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DV 2020 Oceania Selectees

@Hevgibbs some people are not worth engaging with online.

@amc_556 @ExcitedAussie where I am in the Bay Area, there is both. There has been looting, vandalism etc across a number of Bay Area cities, an Oakland federal protection officer shot dead, curfews across the region etc. and there have also been widespread peaceful protests, community support and cooperation. I know friends in other major metro areas are seeing the same “both sides” take place.
 
No, when they have the inability to play the ball rather than the man. No use wasting time on random people who seem to feel they have to be nasty and condescending to make a point on the internet.

and now back to my own advice not to engage.... I’m sure there‘ll be another dumb nasty response, don’t expect it to bait me.
 
SusieQQQ said:
No, when they have the inability to play the ball rather than the man. No use wasting time on random people who seem to feel they have to be nasty and condescending to make a point on the internet.
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I agree with you. But you're directing your derogatory comments to the wrong person. I was helping members with relevant context to the situation in the US, when ol' mate decided to jump on me with their asinine opinion about how a supposed "suicide-by-cop" was not a "police shooting".

And now you're trying to blame the situation on me, when I'm simply refusing to back down from their "nasty and condescending" bullying.
 
Hi all, thought I'd provide a quick update on our situation regarding the expiration of our DV visas.
We finally heard back from Sydney consulate and they have confirmed that they are able to issue new visas as a replacement for the currently expired visas in our passport :)
Interestingly enough I believe we are able to do this right away, as there is no need to go in for an interview and it is all done by mail.
Unfortunately we still don't know if the current EO means that they will not issue the replacement visas, or if they do issue them will they be valid to enter the US later in the year.
We did ask them twice about the EO, once in the first email and again in a reply, but they have not answered the question on either occasion.
Wondering if anybody has any thoughts on the matter?
I've copied the bulk of the email that they sent us for reference.

Cheers.

*********************************************
Thank you for your recent inquiry regarding your inability to travel during the validity period of your U.S. immigrant visa due to COVID-19. Unfortunately, we are unable to extend the validity of your current visa. However, U.S. visa policy allows us to re-issue you a new immigrant visa with an extended validity date.

To re-issue your U.S. immigrant visa, we need you send us back your current visa documents along with a new visa application fee and some updated supporting documents. You may note you already provided some of these documents to us; however, your previously provided documents either have expired or will soon expire for U.S. visa purposes, so we need new ones to re-issue you a visa. Please also note that it may take several weeks or more to obtain the requested new documents, so we suggest you plan ahead to obtain them in a timely fashion, according to your desired timeframe for immigrating to the United States.

Please send us:
  1. Your passport(s) containing the immigrant visa(s)
  2. The sealed yellow visa packet(s) where applicable, you may have only received your passport if an electronic case.
  3. A new Australian Federal Police certificate as the one on file will expire on ******.
  4. A new Medical Examination form completed by a U.S. panel physician as the one on file expired. Please refer to Travel.State.Gov for information on the medical exam.
  5. A self-addressed 500g express post envelope (for electronic cases) /3kg express post envelope (for the return of the re-issued visa and visa package)
  6. Fee – total of USD $990.00, in the form of a money order or bank check (see below “Payment Options”)
  7. A signed and dated letter outlining why you were not able to enter the U.S. by the expiry date, and when you plan to immigrate to the U.S.
  8. A printed copy of this email.
*If you are applying for a re-issued visa under the FY2020 Diversity Visa Lottery program, your visa must be re-issued no later than September 2020, or you will be ineligible to immigrate to the United States. We encourage you to submit your documents for re-issuance as soon as possible (just before your current visa expires).

Finally, please note that it is not necessary to follow these procedures to submit a new fee and documents if you decide to use your current immigrant visa to travel to the United States before it expires. As per current guidelines from Australian Home Affairs, "people ordinarily resident in a country other than Australia" are exempt from current outbound travel restrictions. We have attached a letter which explains your right to reside in the United States using your U.S. immigrant visa, in case it may be useful to you as you travel.
 
