Bula @Britsimon
Would you suggest I follow up since I haven’t heard anything today?
I know there was a public holiday yesterday which might be the reason for delay another day
Thanks
DV 2023 Oceania Winners
- Thread starter Sil2022
- Start date
Would you suggest I follow up since I haven’t heard anything today?
I know there was a public holiday yesterday which might be the reason for delay another day
Thanks
Sm1smom
Super Moderator
This is actually still “today” as in Monday in the US. That will probably explain why you’re yet to hear back from the embassy.
Sydney_gal
New Member
Hi fellow OC slectees, I just wanted to share my experience going through the Sydney consulate today. I was successful, but it wasn't without a lot of convincing from my end, let me explain why.
For reference, I'm an Australian, with Australia as my country of birth, my wife is also an Australian citizen.
Now we had heard of many people saying that it is an easy interview process in Sydney, however, because my wife and I only got married in August, we got hammered HARD by the interviewer.
We provided proof of relationship including: joint bills, previous travel itineraries, photos of our life together, wedding photos, wedding invite, etc but the interviewer absolutely bombarded us for 30 minutes with questions about why we got married so close to the visa date if we had been together for years. (For reference, the dv winners who had interviews before us took maximum 15 minutes).
We did make it clear it wasn't a shotgun wedding by any means, but that didn't seem to matter.
This I found quite surprising as I thought all my documents and evidence would be sufficient proof, but the interviewer kept asking why we hadn't got married prior to applying for the dv lottery in 2021 and just apply together.
I explained that we had no intention of getting married simply for the dv lottery, so we weren't going to get married just so we could apply together, and secondly 2021 was still very much in "covid times" and were never going to get married without interstate family able to come. We were questioned separately at times as well, obviously to see if our stories aligned.
Anyway, after a huge amount of back and forward, and upon checking all our other documents he said "So I'm going to approve your visas". And that was that.
He also quizzed us on how my wife and I met, which I provided proof and photographs of, and also quizzed us on the wedding (where was it held, who was there, who was the flower girl, etc).
In terms of documents required: we needed to provide passports, birth certificates, latest degree (didn't need high school certificate because I showed my university degree), marriage certificate, police certificates, and ds260 barcode pages.
No i134 or any financial documents were asked, (although I had them on me), we were only asked what my wife and I were planning on doing for work once we arrived in the US.
The interviewer also asked for proof of work as well (I'm a writer so lucky I had some copies of my published work in my documents file, which the interviewer analysed).
Additionally, my family (parents included) live overseas and the interviewer asked why they moved overseas, when they moved, and how my parents met. (why was this relevant I have no clue).
So yes, this is a word of warning to anyone in OC who is getting interviewed having recently gotten married, apparently that is a major red flag and you may get quizzed for extended periods of time about it.
For reference, I'm an Australian, with Australia as my country of birth, my wife is also an Australian citizen.
Now we had heard of many people saying that it is an easy interview process in Sydney, however, because my wife and I only got married in August, we got hammered HARD by the interviewer.
We provided proof of relationship including: joint bills, previous travel itineraries, photos of our life together, wedding photos, wedding invite, etc but the interviewer absolutely bombarded us for 30 minutes with questions about why we got married so close to the visa date if we had been together for years. (For reference, the dv winners who had interviews before us took maximum 15 minutes).
We did make it clear it wasn't a shotgun wedding by any means, but that didn't seem to matter.
This I found quite surprising as I thought all my documents and evidence would be sufficient proof, but the interviewer kept asking why we hadn't got married prior to applying for the dv lottery in 2021 and just apply together.
I explained that we had no intention of getting married simply for the dv lottery, so we weren't going to get married just so we could apply together, and secondly 2021 was still very much in "covid times" and were never going to get married without interstate family able to come. We were questioned separately at times as well, obviously to see if our stories aligned.
Anyway, after a huge amount of back and forward, and upon checking all our other documents he said "So I'm going to approve your visas". And that was that.
He also quizzed us on how my wife and I met, which I provided proof and photographs of, and also quizzed us on the wedding (where was it held, who was there, who was the flower girl, etc).
In terms of documents required: we needed to provide passports, birth certificates, latest degree (didn't need high school certificate because I showed my university degree), marriage certificate, police certificates, and ds260 barcode pages.
No i134 or any financial documents were asked, (although I had them on me), we were only asked what my wife and I were planning on doing for work once we arrived in the US.
The interviewer also asked for proof of work as well (I'm a writer so lucky I had some copies of my published work in my documents file, which the interviewer analysed).
Additionally, my family (parents included) live overseas and the interviewer asked why they moved overseas, when they moved, and how my parents met. (why was this relevant I have no clue).
So yes, this is a word of warning to anyone in OC who is getting interviewed having recently gotten married, apparently that is a major red flag and you may get quizzed for extended periods of time about it.
Thanks for the info and congratulations on your approval! Did they give any indication of visa availability/hitting the cap?
Sydney_gal
New Member
No mention of it, but my interview was in the morning... So may have not hit the cap yet? But at no point was it mentioned to me or any of the fellow dv applicants there.
Sharonfiji
New Member
We had our interview last month, now nervously waiting to hear from the Embassy.
Britsimon
Super Moderator
The cap hasn't been hit yet.
Sharonfiji
New Member
Any update on how many Visas are available? Will we reach cap soon?
Britsimon
Super Moderator
The cap will probably be reached tomorrow - but that is taking into account an estimation of AOS cases. If we don't count AOS (because DoS have some "plausible deniability" about those visas issued, then we might get to Friday before the cap is hit for CP only.
Then the question is, will KCC honor the remaining interviews set for September, and clear some more 221g cases - and no one has any certain knowledge about that.
Britsimon
Super Moderator
Looks like it's ended.
DV2023 visas exhausted
Sadly, it looks like the government are stopping all issuances for the DV2023 program. All the visas are issued, they have actually exceeded the cap by about the same as last year – it will b…
britsimonsays.com
megdavidson26
Active Member
Congratulations!!!
congrats dear
im still waiting to hear from embassy.
my interview date was 10th august, 2023
keeping fingers crossed
We are in the same boat. Our Interview was in mid-August.
All went well and the embassy kept the passports and advised they'll contact in early Sept when the visas are made available.
Now that DOS has stopped issuing visas, not sure what that means for our case.
Have you checked your visa status at https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx ? If it says issued then you should be good. If it says AP you might get lucky. If it says Ready or anything else you might be out of luck. Wishing you all the best.
Congratulations. Auckland Consulate really impressed me. I interviewed in August but wasn’t current until Sept so I emailed them a very polite reminder on the last day of August and voiced my concern that we were close to the 55,000 cap. They replied saying they would try to issue my visa first thing on the 1st Sept and they did.
Congratulations!!! My family won 2024OC23xx and fingers crossed.
Personally I think KCC stuffed up this year by keeping Oceania at 1650 for so many months then going to 2500 right at the last minute causing a huge panic/rush. Hopefully for the 2024 year they will make cases up to 2500 current a little earlier which will give you a less stressful experience haha. Wishing you all the best.