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DV 2017 OC Selectees

TomPerth said:
Thanks for the update!

Out of interest, if you're doing an activation trip do you need to take out health insurance in USA as soon as you activate or only when you finally settle (which could be months, up to 12 months later). Are you required to file taxes on income earnt from the date onwards after you land and activate or the whole US financial year your activation trip falls under?

Thanks

-Tom
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You are not required to get health insurance for an activation trip - but you should make sure you have some sort of travel health insurance as a minimum (a simple accident can cost a lot of money).

You are required to file taxes for the year in which you become an LPR.
 
TomPerth said:
Thanks for the update!

Are you required to file taxes on income earnt from the date onwards after you land and activate or the whole US financial year your activation trip falls under?

Thanks

-Tom
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The IRS website is actually pretty informative on this stuff, although it's not always organized that well (i.e. you may need two or three different info pages to build up the whole picture). You file for the year in which you activate, as a non-resident for the period before you land and as a resident from the date you land.
 
Hey all!

Forgive me if this has already been answered, I read through the last 5 pages and couldn't find anything.

I'm heading to LA (from Melbourne) for my activation trip in a month & was wondering if I need to get an ESTA? even with my temporary US Visa in my passport.

Congrats to all the recent successes I've been reading up on! ;)

Thank you!
 
GreatestNameofAll said:
Hey all!

Forgive me if this has already been answered, I read through the last 5 pages and couldn't find anything.

I'm heading to LA (from Melbourne) for my activation trip in a month & was wondering if I need to get an ESTA? even with my temporary US Visa in my passport.

Congrats to all the recent successes I've been reading up on! ;)

Thank you!
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No, that's not required. All you need is the IV already on your passport.
 
Hi everyone,

I've been looking at insurance and followed @Britsimon advice and looked at Vistors Coverags but was wondering if the visitors insurance coverage would be ok? I just find the green card insurance options to not cover that many expenses
 
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I used it until I found a job. It was good. We only had to use it once (kid's ear infection) and ended up being out of pocket less than $50.
 
Yes I'm also concerned that if something happened Visitors Coverage would be considered invalid as you have resident status?
 
The coverage for green card insurance on that website is maximum $120,000 with limited payout, where as the visitors coverage goes up to $1,000,000. I read the terms and conditions for the visitors and it seems like you can get it with a green card but I'm not entirely sure
 
Just setup my USCIS account and noticed they've put my first and middle name as my first name, and my middle name as 'NMN' (I'm guessing that stands for no middle name?) Is this going to be a problem?
 
Hi guys. We had a short activation trip at the end of March to Hawaii and our Green Cards have been sent to our friend in Boston. We're planning on making the final move to Los Angeles in coming months. I think someone on here mentioned that they had their Green Cards sent to them in Australia. I've seen a few things online that make me a little worried about the legality of doing this and whether there's a risk of the cards getting confiscated if the envelopes are searched. Is sending them advisable and if so, who did you use - Fedex? What's the safest way of receiving them? Also due to our jobs in Australia and the need to save as much as possible before leaving - and the fact we have a family wedding to attend in January - we might need to leave our final big move date until February. Do you think this is pushing it in terms of us running into trouble at the airport? People have said you have a year from that activation stamp - but I'm concerned about getting a grilling and whether we might raise concerns, having taken 11 months to make the big move. Another option is to make the move before the end of the year instead, but thought there'd also be red flags if we came back to Australia in January so soon after moving to the States. Plus another return trip is extra expense when we're trying to set up over there. Packing up our entire lives is quite a job!
 
Gharrison said:
Hi guys. We had a short activation trip at the end of March to Hawaii and our Green Cards have been sent to our friend in Boston. We're planning on making the final move to Los Angeles in coming months. I think someone on here mentioned that they had their Green Cards sent to them in Australia. I've seen a few things online that make me a little worried about the legality of doing this and whether there's a risk of the cards getting confiscated if the envelopes are searched. Is sending them advisable and if so, who did you use - Fedex? What's the safest way of receiving them? Also due to our jobs in Australia and the need to save as much as possible before leaving - and the fact we have a family wedding to attend in January - we might need to leave our final big move date until February. Do you think this is pushing it in terms of us running into trouble at the airport? People have said you have a year from that activation stamp - but I'm concerned about getting a grilling and whether we might raise concerns, having taken 11 months to make the big move. Another option is to make the move before the end of the year instead, but thought there'd also be red flags if we came back to Australia in January so soon after moving to the States. Plus another return trip is extra expense when we're trying to set up over there. Packing up our entire lives is quite a job!
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Why on earth would getting your own green cards sent to yourself be illegal? What would be the rationale for confiscating them? The main risk you run is them getting lost in the mail, hence advice would be to use a courier and not regular mail.

Yeah you might get a "grilling" after 11 months but as long as you can show you intend to live there, including flying back on a one-way ticket,you'll be fine. Just be polite in response to any questions. If you move sooner, a short trip out and back after arriving won't be a problem either.

Incidentally you seem to be confusing the 12-month temporary green card period (which is 12 months from the activation stamp), with the 12-month limit for being out the country, which is counted from the day you leave the US (not the day you arrive and get the stamp). I realize in your case there is not much difference but wanted clarity for others who might read this.
 
Thanks,

OK, I can see that it doesn't look to be illegal - sorry for sounding alarmist - but some other forums suggest it's not advisable due to the risk of the cards getting lost or customs agents searching the envelope. But I'm hoping that Fedex should be fine. Just interested in whether others had their cards sent and who they used for the most secure service.

Re: the 12 months thing - I think I was thinking of the grace period that you generally have to make the permanent move - plus I know the stamp in the passport is valid for a year. But yes, I'm aware that once I'm over there I'd need to apply for a re-entry permit if I were to leave the US again for a longer time.
 
Gharrison said:
Re: the 12 months thing - I think I was thinking of the grace period that you generally have to make the permanent move - plus I know the stamp in the passport is valid for a year. But yes, I'm aware that once I'm over there I'd need to apply for a re-entry permit if I were to leave the US again for a longer time.
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That comment was in response to you saying "People have said you have a year from that activation stamp" to return, which looked you were conflating two distinct 12-month limits. The date on the stamp does not determine when you can return.
 
SusieQQQ said:
That comment was in response to you saying "People have said you have a year from that activation stamp" to return, which looked you were conflating two distinct 12-month limits. The date on the stamp does not determine when you can return.
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Just to say I received our Green Cards, sent by our friend via UPS, no hassles. I've booked our move-date one-way flights in mid February (as I said, we activated end of March this year). So I'm still a little worried we'll have been out of the country for a little too long, and might have a few questions to answer on re-entry. But there's not much I can do, given the time it's taking to wind things up over here. I'll probably be back with more annoying questions then!
 
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Been finding it hard to get a job in my industry from Australia, however I have managed to secure a job in Colorado for the winter season! Can't wait to move from transition from sunny Brisbane to the Rockies in November! Now to get ready for the big move!
 
It's difficult to find a job from Australia when the US is saturated with excellent local candidates who can start straight away. As far as I know, @guestgulkan is the only one who has been able to do that and it took the better half of a year to achieve.

I got here and it took five weeks to find a job.
 
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