That’s so great that you’re able to have it reissued! And all via mail should at least make it fairly straightforward.

In regards to the EO, we’re closing in on the 50 days ‘no later than’ period for extension of the order issued on the 22 April. In fact we’re just over a week away.

No-one outside of the WH can truly know what is going to happen. My personal opinion is the recent executive orders are about the election and gathering votes. Right now, being preoccupied with executive orders while riots continue is not winning him fans, and the riots are of far more immediate importance, particularly when it comes to looking tough on law & order which is equivalently important to his election campaign.

So my thought is the 50-day window will pass, just as the 30-day window passed for consideration of non-IVs without a fuss and the EO will expire.

I do, however, see both COVID and the riots having quite an economic effect before the election, and so I don’t doubt there will be more EOs in the future when the riots have quelled and implementing them will get him more attention.

The good thing is a visa issued now should be valid still post-election when you should have an easier time in regards to immigration attitudes and executive orders. Navigating an expiry date against when Australia’s borders will reopen might prove trickier.

But please, don’t take my word for it. I’m just as clueless as anyone.
 
amc_556 said:
That’s so great that you’re able to have it reissued! And all via mail should at least make it fairly straightforward.

In regards to the EO, we’re closing in on the 50 days ‘no later than’ period for extension of the order issued on the 22 April. In fact we’re just over a week away.

No-one outside of the WH can truly know what is going to happen. My personal opinion is the recent executive orders are about the election and gathering votes. Right now, being preoccupied with executive orders while riots continue is not winning him fans, and the riots are of far more immediate importance, particularly when it comes to looking tough on law & order which is equivalently important to his election campaign.

So my thought is the 50-day window will pass, just as the 30-day window passed for consideration of non-IVs without a fuss and the EO will expire.

I do, however, see both COVID and the riots having quite an economic effect before the election, and so I don’t doubt there will be more EOs in the future when the riots have quelled and implementing them will get him more attention.

The good thing is a visa issued now should be valid still post-election when you should have an easier time in regards to immigration attitudes and executive orders. Navigating an expiry date against when Australia’s borders will reopen might prove trickier.

But please, don’t take my word for it. I’m just as clueless as anyone.
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I'd really hope there isn't another EO after this one. Ideally we'd like to push it until late July before getting medicals done again, just based on the hope that "regular" international travel opens back up in Dec-Jan.

We do however have the letter from the consulate outlining our exemption from the Australian travel restrictions as "people ordinarily resident in a country other than Australia", so we should be able to travel during the restrictions.
 
Foley83 said:
We do however have the letter from the consulate outlining our exemption from the Australian travel restrictions as "people ordinarily resident in a country other than Australia", so we should be able to travel during the restrictions.
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If you’re planning on moving before the borders re-open, you should have no trouble.

Here’s hoping they’re open sooner rather than later.
 
I am in the same boat as Foley83. For what it is worth, the Sydney consulate told me that we are unaffected by the presidential proclamation because our initial visa was issued prior to April 23 so our replacement visa will be excepted from those restrictions.
 
That’s awesome! Glad you’ve been able to sort it out (if only they’d communicated this earlier it could have saved a lot of stress....)
 
amc_556 said:
That’s so great that you’re able to have it reissued! And all via mail should at least make it fairly straightforward.

In regards to the EO, we’re closing in on the 50 days ‘no later than’ period for extension of the order issued on the 22 April. In fact we’re just over a week away.

No-one outside of the WH can truly know what is going to happen. My personal opinion is the recent executive orders are about the election and gathering votes. Right now, being preoccupied with executive orders while riots continue is not winning him fans, and the riots are of far more immediate importance, particularly when it comes to looking tough on law & order which is equivalently important to his election campaign.

So my thought is the 50-day window will pass, just as the 30-day window passed for consideration of non-IVs without a fuss and the EO will expire.

