Green Card Lottery (2010, how much, H1B, work)

[MarcNZ]

Originally Posted by bentlebee

Official letter from USCIS and we even took the letter to their office to make sure it was really from the green card lotery.

USCIS - Immigration Forms

Look at form I-485 and you can read how the $ 1,010.- is described. That is not all the costs you have to pay. On the first form that you have to send back to kentucky you immediately have to fill out an address you will stay when you move to the USA. So that could be a huge hurdle for many people who are still abroad. The person that I know and got the letter already lives here on a visa.

Ah, I see. That's really interesting, I wonder why they charge so much more doing this way than doing it at an overseas consulate. If anything I would have thought there should be less processing involved as the person should already have been vetted to a limited extent to get into the US in the first place.

The address can be a challenge for those of us doing it at overseas consulates, but we don't have to provide it straight away. I just wrote "not yet known" on my initial form, and that was acceptable, they just asked that I provide one at the time of the interview. I have a friend in the US already, so I am using that but I have also heard of people using mail forwarding services successfully too.

[bentlebee]

Originally Posted by MarcNZ

Ah, I see. That's really interesting, I wonder why they charge so much more doing this way than doing it at an overseas consulate. If anything I would have thought there should be less processing involved as the person should already have been vetted to a limited extent to get into the US in the first place.

The address can be a challenge for those of us doing it at overseas consulates, but we don't have to provide it straight away. I just wrote "not yet known" on my initial form, and that was acceptable, they just asked that I provide one at the time of the interview. I have a friend in the US already, so I am using that but I have also heard of people using mail forwarding services successfully too.

Maybe it is similar to when you need a visa quickly..if you pay an extra $ 1,000.- you get an answer very quick. We have refused once to pay it and it took months to get the papers back, the other time we paid the $ 1,000.- and got it within 2 weeks...basically like buying your way to the top...that is how it felt...not right!

Good to hear you can write "not yet known" on the paper since I can believe that most people have no clue when you reeive the papers.
Did you win the application form?

[MarcNZ]

Originally Posted by bentlebee

Maybe it is similar to when you need a visa quickly..if you pay an extra $ 1,000.- you get an answer very quick. We have refused once to pay it and it took months to get the papers back, the other time we paid the $ 1,000.- and got it within 2 weeks...basically like buying your way to the top...that is how it felt...not right!

Good to hear you can write "not yet known" on the paper since I can believe that most people have no clue when you reeive the papers.
Did you win the application form?

Yes, it's been a very long road but I only have one more step to go in the visa process. The interview at my local consulate, which is scheduled for next month. There is no interview in kentucky for those of us doing via an overseas consulate.

The address is one that I know catches out a few people, I was a little worried about it when I first filled in the forms but contacted the kentucky consular center after I returned them to check that they had been accepted (and they had). When my local consulate contacted me a few weeks ago to let me know when my interview would be, they told me that I would need to provide a US address for the green card to be sent to before they would be able to issue the visa. So in theory I have up until the day of the interview to provide it (but I've actually already given them the address of my friend to be on the safe side).

[bentlebee]

Originally Posted by MarcNZ

Yes, it's been a very long road but I only have one more step to go in the visa process. The interview at my local consulate, which is scheduled for next month. There is no interview in kentucky for those of us doing via an overseas consulate.

The address is one that I know catches out a few people, I was a little worried about it when I first filled in the forms but contacted the kentucky consular center after I returned them to check that they had been accepted (and they had). When my local consulate contacted me a few weeks ago to let me know when my interview would be, they told me that I would need to provide a US address for the green card to be sent to before they would be able to issue the visa. So in theory I have up until the day of the interview to provide it (but I've actually already given them the address of my friend to be on the safe side).

Congrats! From which country are you and areyou moving alone or with family members?

[MarcNZ]

Originally Posted by bentlebee

Congrats! From which country are you and areyou moving alone or with family members?

Thanks, I'm getting pretty excited about it

I'm from New Zealand and still single with no kids so it will just be myself.

[bentlebee]

You are the first that I heared of that won the green card lotery that comes from New Zealand. Nice to see other countries having people coming here to start a new life.
Lately I only hear people win who are single and entered by them self...That could be a coincidence or are they chosing single people?
How high was your number on your letter from the lotery?

[MarcNZ]

According to the official stats, last year only 89 people in New Zealand received green cards through the lottery so there are definitely not many of us. I just consider myself to be very lucky to be one of those selected this year .

I think it is probably just a coincidence that you have only heard of people lately who are single and entered by themself. There is another forum I have been monitoring for a while that just discusses the diversity visa and nothing else (and I doubt it will come as a surprise to you to learn that the US address is probably the most asked about question ). If that forum is any indication there seems to still be quite a blend winners, some single and some married, some with kids and some without and people from a wide range of countries which is good as it is supposed to be random (within each region anyway).

My case number comes under the oceania region and is in the 900's. In most previous years I would have had my interview sooner with that sort of number, but this year things have been moving a little slower than usual.

[bentlebee]

Originally Posted by MarcNZ

According to the official stats, last year only 89 people in New Zealand received green cards through the lottery so there are definitely not many of us. I just consider myself to be very lucky to be one of those selected this year .

I think it is probably just a coincidence that you have only heard of people lately who are single and entered by themself. There is another forum I have been monitoring for a while that just discusses the diversity visa and nothing else (and I doubt it will come as a surprise to you to learn that the US address is probably the most asked about question ). If that forum is any indication there seems to still be quite a blend winners, some single and some married, some with kids and some without and people from a wide range of countries which is good as it is supposed to be random (within each region anyway).

My case number comes under the oceania region and is in the 900's. In most previous years I would have had my interview sooner with that sort of number, but this year things have been moving a little slower than usual.

Wow that is a low number! The person I know has a number just above 10000 so that should be okay since it is within the 50000 range.

What other forums are out there about the DV? I try to find out as much as possible for my friend.

[MarcNZ]

I don't think I am allowed to post links to other forums directly in here. But if you do a google search for "forums immigration dv" it should come up at the top of the list.

As a side note I thought I would just add, that I do sometimes feel much like I suspect you felt getting your visa faster by paying more money. It does sort of seem like I am skipping ahead of others simply because I'm lucky. But as the US doesn't have a skills based immigration system like many other countries, if I hadn't won I would have to go through something like the H1-B visa process and hope that a company would eventually sponsor me. I would have tried it if I had to, but it does sound like a very stressful and uncertain future with no guarantees of getting the green card in the end anyway. I have a couple of friends in the US at present on H1-B visas and it has been a stressful experience for them.

[bentlebee]

It is stressful for many being on a visa...what if they stop giving it to you the next time...they never explain why they give it for a certain amount of years and it is hard for families to start a real live with the visa cloud above their head and knowing that in a heart beat they have to go back...so you are indeed lucky and enjoy it