Diversity Visa 2014: what to do next?

[cgn0030 1]

Hello everyone!

I was selected for further processing of the Diversity Visa Program for the 2014 fiscal year. I applied from my country of origin (Cameroon, Africa) and was happy to see that my name had been picked among so many other applications! The KCC suggests to file as soon as possible for the paperwork. I would have started it on May 1st, but I am not sure I should. Here is why: I graduated from an US university about a year ago and came back home for a sabbatical year. I am to go back to US in July-August of this year to begin my Masters program. I will be applying for an F-1 visa and I don't think I can apply for an F-1 visa if I have already began on the DV procedure, can I? I have emailed KCC but all they said was that if I was in the US I could just apply for adjustment of status, which of course is not guaranteed since my local CIS office will have to determine if I am elegible for the AOS or not. If I am right, the processing of DV applications will not beging until October of 2013, date at which the fiscal year begins, and end in September of 2014, right? If that's true, then either way my application wouldn't be processed until october?

So the question I am asking is, should I mail the documents to KCC from my home country or should I just wait to already be in the US this summer to do it? Because applying from here, wouldn't that mean that i'll have to come back for my interview at my embassy, granted that KCC assigns me a visa interview date?

Also, when should i begin to check the via bulletin? And what category should I refer to on it?

Thank you for any advice!

[DC85 113]

First if you gonna go to the states to do AOS , you are abusing your visa , plus usually doing the consular processing is faster than doing AOS when it comes to the DV program , and also it depends on your case number the lower the better. The DOS will start doing the Interviews for the DV2014 after October 2013, again they will conduct the interviews for the people who has lower case numbers and go up. The interviews will be conducted after October 2013 till September 2014. Finally, sending the documents from your country or from the States to KCC won’t make any difference. But, as I told you before if you plan to do the AOS by travelling to the states using the F1, if they approved it, that’s against the law. Wish you best of luck.

-They will start processing the Dv2014 right now, but the interviews will be started after October. But you have a lot of time to send your papers.

-you can apply for F1 visa since you have I20, but most likely it will get denied because the CO will know you are in the process of getting GC.

- You will be eligible to do AOS , if you are in the states, you are in status , you have an available Visa number.

-Explaining the Visa Bulletin,

In this example I will talk about the DV2013 since the DV2014 is not opened yet and you need to wait.

If you go to check the Dv2013 table you will see each region with a number assigned to it

Currently for Africa the number is 43,400 what does that number means,

Any person who was selected for further processing, his region is Africa AND his /her case number is below that number [43400] then he/she has an available visa. And each month the numbers goes up it means more people will be interviewed

Edited May 3, 2013 by myafi1985

[cgn0030 1]

First if you gonna go to the states to do AOS , you are abusing your visa , plus usually doing the consular processing is faster than doing AOS when it comes to the DV program , and also it depends on your case number the lower the better. The DOS will start doing the Interviews for the DV2014 after October 2013, again they will conduct the interviews for the people who has lower case numbers and go up. The interviews will be conducted after October 2013 till September 2014. Finally, sending the documents from your country or from the States to KCC won’t make any difference. But, as I told you before if you plan to do the AOS by travelling to the states using the F1, if they approved it, that’s against the law. Wish you best of luck.

-They will start processing the Dv2014 right now, but the interviews will be started after October. But you have a lot of time to send your papers.

-you can apply for F1 visa since you have I20, but most likely it will get denied because the CO will know you are in the process of getting GC.

- You will be eligible to do AOS , if you are in the states, you are in status , you have an available Visa number.

-Explaining the Visa Bulletin,

In this example I will talk about the DV2013 since the DV2014 is not opened yet and you need to wait.

If you go to check the Dv2013 table you will see each region with a number assigned to it

Currently for Africa the number is 43,400 what does that number means,

Any person who was selected for further processing, his region is Africa AND his /her case number is below that number [43400] then he/she has an available visa. And each month the numbers goes up it means more people will be interviewed

Thank you, myafi1985 for your response.

I really don't know what I should do now, because I can't just cancel my trip to US, since i need to begin classes in August. Is there any way to make the process possible or should I just renounce on it and try again during the next application session, this time from the US, so that I can apply for AOS? Or would that still be considered as going against the law? I might not even get picked again, but i'd like to know what my options are.

Thanks again

[cgn0030 1]

Also, my number is pretty close to the bottom, it being 32845. If the number above didn't change for Africa, then I should be good regarding the visa, right?

If i decided to take a leap of faith and stay and wait for the interview, how long would it take (approximatively) to get the visa?

And also, any other tips I should be aware when starting this process?

[ceadsearc 516]

You can apply for an F-1 visa anyway. You may not be granted one since you have immigrant intent. On your app, you'll have to admit you applied for DV - this is regardless of whether you have filed papers. USCIS can check and see you won.

The number above is for this year. Next years (2014) won't start being interviewed and getting visas until October. There's no way to know how fast your number will come up, but it won't be by August.

You can legally AOS if you are here in the country and didn't come here for that purpose. But it is a double-edged sword since you have immigrant intent.

Any way you can delay your classes if your F-1 is denied?

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

DV lottery is an odd character, it doesn't follow the rules most people here know. Being in the US with another visa IS NOT a problem. You just apply for AOS if your number becomes current. You haven't applied for the visa, you can't really until you are in the right month. I am not current with how far Arfica numbers get during visas years, and this year may have more people accepting because the whole program may not exist next year. Unless you have a very low number you are not even guanenteed an interview. Apply for your F1, tell them that you were selected and what your number is .

[ceadsearc 516]

I don't think it will necessarily be a problem, but most of the cases are people who applied and didn't win - he won and they know it. I've seen people mention having a problem with tourist visas in that case, don't know about student visas.

Anyway, it's recommended winners file their applications with KCC ASAP - so while he isn't guaranteed a visa until an interview comes around (if at all), I don't think it's a given that USCIS won't look at him as having immigrant intent. It's not a problem to AOS or be here on another visa in terms of the DV visa but it IS a problem to have immigrant intent for the F-1.

Anyway, not saying it WILL be a problem - just that it's possible and there aren't a ton of cases on these forums of this situation to go off of. By all means I would apply for the F-1 - just have a backup plan.

[cgn0030 1]

Thank you guys!

I didn't really have an intent until I saw that I won. My plan has always been to go back to school and then see from there. But now that I have a chance to get a Green Card and thus remain in the US once i'm done with my Masters, I feel like I should give it a go.

@ceadserc I am considering asking for a posponed entry at the university, should I not be able to leave under F-1 visa

Anyway, I think I'll try to apply for the F-1 visa and see if they let me go with it or rejecdt because i won the DV lottery. If i can't get a visa, then I'll just reapply for the F-1 visa and come back under those terms.

Thanks again for your help!

[jamilhf 0]

hello everybody , I am one of the winners of this year from EU - Azerbaijan 9xxx

I am currently doing my undergrad in US on f-1 visa and I will be graduating this August

I have a pretty not convenient situation , because I want to do my OPT , so I wanT to do AOS, AS MY starting OPT date i will set 50 days after my graduation so somthing like beginning of October and I will have 3 month to find a job so lets hope I do get called to interview for GC before end of this year or at least get a job so I can extend my OPT up to a year ,

my other option is to do CP which is to go back home in august and fill it out before sep30 , I just dont want to risk my OPT(work experience) chance if my GC gets denied, i dont know how are my chances with this number

I had some questions about AOS

Can you guys give me some tips on what I need to do , so far I have read already tons of forum replies , first procedure should be to sent DSP122,2 PHOTOS and barcode to KCC or for AOS theres different procedure ?