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DV 2021 Oceania Selectees

Sophia89 said:
Hi Susie,

I've been following this forum for over a year now and have come across all of your great advice. I also have some questions about new immigration that I'm hoping you would be able to assist with?

I have a connecting flight from LAX, so I presume I do the interview when I arrive at LAX and should allow for enough time before my connecting flight departs?

I checked the box for my green card to be delivered, that address has since changed, do I contact the Embassy prior to my departure or I can update a new address when I arrive?

Once arrived in the US are there any restrictions and timelines as to how soon you can travel internationally for a holiday?

I am currently due to arrive 3 days prior to my visa entry expiry, would this cause any issues, or its fine to enter right up until the expiry date?

Thanks so much!
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Please number questions when you ask more than one.

1. Yes. Someone recently reported going through the process very fast at LAX but that is extremely unusual. I would leave at least two hours between connecting flights, longer if you have to change terminals.

2. update it at POE.

3. No restrictions on how soon you can leave, but restrictions exist on how long you can be gone for and still maintain your green card (holidays are fine).

4. You can enter up to the last day of validity of the visa. Personally I wouldn’t cut it quite as fine as you are planning to, because problems with flight delays/cancellations/weather/etc - and added to those usual potential travel issues, now the possibility of a positive Covid test before trying to board - could all mean you might not actually get to the US in time, especially if you are traveling in a busy season when missing a flight might mean it takes days to get onto another one.
 
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Does anyone know if you can travel to the states on an ESTA while this whole thing is still going on? Goh plaintiff dying to meet my new niece!
 
OC2USA said:
We arrived!

Just thought we’d update others on the arrival process as we arrived this week. It was pretty simple.

Arrived into LAX, not sure if it was due to low arrival numbers or covid 19 but there was only one line (everyone - citizens, visa holders, tourists etc had to go to one line).

There were still a lot of counters working though. Once we got to a counter the girl took our brown envelopes, opened them and checked everything was there. We changed our address on our USCIS account weeks ago but when she checked the address it was the old one, so she updated it to the new one. Lucky she asked and checked. They took our photo but no fingerprints (however we did provide them several times at the consulate interview).

That was it, she said welcome to the US, explained that our green card should arrive within 90 days and if it doesn’t by then to call. Also explained that the stamped visa is proof of status for one year so use that to show proof of residency status etc. until the physical green card arrives.

the whole process from getting off the plane to getting in the Uber was about 15-20 minutes.

Now it’s just running around doing all the admin and settling in stuff plus getting over jet lag.

Thanks everyone who’s contributed on this forum as it helped through the whole process. And good luck to everyone still waiting through the lawsuits, really hope you have every success and hope you are able to get to interview and get the visa.
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Congrats on your arrival! Can you confirm a couple of things -
1. Immigration Processing Fee. Did you pay on entry or did you pay prior? If so where can you go online to pay this fee?
2. What is in the brown envelopes? Is it just the medicals and X-rays that you need to take?

Thanks and enjoy your new life in the US!
 
Aus-Usa said:
Congrats on your arrival! Can you confirm a couple of things -
1. Immigration Processing Fee. Did you pay on entry or did you pay prior? If so where can you go online to pay this fee?
2. What is in the brown envelopes? Is it just the medicals and X-rays that you need to take?

Thanks and enjoy your new life in the US!
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Hi, no worries at all:

1. We paid prior to arrival. You do it on the USCIS website, you also have the option to create an account there (but don’t have to). You’ll need the details from your visa to pay the fee/create an account. Instructions for the website etc and how to do it all will be in the email the Sydney consulate sends with the subject “Notice of issued visa” that explains the details of your visa and the fee etc.

2. We were curious too what was actually in this envelope we couldn’t open for months and had to keep safe. The Border officer opened it in front of us and all that it was were copies of our documents we’d provided (education, birth certificates, police clearance etc) and our medicals.

No idea why it’s not sent electronically or already on their system, bringing a sealed envelope seems a bit backward and weird but it’s a preview of how some things are done here.

Thanks, enjoying the new life so far. Will post an update in a few days as we’ve managed to get a rental, bank account, utilities, internet and about to get a car and also first US credit card, all without having a US credit rating or receiving our social security numbers yet. It wasn’t as a difficult as we expected and everyone we’ve dealt with has been great.
 
