• 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 2021 ALL SELECTEES

TheWitches said:
I was selected for DV2021 and I just received my interview date, it is in mid April. I live in New Zealand. If they decide to issue me a visa what I am wondering about is, will the immigration visa stamp in my passport be valid for only 6 months, or is there any way to apply to extend that? The borders in NZ are closed, and if I travel to the US to activate the visa, then come back while I get ready to really immigrate then I will have to go into quarantine for two weeks which will cost me $3000 plus money lost from income in that time as well.
Click to expand...

The expiry date is linked to your medical so usually a bit less than 6 months. No, it cannot be extended, and even the risky route of allowing it to expire & ask for a reissue (not guaranteed at all) wouldn’t work in your case as it would go past fiscal year end = they cannot reissue in the next fiscal year.
Your best option might be to wait till closer to the visa expiry to activate and hope that borders are more open there or quarantine gone. What is NZ’s vaccine rollout plan? Or as noted above, wrap up in 6 months if you can and just go for good.
 
TheKey said:
Is it not possible to wrap things up before that 6 month period lapses? Then travel to the USA without needing to return to NZ? That’s one alternative. Your visa COULD get renewed (before 30 September though) but with the backlog at embassies, I wouldn’t risk it.
Click to expand...
They won’t “renew” an unexpired visa.
 
Hi SusieQQQ, I have a birth certificate where my first name was different than what i officially use. Will that cause a problem. Do you have any suggestions on how i can overcome any potential issues
 
wskamel said:
Thanks , We have lower case number , i have also emailed them , hopefully hear soon from them and update here
Click to expand...
Let me know if you hear anything. Not many winners going with MTL I don't think so finding info is hard!
 
poetmj said:
Hi SusieQQQ, I have a birth certificate where my first name was different than what i officially use. Will that cause a problem. Do you have any suggestions on how i can overcome any potential issues
Click to expand...
Did you list it in “other names” in the DS260? If all your other docs are obviously same person (last name, DoB etc) it will probably be ok. They may ask you to explain it.
 
puda said:
Let me know if you hear anything. Not many winners going with MTL I don't think so finding info is hard!
Click to expand...
According to their website they are prioritizing visas for family of USCs but they may not specify DV just because so few there. Directly asking them is probably the best way to find out.

The U.S. Consulate General in Montreal is processing immigrant visas and will prioritize Immediate Relative family members of U.S. citizens including intercountry adoptions, fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens, and certain Special Immigrant Visa applications, as well as other mission critical categories such as medical professionals.

 
Thanks , I have already asked them 1 week ago , and no response yet . Normally there is only few DV applicants , so shouldn't be hard to absorb them , however because we don't know if they will i was hoping to find the lowest case number applying to see if they started working on DV or not .
 
wskamel said:
Thanks , I have already asked them 1 week ago , and no response yet . Normally there is only few DV applicants , so shouldn't be hard to absorb them , however because we don't know if they will i was hoping to find the lowest case number applying to see if they started working on DV or not .
Click to expand...
Montreal is an incredibly busy consulate for immigrant visas. In normal times it has one of the longest wait times for immigrant visas to get scheduled. Yes you can say there are only a few DV visas but it’s a few added onto a huge caseload. You may well find that there just isn’t anything available before what would be the next regular DV slot, as opposed to some other embassies that seem able to fit DVs in quickly.
 
SusieQQQ said:
The expiry date is linked to your medical so usually a bit less than 6 months. No, it cannot be extended, and even the risky route of allowing it to expire & ask for a reissue (not guaranteed at all) wouldn’t work in your case as it would go past fiscal year end = they cannot reissue in the next fiscal year.
Your best option might be to wait till closer to the visa expiry to activate and hope that borders are more open there or quarantine gone. What is NZ’s vaccine rollout plan? Or as noted above, wrap up in 6 months if you can and just go for good.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your response. That's what I'll have to do!
 
Montreal is an incredibly busy consulate for immigrant visas. In normal times it has one of the longest wait times for immigrant visas to get scheduled. Yes you can say there are only a few DV visas but it’s a few added onto a huge caseload. You may well find that there just isn’t anything available before what would be the next regular DV slot, as opposed to some other embassies that seem able to fit DVs in quickly.
Click to expand...
A lawyer told me it was the busiest in the world indeed! That was 2 years ago. No idea if that's still accurate but I would assume so. Let's wait and see...! I have no idea how many DV2020 they processed (if any).
 
SusieQQQ said:
Don’t reschedule if at all possible (some embassies will not allow entry without the medical however, though I think that usually applies more to some AF countries). Rather attend the interview and send the documents afterwards to the embassy when you have them. It can be really hard at some embassies to get a rescheduled appointment even in a normal year and especially now, I would try at all costs to keep one that is already made.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I do understand they are not likely to reschedule in this situation. I will ask them about this case right after I go back to my country.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top