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No highschool Diploma but work experience.

MCG

New Member
Hello everyone,

I have a few questions that I was hoping I could get some assistance with, as I have spent countless hours reading the rules for entering the DV-Lottery and unfortunately could not find an answer online.

1.

I don’t have a highschool diploma, as I left to work straight after my 10th grade, in which I came out with great grades (11 years of school including grade 0 which comes right before 1st grade).
I’ve been working since I was 13 as a waitress as well as many other jobs (sale, bartending, office work), but 95% of the time it was in the hospitality business as I have 19 years of experience.
I know that waitressing is certainly not the same in the U.S. as here in Denmark, unfortunately, as I have both worked at Michelin starred restaurants, worked at restaurants were we could host 730 guests at a time, etc.
The education of becoming a waiter/waitress in Denmark takes 4 years of study, but on the *O Net database it doesn’t count as it’s only a jobzone 1 and SVP under 4.
I was wondering if there’s another job title that, it could be accepted under?

2.
I graduated as an Actress after 2 years of studying from the most prestigious acting school there is, in New York, they told me they would be considered as a Vocational School, now I see that, that too isn’t sufficient, or can I combine that with my work experience, to make up for not having a highschool diploma?

My work as an actress (which I have the required years of experience with) is not more than the required job zone 7, but writer is. I do write, but I have more experience with acting.
However, the entire description of writer, fits more to what I do when I prepare for a role, research for character, etc. Than the one of a writer.

In 2016 I applied for the O-1 Visa (unfortunately the lawyer I had, was a scam, so that did not go through) however, I still have all the letters of recommendation from producers, actors, directors, casting directors from the industry that I have worked with, as well as proof and pay stubs that I have and still are working as an actress both in DK and in the U.S.
I think there is about 130 pages. Could I bring those to the interview along with the description of the writer occupation (as writer has an SVP of 7-8) as a description of what I do as an actress? And would that be accepted to be eligible to apply for the DV-Lottery?

Thank you very much for your time.
Have a great day. :)
 
Yes really, you mentioned you weren't a lawyer right? Or am I mistaken? I wanted to see if other people have been in the same situation as I, and I found this website where there are many people who have been there or are in a similar situation. I have read the rules from the .gov websites for many hours, and it's still not clear to me. I just tried calling the Embassy but they couldn't give an answer at all. Just because one person says no, doesn't mean I give up.
 
Simon may not be a lawyer like you rightly noted, however I'm in complete agreement with his responses regarding your case. And yes, I'm not a lawyer either.

If you're seeking a legal opinion, you're in the wrong forum. Everyone that posts here, including Simon who happens to be a moderator in this forum (in addition to having and operating his personal blog), isn't a lawyer.
 
You don't qualify through education, and you don't qualify through work experience.

A writer is job level 4, but you would need to provide evidence of employment in that field and published works. Do you have anything that could support you qualifying as a writer? I'm really sorry but it doesn't sound like the DV is the right fit for you. Also, O1 is for "extraordinary ability".
 
I understand that and I am not looking for legal opinion, I found this website and read how so many people loved it, as they get so many different opinions, and as I mentioned, perhaps others have been in a similar situation and could give me an idea of what they went through. I wouldn't think that asking others, beside from Simon's opinion (as I thanked him for on his thread) would be a bad idea. Often someone says something and then someone else says another thing, and from there you can figure out your next step. So the reason why I asked if he was a lawyer or not, was that, he may have a lot of experience in this but he is still not giving me a legal advice and therefore I think asking around is a good idea.
 
Hi Wingpin,

As a writer I don't no, maybe you are right, just checking if anyone else had tried this situation themselves. I am aware of the O-1 thank you :)
 
I understand that and I am not looking for legal opinion, I found this website and read how so many people loved it, as they get so many different opinions, and as I mentioned, perhaps others have been in a similar situation and could give me an idea of what they went through. I wouldn't think that asking others, beside from Simon's opinion (as I thanked him for on his thread) would be a bad idea. Often someone says something and then someone else says another thing, and from there you can figure out your next step. So the reason why I asked if he was a lawyer or not, was that, he may have a lot of experience in this but he is still not giving me a legal advice and therefore I think asking around is a good idea.

Yup, if you want legal advice you'll need to pay a lawyer. "Asking around" on the net isn't going to get you any legal advice worth any more than the zero $$ you're paying for it....

However...

If you want info based on a lot of experience guiding people through the process, Simon's blog is the way to go.
 
