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DV 2016 OC Selectees

We took out insurance with Seven Corners. From memory, around $800 for three months and includes visits to the GP. It's not Obama-care compliant but it's good enough until you find a job / sort out Obama-care.
 
EmilyW said:
We took out insurance with Seven Corners. From memory, around $800 for three months and includes visits to the GP. It's not Obama-care compliant but it's good enough until you find a job / sort out Obama-care.
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Thank you for the info!! Am I correct in thinking you would need interim US health insurance as travel insurance wouldn't be applicable given you're immigrating? A lot of them ask for country of residence too.. which right now is Aus but as of March 14 will be the US.

I think I read that you can be without cover for 3 months and avoid the penalty so I should have it sorted by then! Oh the dramas of expat life (so worth it of course).
 
AcidPops said:
Thank you for the info!! Am I correct in thinking you would need interim US health insurance as travel insurance wouldn't be applicable given you're immigrating? A lot of them ask for country of residence too.. which right now is Aus but as of March 14 will be the US.

I think I read that you can be without cover for 3 months and avoid the penalty so I should have it sorted by then! Oh the dramas of expat life (so worth it of course).
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For most people, the penalty is hardly a sum worth worrying about.
What is worth worrying about, is having something go wrong without appropriate medical coverage...
 
AcidPops said:
Thank you for the info!! Am I correct in thinking you would need interim US health insurance as travel insurance wouldn't be applicable given you're immigrating? A lot of them ask for country of residence too.. which right now is Aus but as of March 14 will be the US.

I think I read that you can be without cover for 3 months and avoid the penalty so I should have it sorted by then! Oh the dramas of expat life (so worth it of course).
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Have a read of this and get some quotes http://britsimonsays.com/health-insurance-for-new-immigrants/
 
Hi, we have been looking for information on the DV 2016 OC visa since we were informed in October 2015, I was very excited to find this forum. We checked our number several times before and received an error. Imagine our shock when we found out we were 2016OC1xx. We, myself, my husband and 12 yo daughter, have an interview at Sydney on Tuesday 8 March 8:45am. Our daughter is at camp and won't be attending. We are very excited and feel very positive about the experience after reading this forum. We have concerns over the health insurance and meeting the MEC and schooling for our daughter. Also, the other obvious concerns over gaining employment.

We have friends in West Palm Beach Florida and we are heading there, if we are successful, in August 2016. Thanks for everyone who has contributed to this forum, I know it has and is helping us through the rest of the experience.
 
Bevo25039 said:
Hi, we have been looking for information on the DV 2016 OC visa since we were informed in October 2015, I was very excited to find this forum. We checked our number several times before and received an error. Imagine our shock when we found out we were 2016OC1xx. We, myself, my husband and 12 yo daughter, have an interview at Sydney on Tuesday 8 March 8:45am. Our daughter is at camp and won't be attending. We are very excited and feel very positive about the experience after reading this forum. We have concerns over the health insurance and meeting the MEC and schooling for our daughter. Also, the other obvious concerns over gaining employment.

We have friends in West Palm Beach Florida and we are heading there, if we are successful, in August 2016. Thanks for everyone who has contributed to this forum, I know it has and is helping us through the rest of the experience.
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How to you plan to get a Green Card for your daughter if she doesn't attend the interview?
 
Britsimon said:
How to you plan to get a Green Card for your daughter if she doesn't attend the interview?
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We emailed the consulate and they said "A child under 14 is not required to attend the interview unless he/she is the sole beneficiary of the petition..."
 
That would be something new for the Sydney consulate. From memory, those of us who had children had to take them for the interview. I know my children tagged along.

London is (perhaps now, was) the only embassy - from memory - that doesn't require children to attend.
 
Definitely then it's new for Sydney. Everyone else has had to take the children along. I remember the CO eyeballing the kids and matching them to the passport.

It will be interesting to see how this new process works. They need to update the state.gov website as that is still saying that everyone needs to attend.
 
It's particularly strange too because the child is listed on the interview letter. Does the interview letter say all named people must be there or does it say under 14s don't have to be?

And just to check, you're absolutely sure this applies to DV visas and not just non-immigrant visas? Not in Sydney but our kids didn't have to be there for NIVs but definitely had to go for the DV interview and like Emily says, so far it's only been London that has made an exception. Anyway, hopefully it all works out smoothly and there is no need for a second interview trip for the child.
 
Bevo25039 said:
We emailed the consulate and they said "A child under 14 is not required to attend the interview unless he/she is the sole beneficiary of the petition..."
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Just incidentally... This answer makes no logical sense because there is no way a child not yet finished high school could be a sole beneficiary of a DV petition..?
 
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Bevo25039 said:
We emailed the consulate and they said "A child under 14 is not required to attend the interview unless he/she is the sole beneficiary of the petition..."
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I would certainly advise you check that - I think that would not be correct. She must have a medical too - that being a condition of being granted the visa. The link below talks about that specifically.

https://travel.state.gov/content/vi...-visa/interview/visa-applicant-interview.html

If you are relying on this page below or something like it, this is most certainly not correct for an immigrant visa. This page relates to NON immigrant visas.
http://canberra.usembassy.gov/what_to_expect.html

There is a FAQ which you can get to under IV links that says the same - BUT I really don't think I would trust it, as it is not DV specific.
 
We fly down to Sydney today for our interview tomorrow. Getting real!

We are all going to the interview including our two children. We are all on the letter and I believed that you must attend to be issued a dv visa.
Anyways it wouldn't be something I would be willing to risk for something so important and one chance!
 
You'll be golden, @eskimokisses!

If it helps, the day before our interview, we went and picked out books which the boys weren't allowed to even open. By the time we got to the consulate, they were practically BEGGING to read them. It meant they were pretty silent and entertained the entire time, which eased our stress levels considerably.
 
I was just wondering what everyones experience is with activating their green card. Did they ask for some documents that we needed for the interview and proof of funds and such? Just so I know what to bring. I'm activating in 3 weeks.
 
mlily1224 said:
I was just wondering what everyones experience is with activating their green card. Did they ask for some documents that we needed for the interview and proof of funds and such? Just so I know what to bring. I'm activating in 3 weeks.
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It isn't a real interview. It's just a formality, and they won't ask for proof of funds etc.
 
mlily1224 said:
I was just wondering what everyones experience is with activating their green card. Did they ask for some documents that we needed for the interview and proof of funds and such? Just so I know what to bring. I'm activating in 3 weeks.
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Everything that you showed at the interview is in the brown envelope. As Simon says, they won't ask you anything substantive, if anything at all.
 
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