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Hi all,
CN: 2011AF0003XXXX
October 2009, entered lottery
April 2010, 1st NL
April 2010 Papers to KCC
Feb 2011 - 2nd NL received
Feb 2011 Medical in London
March 30 2011 - Interview in London
April 1st 2011 - Received passport and Immigrant visa back from the US Embassy
Well after months and months of stressing, the interview could not have been easier. I arrived at around 6:50am for my 8am appointment and was first in the queue – very eager I know but I am sure you can all relate to how anxious I was to get to that counter!
I had been stressing about the questions and whether the evidence of support was good enough and also at the last minute I read that they no longer accept our handwritten birth certificates and that they need to be the computer generated ones.
Well all that stressing wasn’t worth it as they accepted the handwritten birth certificate with no questions, but do make sure you have Police Clearances from every country you have lived in for more than six months.
I went up to the first counter where they took my fingerprints on a screen. Everyone was friendly and the first guy asked me for all my civil documents which I handed over, some they didn’t require copies of and some they did, so just take copies of everything just in case. As I said, my handwritten birth certificate was accepted with no problem, as was my certification letter showing them my bachelor’s degree. I had also managed to get a letter from my school headmaster stating that I had a high school diploma and in what year – they were happy with this and again did not ask any questions.
Now I had been quite concerned about the evidence of support, which as we all know is not mentioned on the required list of documents. I managed to get my current employer in London to write a letter stating that they have offices in the USA, as well as my recruitment agency, and also my bank statement and a letter from the bank showing at least $14000 for the Poverty Guidelines stipulation. I did not bring six months statements, only the last month. I also brought printouts from Craigslist as well as other accommodation sites so that they could see I had been doing my homework.
Well again all that stressing was not worth it as I was not asked for any of it! He simply asked me “How do you intend supporting yourself in the USA” to which I replied “I intend to get a job”. He then said “Do you have savings” and I said “Yes”. He also asked where I intend living and asked for an address to post the Green Card itself. I think it’s important to have a good idea where you want to live and state that. I wrote the address down of a friend who lives on the other side of the country to where I want to live, and they were happy with that, it does not have to be where you intend to live it would seem.
That was it! He then said that all my documents were in order and to go and pay my $819, which I had brought in US Dollars cash, they also accepted pounds as well as Visa and Mastercard payments. I went back to him and handed him the receipt and then went back into the waiting room.
So I sat there waiting for another 15 minutes or so before I got called to my next counter for the final interview with a very friendly American guy. He took my right hand fingerprints again and then I raised my right hand and took the oath stating that I would tell the truth in my interview. He congratulated me for winning the Green Card Lottery, asked me what line of work I intend doing and where I intend living. I told him and then he started telling me about the procedure after I land and getting the Green Card sent and then just said the visa was approved and told me to go and make payment at the courier counter to get my passport sent back. Well I wanted to jump over the desk and hug the guy at that point but I tried to remain as calm as I could, with a definite lump in my throat!
I paid the courier fee and was out around 9:15am, so a total of an hour and fifteen minutes after the scheduled time of the interview, but I think having been first in the queue helped with that. I have just received my passport back with the visa inside, just after 48 hours after the interview, not bad!
Cheers.
Graeme.
CN: 2011AF0003XXXX
October 2009, entered lottery
April 2010, 1st NL
April 2010 Papers to KCC
Feb 2011 - 2nd NL received
Feb 2011 Medical in London
March 30 2011 - Interview in London
April 1st 2011 - Received passport and Immigrant visa back from the US Embassy
Well after months and months of stressing, the interview could not have been easier. I arrived at around 6:50am for my 8am appointment and was first in the queue – very eager I know but I am sure you can all relate to how anxious I was to get to that counter!
I had been stressing about the questions and whether the evidence of support was good enough and also at the last minute I read that they no longer accept our handwritten birth certificates and that they need to be the computer generated ones.
Well all that stressing wasn’t worth it as they accepted the handwritten birth certificate with no questions, but do make sure you have Police Clearances from every country you have lived in for more than six months.
I went up to the first counter where they took my fingerprints on a screen. Everyone was friendly and the first guy asked me for all my civil documents which I handed over, some they didn’t require copies of and some they did, so just take copies of everything just in case. As I said, my handwritten birth certificate was accepted with no problem, as was my certification letter showing them my bachelor’s degree. I had also managed to get a letter from my school headmaster stating that I had a high school diploma and in what year – they were happy with this and again did not ask any questions.
Now I had been quite concerned about the evidence of support, which as we all know is not mentioned on the required list of documents. I managed to get my current employer in London to write a letter stating that they have offices in the USA, as well as my recruitment agency, and also my bank statement and a letter from the bank showing at least $14000 for the Poverty Guidelines stipulation. I did not bring six months statements, only the last month. I also brought printouts from Craigslist as well as other accommodation sites so that they could see I had been doing my homework.
Well again all that stressing was not worth it as I was not asked for any of it! He simply asked me “How do you intend supporting yourself in the USA” to which I replied “I intend to get a job”. He then said “Do you have savings” and I said “Yes”. He also asked where I intend living and asked for an address to post the Green Card itself. I think it’s important to have a good idea where you want to live and state that. I wrote the address down of a friend who lives on the other side of the country to where I want to live, and they were happy with that, it does not have to be where you intend to live it would seem.
That was it! He then said that all my documents were in order and to go and pay my $819, which I had brought in US Dollars cash, they also accepted pounds as well as Visa and Mastercard payments. I went back to him and handed him the receipt and then went back into the waiting room.
So I sat there waiting for another 15 minutes or so before I got called to my next counter for the final interview with a very friendly American guy. He took my right hand fingerprints again and then I raised my right hand and took the oath stating that I would tell the truth in my interview. He congratulated me for winning the Green Card Lottery, asked me what line of work I intend doing and where I intend living. I told him and then he started telling me about the procedure after I land and getting the Green Card sent and then just said the visa was approved and told me to go and make payment at the courier counter to get my passport sent back. Well I wanted to jump over the desk and hug the guy at that point but I tried to remain as calm as I could, with a definite lump in my throat!
I paid the courier fee and was out around 9:15am, so a total of an hour and fifteen minutes after the scheduled time of the interview, but I think having been first in the queue helped with that. I have just received my passport back with the visa inside, just after 48 hours after the interview, not bad!
Cheers.
Graeme.