DazFoss2022DV
New Member
No we didn't do any fingerprints on arrival. My brother-in law also said they needed to do bios to get there GC about 6yrs ago. We already have received our Social security number so it isn't for that...
DV 2022 OC Selectees
- Thread starter Melb2021
- Start date
SusieQQQ
Well-Known Member
I am 100% sure we had fingerprints/bio of some sort on arrival, maybe it was an oversight by the CBP officer who processed you. This is absolutely not normal process to require bio after entry, something definitely went wrong somewhere.
Even more surprising that your BIL, assuming he also arrived on an immigrant visa and is remembering correctly after the fact, had to do it separately at an ASC after arrival to get an initial plastic green card. The only bios normally required after entry are for replacement GCs if you lose one or if a kid turns 14, and for your citizenship application.
Hello everyone
I am here at the embassy for an 8:30 interview. Arrived at 7:45 n have been waiting in my car at the security gate. I have been advised by the security guard that we will not be seen at the said time. Asked us to waiting in the car until our names are call out. Has anyone who had their interview at Suva experienced the same??
I am here at the embassy for an 8:30 interview. Arrived at 7:45 n have been waiting in my car at the security gate. I have been advised by the security guard that we will not be seen at the said time. Asked us to waiting in the car until our names are call out. Has anyone who had their interview at Suva experienced the same??
Normally they let us in early but you still have to wait anyway. And the scheduled time didn’t seem to mean much as they took people in a seemingly random order. 9:30 people before 9am people. 8am people after 9:30 people etc. First I’ve heard of them calling names out before you’ve even gone through security though but maybe they dork have capacity right now since you are 45mins early.
It will be a long wait once inside anyway so don’t worry about when you go in
Had a 930 today. Was in n out in 30 mins with an approval!
Thanks to all the moderators and contributors here - has been really invaluable in getting this over the line. And also to the Suva embassy - unbelievable how helpful and responsive they have been.
All Aussie guys, who got approved in Suva and were asked to send passports by courier, have you sent your passports yet? If you have which company did you use and did you book it as a single transaction (to leg and return leg) or you had to book to leg first and then return leg later as a separate transaction.
Not recently I’m still waiting
All approved! The interview was similar to what everyone had last week. Just asked if we had lived anywhere other than Australia (and Japan for my wife), and if we had been in any trouble with police.
Initially they said our passports wouldn’t be ready before our flight back to the US on Wednesday and we should post them in. I said we would just wait in Fiji until the passports were ready, and she responded that they would try to have them ready for Wednesday then.
Big thanks to everyone on the forum, this has been such a crazy experience and glad to have everyone’s help! Also big thanks to the people of Fiji for accepting all of us from Australia!
Initially they said our passports wouldn’t be ready before our flight back to the US on Wednesday and we should post them in. I said we would just wait in Fiji until the passports were ready, and she responded that they would try to have them ready for Wednesday then.
Big thanks to everyone on the forum, this has been such a crazy experience and glad to have everyone’s help! Also big thanks to the people of Fiji for accepting all of us from Australia!
Getmeouttahere
Member
Fedex state on their website to contact them in this scenario. They seem to have different requirements/procedures depending on the country (see link below). The other option is to ask Australia Post, but given their track record during the pandemic, I'm not rushing to use them.
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When I went for my B1/B2 visa interview in late 2019, we had to wait at the carpark until 15 minutes before our interview time. Only then were we allowed to go and join the line to enter the embassy.
aussiechris
Member
Hello!
So I used Pack and Send. They were a DREAM to use. My friend May who was interviewing at the same time as me got me onto them. They handled it perfectly. They opted to go with DHL. We tried entering the address on the piece of paper and DHL didn't take it because of the PO box address, after we did some googling we got the address. Please find a screenshot of the address.
I was quoted $230.
Pack and Send informed me that once the passport was ready at the Embassy to inform Pack and Send who would then inform their courier in Suva to retrieve the passport from the Embassy.
They gave me a tracking number etc. So helpful. Highly recommend getting to a 'pack and send' if one is near you.
Pack and Send recommended I use their address as the return point for the passport, to avoid any issues.
Attachments
Hello BrisOC22
Thanks for replying.
After 3 hours of waiting,Got a refusal letter stating the NZ police clearance not arrived.
Stepped out of the embassy around 11:45 and received email confirming that NZ police clearance has been sent to the embassy.
I called the embassy straight away and confirmed thIs information. I was told that they have received it however it’s only for me not for my derivatives.
Well, it has been a crazy journey so far. I am just looking forward to return to Sydney.
They said if they receive the PC and a visa is available then they will request our passport to be sent to the Suva Embassy.
Did you actually have the interview or did they not let you in at all? Did you get the Suva embassy to contact Auckland embassy to request you police certificate before the interview? Sounds like Auckland is tough to deal with
Speaking about social security numbers. If we are approved and are going into US to activate but aren't planning on living there straight up and returning back to Australia. Do we need to go get our social security numbers straight up or not? Do we need them to for tax time, as will need to do that now as well.
They give you a packet that includes your medical / police cert / whatever else they put in there and its sealed and you cannot open it. So yes a physical packet you have to take with you when you head to the US
Cieletoile
Member
It's a simple enough fix, just shoot through the vetting requests for your derivatives and NZ Police Vetting should have them out soon. You'll be fine.
If you need to contact the vetting team, don't bother with the NZ Police Vetting phone number (as it leads to nowhere due to work-from-home arrangements), and they don't reply to inquiries through their contact form or the vetting requests email. Call the NZ Police non-emergency number (there's an overseas number you can access from Aus if you find it on their site) and you can ask for vetting from there.
I had to jump through the hoops because NZ Police Vetting don't issue certificates with your previous names even if you include/disclose them on the request form. I only found this out not too far from my interview. So I sent an email and a contact request for my police certificate to be reissued with my previous name, but radio silence. Few weeks later submitted a fresh vetting request in my previous name but still got nothing after weeks. Finally (in a panic) called the non-emergency line and after some time on the phone I had a notification they issued another certificate (which I had to ask Suva to fetch from AKL and double check). It's a bit of a mess, made needlessly frustrating by NZ Police's unwillingness to send individuals the certificate or refusing to forward it anywhere but the AKL consulate.
Good luck with it.
SusieQQQ
Well-Known Member
If you tick the box on ds260 saying you wanted a SSN issued, 95% or more of the time you’ll get it that way. (I’ve been in the US nearly 8 years and never visited a SS office.) there are a few cases it doesn’t happen when you’ll need to go in in person. Yes you need it for your tax return. If you activate this year your tax return will be due April 2023.
Thanks for clarifying. The slip from the embassy says some or many IV packets are transmitted electronically, so I wasn’t sure.