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DV 2018 OC Selectees

@SusieQQQ I guessed that would be the case but thought I'd still ask the question :D

@Britsimon I've searched these forums the past few days and can only see @cj27 talking about defacto relationships. With the other people you have mentioned do you know if they got married after filling out the DS260 but before the interview? Or did they do it before they even submitted the DS260 form? Thanks.

The defacto relationship is like being unmarried for US immigration purposes. It is no more complicated than an unmarried couple (but with excellent proof that the marriage is not just for the purposes of a easy extra Green Card)

So - simplest option is to get married, then submit the DS260. No need for anything more complicated than that.

It is possible to submit the DS260 as single, get married, then add the DS260 for the new spouse and change the DS260 for the principal. The second option may be faster if you have a low case number.
 
how are OC's getting this many people selected? what the heck

Some countries are more active here than others. It doesn't necessarily mean they get the most selectees. For a few years our Kenyan threads were exceptionally active. Now they seem to rather use a WhatsApp group or something. And we've never had a huge presence of non English speakers from countries with large amounts of selectees (like Ukraine, Russia etc) where it's easier for them to have local language forums.
 
Hi all - I'm an Aussie living in London. I'm super excited to have been selected in the OC category. My number is OC13XX. I've looked through this forum, but it's quite confusing how many people are ahead of me. What do you think my chances are? Cheers :)
 
The defacto relationship is like being unmarried for US immigration purposes. It is no more complicated than an unmarried couple (but with excellent proof that the marriage is not just for the purposes of a easy extra Green Card)

So - simplest option is to get married, then submit the DS260. No need for anything more complicated than that.

It is possible to submit the DS260 as single, get married, then add the DS260 for the new spouse and change the DS260 for the principal. The second option may be faster if you have a low case number.

My case number is in the 900's - what would be the latest I could leave submitting the DS260 to as a guess? If I understand the bulletins on your website I would expect an interview approx. April/May/June next year, right?

My original entry into the lottery I selected Married as I just assumed this would incorporate being in defacto too - I didn't even think this was going to be an issue until i saw some other post which made me starting researching all this. So because I already selected married, my partner is already on the DS260 - so our only option is to get married?
 
My case number is in the 900's - what would be the latest I could leave submitting the DS260 to as a guess? If I understand the bulletins on your website I would expect an interview approx. April/May/June next year, right?

My original entry into the lottery I selected Married as I just assumed this would incorporate being in defacto too - I didn't even think this was going to be an issue until i saw some other post which made me starting researching all this. So because I already selected married, my partner is already on the DS260 - so our only option is to get married?

If you both want GCs. Yep. Get married.

You could delay submission for several months with no issues, so get married, then submit.
 
Hi Guys

Just a quick question in regards to Birth Certificates.

I was born in NZ, & had to get a new copy of my BC through Births, Deaths & Marriages (we couldn't find my original one). I received my new copy today, & it has a "Official Seal" stating that it was issued/authenticated from Births, Deaths & Marriages in New Zealand. However, I do remember seeing somewhere that a "Notary" copy is also required. Would this mean I'd need to get my birth certificate notarised elsewhere, or would this be considered sufficient for the documents for my interview (likely early next year - Case OC07xx).

This may be more a specific question for any NZ selectees in regards to the birth certificates they are/have used for their interviews.

Cheers
 
If you both want GCs. Yep. Get married.

You could delay submission for several months with no issues, so get married, then submit.

Ok, got it :D

Just curious, is there any difference in getting married after submitting the DS260 form but do it before the interview? As in, I'm assuming it'd go through the AP process anyway, but would it be of any greater advantage to get married before submitting the form? Will this "look better" in the eyes of the US consulate.

Only reason I ask is because we're due to have baby in a few months and am unsure if getting married is something we'd be able to do before the baby arrives. In our state we have to submit an intention to marry at least 1 month and 1 day prior to wanting to getting married and then it's a case of getting an appointment at the registry office to actually get married. So I'm doubting that would happen before August when the baby arrives. Then obviously, we are going to be preoccupied with dealing with becoming first time parents for a little bit! It's something we may not be able to get done until towards the end of the year and I'd want to submit our DS260 form before then.

What would you advise?
 
Ok, got it :D

Just curious, is there any difference in getting married after submitting the DS260 form but do it before the interview? As in, I'm assuming it'd go through the AP process anyway, but would it be of any greater advantage to get married before submitting the form? Will this "look better" in the eyes of the US consulate.

Only reason I ask is because we're due to have baby in a few months and am unsure if getting married is something we'd be able to do before the baby arrives. In our state we have to submit an intention to marry at least 1 month and 1 day prior to wanting to getting married and then it's a case of getting an appointment at the registry office to actually get married. So I'm doubting that would happen before August when the baby arrives. Then obviously, we are going to be preoccupied with dealing with becoming first time parents for a little bit! It's something we may not be able to get done until towards the end of the year and I'd want to submit our DS260 form before then.

What would you advise?

If you submit before you get married, then when you get married you need to resubmit the form - unlock , edit yourself as married, and add your spouse's DS. Either way you need a DS form that lists you as married, and one for your spouse. And the baby will need one too if it arrives before interview. I may be repeating what you know and if so apologies for that, but from your question it's not clear you realize this.
 
If you submit before you get married, then when you get married you need to resubmit the form - unlock , edit yourself as married, and add your spouse's DS. Either way you need a DS form that lists you as married, and one for your spouse. And the baby will need one too if it arrives before interview. I may be repeating what you know and if so apologies for that, but from your question it's not clear you realize this.
Hey SusieQ!

