• 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 2018 OC Selectees

Motherly12 said:
Hi
New to the forum! Im OC5XX . My question; is anyone aware of extensions to the 6 month initiation period post the medical/interview? I'm likely to be due mid 6 months so unable to be insured for travel for 10 weeks of the 6 mths then unlikely to receive baby's passport in first 4 weeks of life due to needing the birth certificate first (and not super excited by travel immediately following). Having baby in Australia to get work (14 week) and Centrelink (18 weeks) mat leave $$$ none of which I would get in the US.
Click to expand...

There is no extension available for DV visas. You’d have to decide where to give birth. What you might consider doing is a quick visit to the US to activate your visa, while you can still fly, and then you basically have a year after that to come back to Australia, have your baby with all the local benefits, get the passport, then move properly to the US.
 
SusieQQQ said:
There is no extension available for DV visas. You’d have to decide where to give birth. What you might consider doing is a quick visit to the US to activate your visa, while you can still fly, and then you basically have a year after that to come back to Australia, have your baby with all the local benefits, get the passport, then move properly to the US.
Click to expand...

Thanks for responding so quickly. I was hoping this would not be true but seems as though I'll have to do just that. Again amazing response time. Thank you.
 
Britsimon said:
Estimates are OK - although you can get arrival/departure data here:
Click to expand...

Thanks - I had a look on the website - it only has my last trip. And it didn't have any details of the visa.

Also what if I have accidentally forgotten a trip - I really don't want to do anything to jeopardize the interview but my last 5 trips were spaced out over the last 20 years almost - its pretty hard to remember without the passport!
 
Dawson865 said:
Thanks - I had a look on the website - it only has my last trip. And it didn't have any details of the visa.

Also what if I have accidentally forgotten a trip - I really don't want to do anything to jeopardize the interview but my last 5 trips were spaced out over the last 20 years almost - its pretty hard to remember without the passport!
Click to expand...

Fill it out to the best of your knowledge. In cases like this where you honestly don’t have access to the info and some things were years ago they will be reasonable. I honestly don’t think you need to worry about it.
 
SusieQQQ said:
There is no extension available for DV visas. You’d have to decide where to give birth. What you might consider doing is a quick visit to the US to activate your visa, while you can still fly, and then you basically have a year after that to come back to Australia, have your baby with all the local benefits, get the passport, then move properly to the US.
Click to expand...
Actually can I reschedule the interview to buy more time or is that a no no? To be frowned upon? Thanks
 
Motherly12 said:
Actually can I reschedule the interview to buy more time or is that a no no? To be frowned upon? Thanks
Click to expand...

You could take a chance as Sydney has been ok with that in the past. With some embassies it’s incredibly difficult - bear in mind you usually have to cancel your KCC-assigned interview slot before you get assigned a new slot by the embassy, and you have zero control over when your new appointment is, and some people have not been assigned new slots at all before the fiscal year ended. This past DV year it was even worse as rescheduled appointments lose their original reserved visa, and when DV2017 visas ran out in early September all such cases were unable to be issued visas. So, it’s risky. Sydney is about the only embassy I’d even consider taking that risk with, but the risk is still real that you don’t end up with a visa.
 
SusieQQQ said:
You could take a chance as Sydney has been ok with that in the past. With some embassies it’s incredibly difficult - bear in mind you usually have to cancel your KCC-assigned interview slot before you get assigned a new slot by the embassy, and you have zero control over when your new appointment is, and some people have not been assigned new slots at all before the fiscal year ended. This past DV year it was even worse as rescheduled appointments lose their original reserved visa, and when DV2017 visas ran out in early September all such cases were unable to be issued visas. So, it’s risky. Sydney is about the only embassy I’d even consider taking that risk with, but the risk is still real that you don’t end up with a visa.
Click to expand...
Thanks again. Seems like we will travel prior!!!
 
