on_the_road

Dear all,

Here is a short story of my successful interview in Paris. Thanks to all of you who helped me with this long process.

12:00 -> US Embassy in Paris, one hour before our appointment. Security asks us to come back at 12:45.

12:45 -> Surprisingly, there is no line outside. We are the first to enter. The lady inside asks us if we registered online for this appointment. We answer that we thought we didn't need to do that since we are DV winner. She says that it's only to fill the information to send us back our passports. We can do it from the computers inside the waiting room fortunately.

13:15 -> First call: someone explains the process. We will be called to pay the fees, then we will review our documents and, finally, we'll get the interview.

13:30 -> We got called to pay the fees ($660 for 2).

13:45 -> The longest step: reviewing all the paperwork. The lady is very nice, that helps. She asks for our Police records. I'm surprised she doesn't check from which country I needed to get those PR: she takes only those from France, I need to precise that I had to get one from UAE, where I lived several years. Considering how hard it was to get them, I really wanted her to collect them

Then, she asks for proof for financial sustainability in the US. Since I already have a job there, I give my contract and some paychecks. Same for my wife. We also give our bank statements, she just need the one from the current month.

No need for the "Chronopost" enveloppe. They will send back the passports with their own system.

14:30 -> The final interview. As many mentioned before, it was fast and easy. But we understand that only at the end. Before, it's a lot of stress. The agent asks us to answer in English since we live already in the US. She doesn't look at us and asks many straight questions: "what is your job//Where is your child//How long have you been married//How many employees in your company//Plus, other questions more specific about my job..."

At the end, she looks at us and smiles: "Congratulations, your interview was successful." Yahoo!!

3 days after, we got our passports back with the visas. And only 3 days after that, we are back in the US, waiting for the physical GC. The only misunderstanding at the customs: they said they didn't need the x-rays and they ask us for 2 sets of passport pictures. Luckily, I had one spare ones but I've never seen anywhere that I needed to bring some at the border.

We enjoy now the life without being concerned by our visa situation. Once again a big thanks to this great forum and its members and sorry for my imperfect English (jetlag + French speaker)

Thanks for your answer. I'll keep you posted when my interview is done to give you my feedback and (hopefully) confirm that.

You're right. But my J1 was not subject to the 2-year rule fortunately. The only confusion could be: "you applied for a J1 stating that you wanted to go back to your country, but in the meantime, you applied for the DV lottery."

Hello,

Have you ever heard a DV Green Card denied because the applicant was on J1 visa? This visa is given if you plan to go back home afterwards; in theory, you shouldn't request any type of long-term residency. I couldn't find any history of this situation in the forum but a friend of mine got asked at Paris Embassy if she was on J1 at the time of her DV registration.

Thanks if you have any information!

Thanks Sm1smom

Thanks Sam, it's what I thought.

Hi all,

My child was born in the US after submitting my entry to the DV program. Since he's a US citizen, does he have to attend the interview? Do we need to bring his birth certificate or other document?

Thanks again for your help

Nope, CN EU (current in February)

Hi all,

To keep you update: I just got my appointment date for February (DS 260 sent in June). That was pretty fast this month.

Thanks Susie!

Hi,

Regarding the appointment date, do you know if it's ok to call KCC just to know when it will be? My number will be current in February (next visa bulletin) and I'd prefer to know when next week, instead of waiting for 10-15 days to receive an email.

Thanks!

Thanks for your answers!

Hello,

I lived in a country for 9-10 months when I was 19. I know it's written that I need a Police Record only if I was there for more than a year

("If the applicant lived in a different country for more than 12 months", http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/immigrate/diversity-visa/if-you-are-selected/prepare-supporting-documents.html)

but some former lottery winners told me I should bring one if I lived there for more than 6 months... I guess I just need to follow the official website but I need to be reassured

Thanks!

Yes, but I was thinking about the education information: I lived there but I was registered in France. Hence I got my degree in France.

Hello,

I have a question regarding the colleges I've been to. I've studied one year abroad through an exchange program with my college in France. The thing is: I was registered in France but studied in a college in another country. Should I enter both addresses or only one?

Thank you!

Thanks everyone. After a couple of weeks thinking about it, I decided to go through CP. The faster, the better.

Spouse

So CP means he has a green card before he would even have an EAD doing AOS?

Thank you for the formulation, that's precisely what I need to know

Also at any point if the H4 fails you have no legal status which may mess up your plans

Ok, now you scare me. Is it really possible my H4 gets denied? If yes, I won't take any risk and go for CP for sure...

I'm impressed how fast I get specific answers, thanks! It looks like the forum is better than an attorney, you're right.

3. EAD card is usually issued about 2 months after the EAD application is recieved. So if for instance the VB indicates in February that your CN will become current in April, and you send in your AOS package in March and it's accepted, then you're likely to recieve your EAD card around May.

The key question is here: I have a job right now. I'll quit because of the end of my J1/H4 in July. Because it's obviously not easy to live with only one salary, I'd like to start over my job asap. If I understand well, it appears that the AOS is better since I can get an EAD before the GC.

But if you say that I may get it 2 months after sending my AOS package, I'm not sure it will be that good compare to the CP. Still, it may be better to go with the AOS because I lived in 4 different countries before and getting the criminal records might be a lot of hassle...

How said the choice would be easy?

Thanks Susie,

The first piece of advice is that be very, very careful with taking on legal advice. There are only 1-2000 cases a year of DV winners doing AOS so it is rare to find a lawyer who actually has decent experience in it and there have been reports of people spending a fortune only for the lawyers to mess it up.

Another forum has excellent resources on AOS, you will get all the help you need for free. Not sure about the etiquette of advertising other forums but this will be your best resource. Also has a spreadsheet explaining in detail the process.

He seemed pretty knowledgable about this situation. But considering the cost and what you say, I'm not sure I will go for it. It's just scary to do the whole process at first. You don't want to mess an opportunity like that.

Another forum has excellent resources on AOS, you will get all the help you need for free. Not sure about the etiquette of advertising other forums but this will be your best resource. Also has a spreadsheet explaining in detail the process.

I've seen it in another topic, thank you. I will check it out.

Also from the little I know, I understand that not all J visas are eligible for AOS, are you sure yours is?

But also: your visa expires Jul this year?? I'm not sure of the h4 process but you cannot file for AOS until your number is published as current (ie a month before interview). It will probably be close to a year between your J expiring and when you can file for AOS. Remember you have to be in legal status to do AOS. What do you plan to do in the interim? How will this planned H4 work?

I'm currently in J1 but I will be in H4 in August (or under process). So in a legal status in the US, I just won't be able to work before getting an EAD. When I will apply for AOS, I won't be in J1 anymore, so no worries for the eligibility.

If I understood everything correctly of course

Hi all,

I'm a winner of the DV2015. Since then, I've read and found many information from this forum: thank you for that

I still have some questions though regarding my situation:

1) I live in the US, currently in J1(ending in July 2014), in process for an H4. My attorney told me I should go for the AOS instead of consular processing but I've read that it could be risky since it's slower than the second option. My number is EU00016***. Do you agree with him or would go rather for the consular process to be safe?

2) I know it sounds stupid but I'm not sure if I have to do anything right now: if I understand well, the next step is just to wait for DS260 on May 19th. Am I correct?

3) If I go for the AOS, do you have an idea on when I may get an EAD to be able to work?

4) I've asked my attorney a quote to know how much it would cost to do the entire process with him. I think it's very expensive: $3250 for me and my wife, filing fees not included... Maybe I should do it by myself...

Thank you in advance if you have any answer. I guess I will be around for a while now