Foreign State Chargeability

[Jakartadream 0]

Greetings all....

Well shockingly I woke up this morning and checked my sister in laws DV lottery application and she has won. If you remember from my other posts, my mother in law and brother in law both won last year. They have both since landed in Florida and are enjoying their time. Now here is the tricky part for my sister in law.

Her background, she was born in UAE. Her mom Dutch, her dad Lebanese. In UAE, you can never become a citizen or permanent resident, so I am assuming every stay is temporary in nature. Being that, when we applied we chose foreign state changeability as Netherlands where her mother was born. Reading deeper into some of the posts, I am assuming She will need to provide a lot of documents around this. I couldn't find any experiences on what the interview will be like. Any experiences? Is she screwed ?

Thanks

Jakarta dream

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

I'm sorry to say this, but she should have put UAE where she was born. The DV rules are explicit that in almost all cases you need to put country of birth, citizenship or nationality have nothing to do with it. As it is not the same region she will be disqualified ( there is 'wiggle room' if it's the wrong country but same region because your chances of selection would be the same throughout a region thus it is not seen as an unfair advantage) . Unless she has a Dutch husband to cross-charge to, there is no point in her proceeding - she should enter again with the correct country of chargeability for DV2017.

[Jakartadream 0]

Hi Susie

Thanks for the reply. I guess where I get confused is when I read the faq of the dv lottery.

http://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Diversity-Visa/DV-Instructions-Translations/DV-2016-Instructions-Translations/DV_2016_Instructions_English.pdf#page8

Specifically questions 1 and 2. Your thoughts?

Thanks

Jakarta Dream

[Boiler 43,388]

Her parents were visiting UAE?

[Jakartadream 0]

Her parents were visiting UAE?

They were visiting on business .. Mom wasnt working but dad was helping set up a business.....

[Boiler 43,388]

So what country were they living in?

[Jakartadream 0]

So what country were they living in?

Need to check, but either Netherlands or Lebanon

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

Firstly, while I cannot say with 100% certainty it only applies in those instances, note that the sentences about charging elsewhere are in the context of another option for people who are born in a non-eligible country. I know at least some people have given the opinion you can't just "choose" - I am not 100% on this but it is something to consider. If you read the actual instructions it seems very clear that you should put the country you were born, unless it's not eligible. The FAQ is admittedly more vague.

If she decides she wants to pursue this, and assuming she is even able to convince the CO that she should be allowed to charge to Netherlands despite being born in another eligible country, she will need to be able to prove that her parents were in the UAE temporarily. The onus is on her to prove it. I read of someone else who did this who had all sorts of things like his parents passports from back then, affidavits to show what they were doing there and why and how long they were there for, etc, and even then it was a real trial to get them to agree. So the evidence she needs will probably be at least the passports to show dates of arrival and departure, as well - to state the obvious - that the stay was short enough to be considered "temporary". She will probably need further supporting evidence rather than just the passports around the circumstances judging from the other case I mentioned. How long were her parents there for?

[Jakartadream 0]

Hi Susie,

Yep I need to get all those details. The burden of proof is on her, so we will need to see if she really wants to go through all the hassle. Honestly still surprised that she won... I will keep the thread up to date as we progress similar to my last ones, I hate incomplete threads..... Any experiences at the embassy would be helpful.....

Jakarta Dream

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

Thanks, it is always useful to know how situations get resolved.

Which embassy will she be interviewing at? When it comes to "non standard" things they can be quite different.

[Jakartadream 0]

It will be in Abu Dhabi. When my mother in law went last year it was very straightforward. Whole thing took about 20 minutes, staff were very professional. She had her passport back in 3 days and we were done. It was also DV, but my mother in law was actually born in holland. Let's see.....

[Boiler 43,388]

It will be in Abu Dhabi. When my mother in law went last year it was very straightforward. Whole thing took about 20 minutes, staff were very professional. She had her passport back in 3 days and we were done. It was also DV, but my mother in law was actually born in holland. Let's see.....

So she moved there later?

[Jakartadream 0]

Yep they moved back....p... In UAE, it's 80% foreigners with no path to residency or citizenship. If you are a foreigner you are working or a tourist, that's it. You lose your job, you have 30 days to leave or find another job.

Edited May 8, 2015 by Jakartadream

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

It will be in Abu Dhabi. When my mother in law went last year it was very straightforward. Whole thing took about 20 minutes, staff were very professional. She had her passport back in 3 days and we were done. It was also DV, but my mother in law was actually born in holland. Let's see.....

Wait - just so I get this straight - is this the mother of the one who just won?

Might be hard for your SIL to prove it was a temporary stay if her mom was back living in the UAE.... when did that happen?

Edited May 8, 2015 by SusieQQQ

[Jakartadream 0]

Mother won last year.... She got her green card already. She is Dutch born in Netherlands.

The daughter just won, my sister in law, she was born in UAE. I need to get the dates of entry and exit, but yes they eventually came back to work. They were all on work permits....