I do, however, see both COVID and the riots having quite an economic effect before the election, and so I don’t doubt there will be more EOs in the future when the riots have quelled and implementing them will get him more attention.

The good thing is a visa issued now should be valid still post-election when you should have an easier time in regards to immigration attitudes and executive orders. Navigating an expiry date against when Australia’s borders will reopen might prove trickier.

But please, don’t take my word for it. I’m just as clueless as anyone.
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You misunderstand the 50 days part. The order can be extended at any time, and even if expired, it could be re-implemented.
 
ExcitedAussie said:
I am in the same boat as Foley83. For what it is worth, the Sydney consulate told me that we are unaffected by the presidential proclamation because our initial visa was issued prior to April 23 so our replacement visa will be excepted from those restrictions.
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This was my understanding based on the way the EO was worded. We had a valid Visa before the cut off date so technically we would not be affected.
Glad to here they confirmed that to someone, I couldn't them to answer my question.
 
Folely83 if it's any help to you I replied to the email they sent with instructions on what to do to get the visa reissued and that was how I got them to answer me.
 
Foley83 said:
This was my understanding based on the way the EO was worded. We had a valid Visa before the cut off date so technically we would not be affected.
Glad to here they confirmed that to someone, I couldn't them to answer my question.
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Interestingly, a poster on the general thread from Italy has been told that his can’t be reissued yet becasue of the EO.

Ercriniera said:
So my visa is expired, I contacted the consulate and this has been their answer...

We are currently not able to re-issue diversity visas due to the Presidential Proclamation. Please monitor our website in the future for more information.


Regards,

Naples Visa Unit
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@Britsimon any thoughts/insights? Wouldn’t be the first time consulates have done something differently, but it is rare.
 
ExcitedAussie said:
Folely83 if it's any help to you I replied to the email they sent with instructions on what to do to get the visa reissued and that was how I got them to answer me.
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Ah perhaps I didn't pester them enough. I did reply to their instructional email, as they didn't attach the letter detailing our rights to travel. But they just replied with the file attached and no information on the details of the EO :rolleyes:
 
SusieQQQ said:
Interestingly, a poster on the general thread from Italy has been told that his can’t be reissued yet becasue of the EO.



@Britsimon any thoughts/insights? Wouldn’t be the first time consulates have done something differently, but it is rare.
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The consulate may not understand the rule - but if they were to apply for the visa prior to the ban ending - they would find out. However, the ban ends in three weeks, so in practical terms a request probably would take longer than that anyway (new medical, send documents to the embassy and so on).
 
Britsimon said:
The consulate may not understand the rule - but if they were to apply for the visa prior to the ban ending - they would find out. However, the ban ends in three weeks, so in practical terms a request probably would take longer than that anyway (new medical, send documents to the embassy and so on).
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So you think Syd consulate has the correct interpretation?
Regardless I am planning on waiting until the ban has ended (if it does) before paying for medicals and visa fees again, just to be sure.
 
Foley83 said:
So you think Syd consulate has the correct interpretation?
Regardless I am planning on waiting until the ban has ended (if it does) before paying for medicals and visa fees again, just to be sure.
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No. The incorrect interpretation. And if I were you I would be delaying as late as possible without further risk, to extend the time period of entry into next year (because of the economy and tax reporting)
 
Britsimon said:
No. The incorrect interpretation. And if I were you I would be delaying as late as possible without further risk, to extend the time period of entry into next year (because of the economy and tax reporting)
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Yep I'd like to delay it as much as possible, but I feel going past early August with the medical may be pushing it.
I'm assuming they will have their hands full if this ban is lifted and leaving it to the last minute may not help.
 
Foley83 said:
Yep I'd like to delay it as much as possible, but I feel going past early August with the medical may be pushing it.
I'm assuming they will have their hands full if this ban is lifted and leaving it to the last minute may not help.
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AUS and NZ won't have their hands full.
 
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