I am still not looking for legal advice as I wrote several times now :)
Ok, thank you for that.
I didn't know about Simon's blog until I posted a question. Which is why I started this thread, ain't nothing wrong with asking around :)
 
I am still not looking for legal advice as I wrote several times now :)
Ok, thank you for that.
I didn't know about Simon's blog until I posted a question. Which is why I started this thread, ain't nothing wrong with asking around :)
Yes, you are looking for folks confirming their eligibility through work experience under comparable circumstances. We get that. Unfortunately, it is highly unlikely to find this, here or otherwise, as the personal circumstances you describe do not make you eligible to successfully complete DV processing, should you be selected in the lottery. Sorry for the bad news, yet unfortunately DV rules are what they are.
 
Yeah unfortunately they are. I just wished to get a tiny window of hope :) But it does look like I don't qualify.
Thank you for your reply.
 
Ok, it may be a stupid question, but since you have completed 10 grades out of 11, aren't there any options to graduate?
As an example, in my country people who have dropped out of school and want to graduate high school later in life may attend evening courses, take the exams and graduate. You just need a passing grade. Even if you enter the lottery now and even if you win, there is a plenty of time before you get to go to the US, so you do have the time.
 
Ok, it may be a stupid question, but since you have completed 10 grades out of 11, aren't there any options to graduate?
As an example, in my country people who have dropped out of school and want to graduate high school later in life may attend evening courses, take the exams and graduate. You just need a passing grade. Even if you enter the lottery now and even if you win, there is a plenty of time before you get to go to the US, so you do have the time.

Not all those types of courses are acceptable for DV, by the way, even if they result in a high school or equivalent diploma. Doing something like that in the hope of winning a lottery where you might need it seems a bit of a stretch anyway...
 
Yeah unfortunately they are. I just wished to get a tiny window of hope :) But it does look like I don't qualify.
Thank you for your reply.
By coincidence I spoke with a DV-2012 immigrant the other day in Chicago, who worked as waitress for minimum wage (+ tips) at a popular lunch place. Undoubtedly, you have much higher qualifications in your profession and, granted, DV rules and regulations are arbitrary in this and other respects.
 
By coincidence I spoke with a DV-2012 immigrant the other day in Chicago, who worked as waitress for minimum wage (+ tips) at a popular lunch place. Undoubtedly, you have much higher qualifications in your profession and, granted, DV rules and regulations are arbitrary in this and other respects.

The question really is: did this DV2012 immigrant process their selection based on meeting the minimum high school completion qualification or work experience as a waitress from their home country? Was this person the main selectee or a derivative?
 
The question really is: did this DV2012 immigrant process their selection based on meeting the minimum high school completion qualification or work experience as a waitress from their home country? Was this person the main selectee or a derivative?
From what I understood, she came to the US right after finishing school, I don't know the rest of the story of course. I think it is fair to say, though, that working for minimum wage is not uncommon in the US with a High School degree and may certainly be a situation some DV folks will be facing. Therefore I did not find her case overly surprising, I just remembered it when reading this posting - pretty sure the person asking the original question could do pretty well but, as mentioned above, DV rules are what they are, however arbitrary in some ways.
 
From what I understood, she came to the US right after finishing school, I don't know the rest of the story of course. I think it is fair to say, though, that working for minimum wage is not uncommon in the US with a High School degree and may certainly be a situation some DV folks will be facing. Therefore I did not find her case overly surprising, I just remembered it when reading this posting - pretty sure the person asking the original question could do pretty well but, as mentioned above, DV rules are what they are, however arbitrary in some ways.

Since your initial post wasn't quite clear as to the requirement this DV2012 candidate met and the OP of this Thread was looking for similar stories with regards to her situation, I felt it was important to make it crystal clear the other person met the minimum requirements, hence the successful processing of their selection.

The fact that a noticeable number of DV selectees end up with minimum pay jobs in the US is not usual, nothing surprising in that.
 
Since your initial post wasn't quite clear as to the requirement this DV2012 candidate met and the OP of this Thread was looking for similar stories with regards to her situation, I felt it was important to make it crystal clear the other person met the minimum requirements, hence the successful processing of their selection.

The fact that a noticeable number of DV selectees end up with minimum pay jobs in the US is not usual, nothing surprising in that.
Yes, this is fine, we are both emphasizing the same points, relevant to this case, I believe. Thank you for clarifying.
 
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