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DV 2021 Oceania Selectees

brah99 said:
I have a UK permanent residency card - I'll let them know that I have no plans to come back. Sydney has told me they're willing to forward the visa file as soon as they receive a formal request but London has still not replied to the online form I sent.
London is at OC3300 which makes me wish I'd gone there sooner
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I think people misunderstand the highest cases at each embassy. Just because London is at OC3300 does not mean that any OC case under 3300 would have been scheduled. Scheduling is based on the date the case became DQ, NOT the case number. Case numbers drive the order of processing, but when backlog is low (for example at the beginning of the year), higher case numbers can make it through processing, and then give the impression that the embassy has handled all cases to that number, which is not the case.
 
brah99 said:
I have a UK permanent residency card - I'll let them know that I have no plans to come back. Sydney has told me they're willing to forward the visa file as soon as they receive a formal request but London has still not replied to the online form I sent.
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So this is just speculation on my part, and assuming london is not just being slow - September is one week away and given that immigrant visa interview appointments tend to be made 1-3 months in advance, they likely have no available slots in September and are not willing to take your case without a slot to give you. You may get a short notice call if they get a cancellation so be ready to move fast if need be.
 
Britsimon said:
I think people misunderstand the highest cases at each embassy. Just because London is at OC3300 does not mean that any OC case under 3300 would have been scheduled. Scheduling is based on the date the case became DQ, NOT the case number. Case numbers drive the order of processing, but when backlog is low (for example at the beginning of the year), higher case numbers can make it through processing, and then give the impression that the embassy has handled all cases to that number, which is not the case.
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I became DQ at the start of September 2020 so I probably would have still gotten it :(

SusieQQQ said:
So this is just speculation on my part, and assuming london is not just being slow - September is one week away and given that immigrant visa interview appointments tend to be made 1-3 months in advance, they likely have no available slots in September and are not willing to take your case without a slot to give you. You may get a short notice call if they get a cancellation so be ready to move fast if need be.
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I really hope that's the case. I'm willing to fire sale everything I own and be on the next flight out of here if they can find me a slot in September. I wish they would tell me if that was the case though - right now I don't even know if they've seen my form.
 
For anyone in Australia applying for the travel exemption to leave the country.

We applied Monday night and received our approval Wednesday morning. It was pretty simple, just follow the details on the home affairs website. We provided a Statutory Declaration each, the letter from the US Consulate and supporting documentation (One way flights booked, flights for pets booked, accommodation, property for sale, property for lease, insurance, shipping confirmation, covid vaccination certificate etc.) and just made it clear in the Stat Dec that we were leaving permanently.

Good luck to everyone with their move.
 
brah99 said:
I have a UK permanent residency card - I'll let them know that I have no plans to come back. Sydney has told me they're willing to forward the visa file as soon as they receive a formal request but London has still not replied to the online form I sent.
London is at OC3300 which makes me wish I'd gone there sooner
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Ahhhh well that makes sense! I'd say, however, it's likely too late to be able to get an appt in London (since 2nls for Sep would have all gone out by now). That's probably why they haven't replied. By all means, follow up with another email (and include URGENT in your subject heading). Good luck though! Let us know if you hear anything :)
 
Just got a reply to my online form submission from the US embassy in London along with the original submission - any ideas?
 

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brah99 said:
Just got a reply to my online form submission from the US embassy in London along with the original submission - any ideas?
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I guess you're back to square one. And like the rest of us will have to wait to see if the lawsuit helps preserves visas for DV2021..
 
brah99 said:
Just got a reply to my online form submission from the US embassy in London along with the original submission - any ideas?
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Oh bummer mate. Yeah, like @AusJess27 said, we can only really hold onto the hope that one of the DV2021 lawsuits will have success and allow for non-plaintiffs to process. But all we can do is wait on that...
Unless you can somehow convince the Sydney consulate that you have an urgent matter to attend to in the US so you need the DV interview to happen (although they don't usually offer emergency interviews to Immigrant Visas) :(
 
OC2USA said:
For anyone in Australia applying for the travel exemption to leave the country.

We applied Monday night and received our approval Wednesday morning. It was pretty simple, just follow the details on the home affairs website. We provided a Statutory Declaration each, the letter from the US Consulate and supporting documentation (One way flights booked, flights for pets booked, accommodation, property for sale, property for lease, insurance, shipping confirmation, covid vaccination certificate etc.) and just made it clear in the Stat Dec that we were leaving permanently.

Good luck to everyone with their move.
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Congrats on the exemption. In regards to the letter from the consulate, did you request one from the consulate to state you were successful in gaining a green card? Or did you send in your interview confirmation letter?
 