I already entered we were married on the original entry so there is already a form for myself as well as my partner to be completed. Being in a defacto relationship for so long I thought the US viewed defacto as having the same legal rights as a married couple, like they do here in Aust. But I'm now finding out how totally wrong I was lol.

Yes, I've read that I would have to then add the baby once she arrives in August. Would it be easier to wait till after she's born to submit the form or is it fairly easy to have it unlocked to add her on? Or is waiting that long pushing it in terms of when I should have the DS260 submitted by?
 
Hey SusieQ!

I already entered we were married on the original entry so there is already a form for myself as well as my partner to be completed. Being in a defacto relationship for so long I thought the US viewed defacto as having the same legal rights as a married couple, like they do here in Aust. But I'm now finding out how totally wrong I was lol.

Yes, I've read that I would have to then add the baby once she arrives in August. Would it be easier to wait till after she's born to submit the form or is it fairly easy to have it unlocked to add her on? Or is waiting that long pushing it in terms of when I should have the DS260 submitted by?


Hey Carolineelle
I'm not sure but from what I know if you entered your partners details and you guys aren't married yet, that would probably make your entry invalid (As in the orignial DV form).
 
Hey Carolineelle
I'm not sure but from what I know if you entered your partners details and you guys aren't married yet, that would probably make your entry invalid (As in the orignial DV form).

No, although it's not correctly entered it's not a certain denial. We've seen these cases be approved before. If however you have a dependent when you enter and leave them off, that is a certain denial.
 
@san92 @SusieQQQ Yes, we are still going to give it a crack and hope it goes the same way as @cj27 and @bazsouthafrica who did the same thing and ended up with Greencards. I'd rather give it a try and have them deny the greencard instead of me wondering if we could've got it if we had tried. We definitely have all the evidence to back up a defacto relationship for the past 17 years.

No dependent at the time of the entry but will definitely be one shortly! Will waiting until September to submit the DS260 be too late?
 
@san92 @SusieQQQ Yes, we are still going to give it a crack and hope it goes the same way as @cj27 and @bazsouthafrica who did the same thing and ended up with Greencards. I'd rather give it a try and have them deny the greencard instead of me wondering if we could've got it if we had tried. We definitely have all the evidence to back up a defacto relationship for the past 17 years.

No dependent at the time of the entry but will definitely be one shortly! Will waiting until September to submit the DS260 be too late?


That's great. I hope it works out for you :)

And no September submission won't be late.
I myself got selected last year as well and only submitted my DS260 in March this year. And I got my 2nl on April 25th and my interview scheduled for 7th June.
So your number of 9xx shouldn't be a problem :)

I also got selected this year with my case number being 10xx. Will see how this interview goes. If all goes well then I won't need to pursue this year and if not I'll try again :)
 
That's great. I hope it works out for you :)

And no September submission won't be late.
I myself got selected last year as well and only submitted my DS260 in March this year. And I got my 2nl on April 25th and my interview scheduled for 7th June.
So your number of 9xx shouldn't be a problem :)

I also got selected this year with my case number being 10xx. Will see how this interview goes. If all goes well then I won't need to pursue this year and if not I'll try again :)

I didn't realise there was such an overlap between each year of lottery - I assumed one year of interviews would be completed before the next lottery even starts!

Congrats! Hope your interview goes smoothly - you'll have to let us all know how it goes :)
 
Ok, got it :D

Just curious, is there any difference in getting married after submitting the DS260 form but do it before the interview? As in, I'm assuming it'd go through the AP process anyway, but would it be of any greater advantage to get married before submitting the form? Will this "look better" in the eyes of the US consulate.

Only reason I ask is because we're due to have baby in a few months and am unsure if getting married is something we'd be able to do before the baby arrives. In our state we have to submit an intention to marry at least 1 month and 1 day prior to wanting to getting married and then it's a case of getting an appointment at the registry office to actually get married. So I'm doubting that would happen before August when the baby arrives. Then obviously, we are going to be preoccupied with dealing with becoming first time parents for a little bit! It's something we may not be able to get done until towards the end of the year and I'd want to submit our DS260 form before then.

What would you advise?

The difference between submitting before getting married and after getting married is your wedding date. I believe the form requires the date and place of marriage. Putting a date for a marriage that hasn't taken place would be a lie.
 
Hey SusieQ!

I already entered we were married on the original entry so there is already a form for myself as well as my partner to be completed. Being in a defacto relationship for so long I thought the US viewed defacto as having the same legal rights as a married couple, like they do here in Aust. But I'm now finding out how totally wrong I was lol.

Yes, I've read that I would have to then add the baby once she arrives in August. Would it be easier to wait till after she's born to submit the form or is it fairly easy to have it unlocked to add her on? Or is waiting that long pushing it in terms of when I should have the DS260 submitted by?

You are not going to have more time on your hands after the baby is born.

Book the wedding for asap (after 17 years - there is no reason to wait huh!), get it done, then submit. Really. Just do that.
 
You are not going to have more time on your hands after the baby is born.

Book the wedding for asap (after 17 years - there is no reason to wait huh!), get it done, then submit. Really. Just do that.

Indeed, in fact a lot less in terms of flexibility...
How long does it take to book an appointment or two, anyway.

Also, thankfully it's not a deal breaker in this case as it is in some others, but I've lost track of the number of times we see people posting "I thought...." instead of actually reading the instructions...
 
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