SusieQQQ said:
I checked and mine does but it only goes back to 19 records/2012 - not sure if it maxed out at a certain number of records or at 5 years, which is when mine goes back to (and a memorable trip that one was, I was literally on one of the last flights out of a deserted JFK before hurricane sandy hit....). I have many previous trips to the US not on the record. The record also indicates it may have missed some and that’s it an aid and not an official complete record.
Click to expand...

The 5 year cutoff makes sense, I have around 43 entries and exits listed so don't think it is limited by count. You were lucky to get a flight out during Sandy, I was flying from LA to London (via JFK) and got diverted, and subsequently stranded in Chicago...had to rent a car and drive.

I also have some strange holes, where I have 2 arrivals listed sequentially (so in theory no departure record between them), and some of my recent flights have "Unavailable" as the Location for departure, but the correct matching arrival Location.
 
FlyingDonkey said:
Yeah its a bit odd, not sure if just departures being slower to report or something else (I go in and out of same terminal at JFK).
Click to expand...

Mine was out of one of the Bay Area airports - offhand I can’t remember which trip it was now so not sure if SFO or OAK.
 
erva_mate said:
WildYak - I posted a similar question in the All Selectees thread about a week ago, but I didn't get any feedback. I was hoping for someone who has gotten the certificate in the past to clarify, but I'm almost certain that the police check depends on if you currently reside in Canada or not. If you are in Canada you can go to your local RCMP office to get a name and DOB check of no criminal convictions. However, if you don't live and aren't returning to Canada like in my case, you need to get a 'Certifed Criminal Record Check' by submitting fingerprints to the RCMP, which as far as I know can only be done by going through certain accredited companies (the list is on the RCMP website). I wanted to hear from someone's personal experience but I've heard that it could take a little while to go through this process, so if your interview has been scheduled then you better get on it soon - like today.
Click to expand...

Hi erva_mate. Timing for my Canadian Certified criminal record check went as follows: Posted from South Australia on Sep 27 on a four business day Express Post; arrived in Ottawa on Oct 6; Commissionaires Canada submitted the application to RCMP within a day or two; Certificate arrived at my house via Fedex on Friday 20 Oct. Commissionaires Canada were very helpful and responsive with any questions I had. Cheers.
 
Hi there. Does anyone know if the consulate in Sydney prefers cash or card payment for the $330 US fee payable (on the day of the interview), or is either fine? Thank you.
 
WildYak said:
Hi there. Does anyone know if the consulate in Sydney prefers cash or card payment for the $330 US fee payable (on the day of the interview), or is either fine? Thank you.
Click to expand...

Either is fine, but I paid cash as I didn't want to have to stress if the system went down (as I'd heard of it doing in another selectee's experience). You can pay in either AUD or USD... when I interviewed in Feb this year I think they'd set the conversion at $440AUD.
 
WildYak said:
Hi erva_mate. Timing for my Canadian Certified criminal record check went as follows: Posted from South Australia on Sep 27 on a four business day Express Post; arrived in Ottawa on Oct 6; Commissionaires Canada submitted the application to RCMP within a day or two; Certificate arrived at my house via Fedex on Friday 20 Oct. Commissionaires Canada were very helpful and responsive with any questions I had. Cheers.
Click to expand...

That's great! Thanks for posting the details. Good luck with the rest of the process, I hope it goes smoothly.
 
Britsimon said:
Make sure you re-enter for DV2019 to give yourself a shot at plan B
Click to expand...

So it's fine as a backup to re-enter for DS-2019 even if you've been selected for DS-2018? I'm OC5xx, planning to submit the DS260 in March and interview in June next year.
 
Last edited:
Can anybody tell me that if you are successful at your interview at the Sydney consulate, do they give you your passport back immediately and approval to travel to the States? Or do you have to wait a few weeks for further processing?
 
coogee_ said:
Can anybody tell me that if you are successful at your interview at the Sydney consulate, do they give you your passport back immediately and approval to travel to the States? Or do you have to wait a few weeks for further processing?
Click to expand...

You don’t get the passport immediately. It gets mailed back to you after the visa gets stamped on your passport.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top