Aus-Usa said:
Congrats on the exemption. In regards to the letter from the consulate, did you request one from the consulate to state you were successful in gaining a green card? Or did you send in your interview confirmation letter?
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When we received our visas and pack from the consulate it included a letter (we didn’t ask for it) that specifically addresses the outbound travel restrictions in Australia and explains that we have immigrant visas, what that means, that we went through a long process, the rights it provides and that we must enter by the expiration date etc.
 
Britsimon said:
Contact KCC. Refer to your DQ date - that should get you prioritized - it really does work that way.
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Thanks, appreciate your help - just sent them a follow-up to my last email (sent last Wednesday) which they still haven't replied to. Hopefully they'll reply before the end of FY2021 lol - this time I changed the email priority to urgent and put urgent in the subject line.
 
kimpolley said:
I was hoping the US Embassy in Sydney would give us an update on rescheduled interviews? Wishful thinking
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Did you reach out to them again? I agree, it would be nice to hear from them but i wasn't hopeful given the lockdown was extended to the cut off date and i doubt their stance on the stay at home orders has changed.. Or if the judge orders the DV2021 visas to be mission critical before the cut off Syd might schedule them as emergency appts, who knows...
 
Hi guys, just to a question, if I am lets say traveling to the states this coming Thursday", any idea when I should get my pre-departure covid test done? I read online that it should be three days prior to departure. I was thinking Monday but my travel agent said I should get it on Tuesday.
 
Jake21 said:
Hi guys, just to a question, if I am lets say traveling to the states this coming Thursday", any idea when I should get my pre-departure covid test done? I read online that it should be three days prior to departure. I was thinking Monday but my travel agent said I should get it on Tuesday.
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The CDC has details on their web page about this. If you’re flying on Thursday, Monday will be fine as it’s 3 days, not 72 hours.

Depending which airline, some have it clear on their details with your flight ticket/on your booking. For example we fly on a Thursday too and our flight details state we can have the test anytime from the Monday onwards.

The CDC provides the below example, stating if flying on a Friday the test can be anytime on the Tuesday and after.


CDC FAQ ON FLIGHTS TO US
Why does the Order specify 3 days rather than 72 hours? What is considered 3 days? The 3-day period is the 3 days before the flight’s departure. The Order uses a 3-day timeframe instead of 72 hours to provide more flexibility to the traveler. By using a 3-day window, test validity does not depend on the time of the flight or the time of day that the test was administered.

For example, if a passenger’s flight is at 1pm on a Friday, the passenger could board with a negative test that was taken any time on the prior Tuesday or after.

Hope that helps.
 
Jake21 said:
Hi guys, just to a question, if I am lets say traveling to the states this coming Thursday", any idea when I should get my pre-departure covid test done? I read online that it should be three days prior to departure. I was thinking Monday but my travel agent said I should get it on Tuesday.
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I flew to USA in Dec 2020 - I think from memory I had the test either Thrus or Friday and then flew out Sunday PM. You've just got to make sure your doctor knows you are flying out and will get your results to you in time. I just had a free test done and received a text and showed the airport staff (along with my job documents). I was later told when I was in America (flying out to another country) that I should have gotten a travel covid test in NZ - which is just the same as a normal test except they make you pay $150+ for a stupid piece of paper - total money grab lol.
 
Missystar said:
I flew to USA in Dec 2020 - I think from memory I had the test either Thrus or Friday and then flew out Sunday PM. You've just got to make sure your doctor knows you are flying out and will get your results to you in time. I just had a free test done and received a text and showed the airport staff (along with my job documents). I was later told when I was in America (flying out to another country) that I should have gotten a travel covid test in NZ - which is just the same as a normal test except they make you pay $150+ for a stupid piece of paper - total money grab lol.
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Not to detract from what you said, but the current CDC requirement only came in on Jan 12 2021 so not sure that experience is necessarily informative for now (unless you got your date wrong?)


OC2USA said:
CDC FAQ ON FLIGHTS TO US
Why does the Order specify 3 days rather than 72 hours? What is considered 3 days? The 3-day period is the 3 days before the flight’s departure. The Order uses a 3-day timeframe instead of 72 hours to provide more flexibility to the traveler. By using a 3-day window, test validity does not depend on the time of the flight or the time of day that the test was administered.

For example, if a passenger’s flight is at 1pm on a Friday, the passenger could board with a negative test that was taken any time on the prior Tuesday or after.
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FYI the above is from this page on CDC https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html

regarding the type of test - they go on in that link to state what kind of tests are acceptable (it’s quite a wide range, and does include certain types of self-tests as well - does not need to be done via a doctor)
 
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