OC2USA said:
No idea why it’s not sent electronically or already on their system, bringing a sealed envelope seems a bit backward and weird but it’s a preview of how some things are done here.
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FYI it is actually already done electronically at many consulates (then there is just an annotation on visa noting “IV docs in CCD“) presumably sydney will catch up at some point, maybe part of the office move will be updating their systems.
 
OC2USA said:
Hi, no worries at all:

1. We paid prior to arrival. You do it on the USCIS website, you also have the option to create an account there (but don’t have to). You’ll need the details from your visa to pay the fee/create an account. Instructions for the website etc and how to do it all will be in the email the Sydney consulate sends with the subject “Notice of issued visa” that explains the details of your visa and the fee etc.

2. We were curious too what was actually in this envelope we couldn’t open for months and had to keep safe. The Border officer opened it in front of us and all that it was were copies of our documents we’d provided (education, birth certificates, police clearance etc) and our medicals.

No idea why it’s not sent electronically or already on their system, bringing a sealed envelope seems a bit backward and weird but it’s a preview of how some things are done here.

Thanks, enjoying the new life so far. Will post an update in a few days as we’ve managed to get a rental, bank account, utilities, internet and about to get a car and also first US credit card, all without having a US credit rating or receiving our social security numbers yet. It wasn’t as a difficult as we expected and everyone we’ve dealt with has been great.
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Thanks that was extremely helpful. Forgot to ask - what did you submit for your travel exemption to leave Australia? Was it just the visa in your passport and flight itinerary details or did they require more information like receipts for moving for freight and accommodation/job offers etc . Thanks!
 
Aus-Usa said:
Thanks that was extremely helpful. Forgot to ask - what did you submit for your travel exemption to leave Australia? Was it just the visa in your passport and flight itinerary details or did they require more information like receipts for moving for freight and accommodation/job offers etc . Thanks!
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Just had a look at what exactly we submitted. It was:

Statutory declaration making it clear we were leaving permanently, had a US Permanent Resident visa, must enter by expiry date, were fully vaccinated and would be staying in our current jobs but working remotely from the US. We explained how long the process had been and how much we had invested already. We attached the following documents with the statutory declaration:

1. Letter from US Consulate advising of right to reside permanently in US and that must enter before expiry.
2. Copy of Visas.
3. Confirmation of one way flights booked.
4. Confirmation of one way flights for our dogs.
5. Confirmation of storage and shipping booked.
6. Initial health insurance for 3 months coverage in US - advising we’d get normal health insurance upon arrival in US.
7. Lease agreement showing our home in Australia was going to be rented to tenants.
8. Sale contract for one of our property to fund the move.
9. Proof of Covid vaccination.
10. Confirmed air bnb booking for first 3 weeks.

We included as much as possible (probably more than required) to make sure we got approved first time as had read some stories of people not being approved. We were approved the first time. We applied on the Monday and had the exemption on the Wednesday.

With Australian borders opening for Aussies from 1 November I can’t imagine they’d be too strict on the exemptions and once you make it clear that it’s a permanent move it appears to be pretty simple. Just make sure you follow Home Affairs instructions as a lot of people had not completed the statutory declaration and that was why they didn’t get approved. I think you had to/was a requirement to mention in the statutory declaration also under what of their reasons you were using for the exemption (they had a list on the website at the time of why you could get an exemption), we mentioned the “travelling for more than 3 months” one.

Good luck!
 
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OC2USA said:
Just had a look at what exactly we submitted. It was:

Statutory declaration making it clear we were leaving permanently, had a US Permanent Resident visa, must enter by expiry date, were fully vaccinated and would be staying in our current jobs but working remotely from the US. We explained how long the process had been and how much we had invested already. We attached the following documents with the statutory declaration:

1. Letter from US Consulate advising of right to reside permanently in US and that must enter before expiry.
2. Copy of Visas.
3. Confirmation of one way flights booked.
4. Confirmation of one way flights for our dogs.
5. Confirmation of storage and shipping booked.
6. Initial health insurance for 3 months coverage in US - advising we’d get normal health insurance upon arrival in US.
7. Lease agreement showing our home in Australia was going to be rented to tenants.
8. Sale contract for one of our property to fund the move.
9. Proof of Covid vaccination.
10. Confirmed air bnb booking for first 3 weeks.

We included as much as possible (probably more than required) to make sure we got approved first time as had read some stories of people not being approved. We were approved the first time. We applied on the Monday and had the exemption on the Wednesday.

