awful news. That will make a DV processing fee almost 68.000,00 VEF each person! I was very afraid of this, because if we are to pay in VEF the amount of bills will be incredible. For those who don't know, the largest bill in Venezuela is a 100VEF note :( and the US embassy accepts only cash.

I'll leave the link in spanish for those interested: http://prodavinci.com/2016/03/09/ac...mbio-anunciados-por-el-bcv-monitorprodavinci/
 
Cornelio said:
Thank you all for your words! I appreciate!

In other news, we paid the fees at 10,00VEF/USD and i've just learned that such rate is valid only until tomorrow. I checked the ustraveldocs and it says so. From monday on it will be the new SICOM rate: 206,00 VEF/USD That is an awful news. That will make a DV processing fee almost 68.000,00 VEF each person! I was very afraid of this, because if we are to pay in VEF the amount of bills will be incredible. For those who don't know, the largest bill in Venezuela is a 100VEF note :( and the US embassy accepts only cash.

I'll leave the link in spanish for those interested: http://prodavinci.com/2016/03/09/ac...mbio-anunciados-por-el-bcv-monitorprodavinci/
Click to expand...
Wow, this a steep inflation rate indeed. Continuing like this will make VEF currency practically worthless in short order, irrespective of the "official" exchange rate as communicated by the government.
 
Cornelio said:
Thank you all for your words! I appreciate!

In other news, we paid the fees at 10,00VEF/USD and i've just learned that such rate is valid only until tomorrow. I checked the ustraveldocs and it says so. From monday on it will be the new SICOM rate: 206,00 VEF/USD That is an awful news. That will make a DV processing fee almost 68.000,00 VEF each person! I was very afraid of this, because if we are to pay in VEF the amount of bills will be incredible. For those who don't know, the largest bill in Venezuela is a 100VEF note :( and the US embassy accepts only cash.

I'll leave the link in spanish for those interested: http://prodavinci.com/2016/03/09/ac...mbio-anunciados-por-el-bcv-monitorprodavinci/
Click to expand...


It is sad to see Venezuela so badly managed....
 
I said yesterday at noon : @Cornelio is so lucky hehehe... And it 206Bs x USD by now, i except that this rate will increase in 200% in the next 4 months :(
 
While Venezuela is an outlier, it is certainly not the only country where sadly the same poor leadership that makes people want to leave, often makes it unaffordable for them to do so. My own country has seen its exchange rate fall to now less than half the value vs USD compared to when I won DV in 2013, making completing the DV process unaffordable for some winners.

Here's hoping all Venezuelans on this forums get through the process!
 
@EURO2014 It already is... :(

@mrtolix , contrarily to what you think, i believe that the governement has a roof setted for that new rate, they wont allow that to go up from 300. Just like it happened when they created SIMADI.

@Britsimon yes, it is very sad. I am happy for me and my family, but i'm very sad for all the people that stays.

@SusieQQQ I hope that too! I'm sure the sacrifices will have to be much tougher but i think nobody will miss on the chance given. Since 2013 things here have gone even crazier too.
 
Wow i hope that people can deal with the new rates. This will definitely impact future winners of 2017 and lets hope the impact is not that big since a lot of people are leaving Venezuela.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top