kira1234

Hi guys,

I've been reading this forum since winning the DV lottery back in May.

I've always found it helpful to read other people's interview experiences, so here's mine.

My wife and I arrived at the US Embassy in London at noon for a 1pm interview. We were quickly sent away and told to come back at 1pm.

We then went to grab a coffee nearby, I couldn't stomach any lunch as my nerves were getting the better of me.

We headed back to the queue at the Embassy at 12.30pm, and entered the building at 12.44pm.

At about 1.10pm we were called up to window number 13 (my lucky number!) to hand in our documents.

I had spend the past 6 months stressing over this and making sure everything was perfect, and getting documents I didn't even need just to cover all my bases.

The nice chap working behind the counter only took the bare minimum of our documents, and didn't even ask for our bank statements or an affidavit of support. I put this to the fact that we were both dressed very well, that we both live in the UK (myself being native and my wife Latvian) along with meeting the education requirements.

We sat back down and waited until about 2.10pm. By this point the waiting area was nearly empty, with only a few people left.

We got called up to window 15 (my wife's lucky number!), and we were met by a very friendly American man.

He checked over our documents and asked us to raise our right hand. My wife raised her left hand, and when I told her she needed to raise her "other" right hand, that caused the Interviewer to chuckle slightly.

We swore that everything in our application is true.

The gentleman then noticed that my wife and I were married in Las Vegas, he asked if we enjoyed it there.

We told him it was fantastic.

He then did some typing for a moment or two and said "Ok guys, you've got it!".

We were out of the Embassy by 14.20.

We couldn't believe it. We had been stressing so much about this, but to be honest I feel that they actually want to approve you, just make sure that you have everything they ask and don't give them a reason to say no, and everything will be okay.

Best of luck to all of you.

Definitely a smooth interview and I hope your transition to the US is just as smooth. Congratulations on your new life!!! Where are you thinking of relocating and how soon? It must be an exciting time for you both.

It is completely computer-generated and in all ways to describe it - a random lottery. You will not be penalized if you wait a few days or even submit on the last day. Just be wary of the amount of traffic on the site during the beginning and end of the period as there will be lots of persons trying to submit their entry and it will result in delays and slow processing. Other than that, Good Luck (I'm applying this year too )

Good Morning All,

DV 2017 instructions are now live - http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/diversity-visa/instructions.html. Please pay special attention to these instructions and I wish you all luck as you're applying for this opportunity. May God be with you all. I'm sooooo excited

Awesome Susie!!!

Lol you're right ashi!

Oh wow good to know. Susie, since you've already went through the process and have been successful, how are you liking living in the US as compared to where you lived before? I know everyone's experiences would be different and for me personally I know it would be worth it but just curious to see how others feel about the process during and after.

Thanks all!

Thank you Susie. You're always so helpful

Does it normally take this long to make an announcement? Or is this the first time. I have no insight to years prior but I'm just curious. If it's taking long to make an announcement for the opening date, what if there's no lottery this year?

That does explain things better Susie! Thank you always for your willingness to help and be a wealth of knowledge!

Hey all,

I've been looking over these forums for a couple of months now and I;m going to apply for the DV-2017 lottery (granted if it's still open) an I'm curious as to how the case numbers work. My region is North America (Bahamas) and for the past couple of years, the cut off numbers barely pass 20.

I know that 50,000 visas are allocated and the case number ranges anywhere but I haven't seen any posts from winners from my area so I'm curious as to their case numbers and if it's really that low that they get a chance to get the green card.

Also, the numbers seem to only progress up by one a month. Why is that so? Are different regions allocated (in this instance Bahamas) a smaller amount of visas than others and is so why? Also, based on that how does it affect the case number, is it by region or based on all eligible countries?

I'm just trying to get as much info as possible for when I win ( throwing out positive outcomes only guys) so that I'm fully prepared and not mess up my chances and I can help others out there especially from my region.

Any insight would be appreciated.

Will do! Like you said you never know until you try. Will keep you posted on things!

Thanks for the clarification Susie. If I do not win the DV Lottery 2017, I plan on applying again for DV 2018. I'm not giving up. However, I also want to apply to grad school Sept 2016. Would me getting my F1 visa be affected in anyway by the lottery or vice versa. I would find out if I was chosen May 2017 and start interviews Oct 2017-Sept 2018 by your timeline but I would also be getting an F1 visa around the same time and starting school Oct 2017 when the interviews would be taking place. How would that work for me?

Hi All,

I'm very anxious to apply for DV 2017 and I'm praying that I get it. After doing some online research, I'm confused as to why the year of the lottery is two years away from the year in which you're applying in. For example, I'm applying October 2015 for the 2017 lottery. I know it takes a while to get it and the results come out in May of the following year if you were chosen but I assumed you had until September 30 of that same year (not 2017) to be interviewed and get your visa before the next lottery starts Oct 1st of the same year (2016). Did I get this wrong or can someone please explain the actual timeline? I would greatly appreciate getting some clarity

Thanks Susie. I'll still go ahead and apply and I hope to be one of the tiny few to win in my region. Maybe the numbers would be higher this year

Hey all,

I've been scouring these forums for the past few days and I'm heavily thinking about applying for DV 2017 this year. My county of birth is the Bahamas so I am able to apply. However, the cutoff numbers for my region haven't been looking good, only increasing by one number a month (currently at 8). I'm trying to figure out why it would be so low and if I should even take a chance to apply. I really want to move to the U.S. It's been my lifelong dream. What do you guys think?