With Australian borders opening for Aussies from 1 November I can’t imagine they’d be too strict on the exemptions and once you make it clear that it’s a permanent move it appears to be pretty simple. Just make sure you follow Home Affairs instructions as a lot of people had not completed the statutory declaration and that was why they didn’t get approved. I think you had to/was a requirement to mention in the statutory declaration also under what of their reasons you were using for the exemption (they had a list on the website at the time of why you could get an exemption), we mentioned the “travelling for more than 3 months” one.

Good luck!
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Wow thanks for taking the time to supply the info. You're a We will be in LA in 1st week of Sept. Looking forward to the big move!
 
LueyG said:
Does anyone know if you can travel to the states on an ESTA while this whole thing is still going on? Goh plaintiff dying to meet my new niece!
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Yes you can, I did this several times while going through the DV process. That said, you "may" get questioned by the CBP but so long as you have a return ticket and show no indication that you will overstay your ESTA there should be no problems - I was never asked on any of my trips
 
LueyG said:
Does anyone know if you can travel to the states on an ESTA while this whole thing is still going on? Goh plaintiff dying to meet my new
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If you are going for a shorter trip soon returning to Australia, just double check our border restrictions. There is a lot of current talk about our borders opening Nov 1 and airlines announcing new flights but we still have the restrictions in place for outbound travel with no firm dates yet as to when that will lift. As of now, we need to leave for 3 months or more and for good reason or urgent matters. We were hoping to do a 2-3 week activation trip in early Dec but can't plan for this due to current restrictions in place. Have rung just about every airline and they refer me to our Gov website when I ask the question if this is achievable. Just be careful booking flights until the Gov confirms this restriction is lifted. One note also - if anyone here is looking to book Fiji Airlines Syd - LAX or return in the coming weeks/months, you will need a letter from
the Australian government to grant permission to transit through Fiji which all flights do on that leg for approximately 2-3 hours. They told me this on the phone yesterday.
 
OC2USA said:
We’re still undecided if we want to settle in Los Angeles or Orlando as we love both. So have a few weeks in LA to get everything sorted out and see what we think of living here before we make the decision.

Also for anyone taking pets over from Australia I can highly recommend Jetpets. They brought our two dogs and they did everything from start to finish, all we had to do was drop them off and pick them up.

We were pretty worried because of such a long flight (they had to fly to Brisbane first and then fly from Brisbane to LAX a few days later) but Jetpets gave us updates along the way via text, email and with photos.

They arrived Saturday were very relaxed and were clearly well looked after.
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That’s great, we have been stressing about how our cats would fair. I have spoke to jet pets and they sounded good.
 
OC2USA said:
We’re still undecided if we want to settle in Los Angeles or Orlando as we love both. So have a few weeks in LA to get everything sorted out and see what we think of living here before we make the decision.

Also for anyone taking pets over from Australia I can highly recommend Jetpets. They brought our two dogs and they did everything from start to finish, all we had to do was drop them off and pick them up.

We were pretty worried because of such a long flight (they had to fly to Brisbane first and then fly from Brisbane to LAX a few days later) but Jetpets gave us updates along the way via text, email and with photos.

They arrived Saturday were very relaxed and were clearly well looked after.
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What’s the longest you have spent in LA?

Living here is very different to visiting... I’ve lived here for 6 years and if it was easy/ had my time over… I’d run, run as far away from this place as I could. Ha ha.
 
Been here many times but only for short stays. Living anywhere is always different to visiting, it’s funny noticing how different some things are. But loving it so far, if that changes we can always move later. Only renting a house first before buying to get a taste and feel of where we want long term.
 
OC2USA said:
Been here many times but only for short stays. Living anywhere is always different to visiting, it’s funny noticing how different some things are. But loving it so far, if that changes we can always move later. Only renting a house first before buying to get a taste and feel of where we want long term.
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What neighborhood are you living in?
 
OC2USA said:
Enjoying it so far, we wanted somewhere we could have a house and a garden for the dogs. Having no commute is is a big plus also.
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Yeah, Burbank can certainly cater for that- very suburban. The no commute is the biggest win imo, I take it you are working in the area?

I think that’s the biggest mistake people make when they move to LA, you need to be close to your job or it’s going to drive you crazy…e.g., they google map their location to their job and see it’s only 20-25km but, 20-25km in LA traffic can be 2+ hours lol.
 
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