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Immigration
Immigrant Visa
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Successful CP in Sydney - on 21st Dec 2005
Hi everyone,
My spouse & I just completed our CP in Sydney successfully on 21st Dec.
We have been working in the US since 2001 on H1-B visas. We arrived from the US 10 days before our interview date. We scheduled our medical 2 days after we arrived with Dr Millar. The medical was very straightforward. Chest X-rays, blood tests etc as per previous postings. We had immunization records & taken blood tests in the US to show antibody levels as a proof of vaccinations.
We arrived at the consulate on a clear sunny summer morning at 7am. We felt confident that we had all the appropriate documents but decided not to be disappointed if we didn¡¦t get the visa because life is great in Sydney as well. Boston in winter is no comparison to Sydney in summer ƒº and we felt fortunate that we live in a great country like Australia.
We were the first to arrive at the MLC center lobby. Based on previous postings we were dressed in suits but we saw that noone else was dressed up. We waited for the lift to work until 740 am. By then several people with various visa appts had gathered at the entrance. We went to the 10th floor completed the security check up & were asked to go to the 59th floor. We were the first to take the immigration visa number for the day.
The immig visa counter opened at 805 am and our ticket number showed up on the screen. We went up to the counter with 3 folders- one with all the documents arranged as per the instructions from the Sydney consulate, the second & third folders had extra documents such as our social security cards, house deed, payslips, supporting documentation for all US visas we had held to date etc.
An Australian lady examined our documents carefully & ticked the checklist. She instructed one of us to pay the visa fees (Apprx $1900 AUD) at the cashiers counter as she continued to check our documents. Sometimes Amex may not work so be sure to take either a visa or master card with you as well.
I returned from paying me the fees and she was still checking our documents. First she checked my documents since I was the primary & then my spouses¡¦.
She asked questions like Are you a part of a terrorist organizations, have you served in military, have you been married before, do you have any children of your own, when do you plan to go to the US (early Jan). We replied no to most of the questions. She checked our bank statements thoroughly.
She kept the originals of the letters from our employers, copies of all other documents and returned all our originals including all our old passports. She told us that everything seems to be in order & told us to tale a seat until we were ! called up for the next interview. This first interview took about 25 minutes.
We waited for 5 minutes and were called to a different counter where we met an American guy. He took our both index finger prints. He asked both of us to raise our left hand and swear that we were telling the truth. He also asked us to sign a form. He asked me what my profession was. I replied consulting. He asked what sort of consulting, I replied business.
We asked what my highest level of education was, I replied MBA. He said that we had 2 options ¡V we could pick up the visas next day or we could have them mailed to us.
We chose to pick them up the next day. He said that our H1-B visas are being cancelled and gave us a form that allowed us to return next day to pick up the visa.
We also requested him to cancel our H1-B appointments that we had the next day and he said that he would take care of that. He also advised us to allow 2 hours for the immigration process at the POE (for us LA)
Next day we went and picked up our passports with the immigrant visas. Overall if you have your documents in order it should be a pretty straightforward process.
I want to thank Wikas, Curious, kji, George, Steven and all other members of this board who helped me understand the process and keep my paperwork in order.
I think the DV lottery is a great opportunity for living & working in US.
Other options like the employment visa take immense amount of time to come through.
Good Luck to everyone else who is going through the process & especially for other OC winners I would say keep a good perspective around this process.
Merry Xmas & Happy New Year OC winner
My spouse & I just completed our CP in Sydney successfully on 21st Dec.
We have been working in the US since 2001 on H1-B visas. We arrived from the US 10 days before our interview date. We scheduled our medical 2 days after we arrived with Dr Millar. The medical was very straightforward. Chest X-rays, blood tests etc as per previous postings. We had immunization records & taken blood tests in the US to show antibody levels as a proof of vaccinations.
We arrived at the consulate on a clear sunny summer morning at 7am. We felt confident that we had all the appropriate documents but decided not to be disappointed if we didn¡¦t get the visa because life is great in Sydney as well. Boston in winter is no comparison to Sydney in summer ƒº and we felt fortunate that we live in a great country like Australia.
We were the first to arrive at the MLC center lobby. Based on previous postings we were dressed in suits but we saw that noone else was dressed up. We waited for the lift to work until 740 am. By then several people with various visa appts had gathered at the entrance. We went to the 10th floor completed the security check up & were asked to go to the 59th floor. We were the first to take the immigration visa number for the day.
The immig visa counter opened at 805 am and our ticket number showed up on the screen. We went up to the counter with 3 folders- one with all the documents arranged as per the instructions from the Sydney consulate, the second & third folders had extra documents such as our social security cards, house deed, payslips, supporting documentation for all US visas we had held to date etc.
An Australian lady examined our documents carefully & ticked the checklist. She instructed one of us to pay the visa fees (Apprx $1900 AUD) at the cashiers counter as she continued to check our documents. Sometimes Amex may not work so be sure to take either a visa or master card with you as well.
I returned from paying me the fees and she was still checking our documents. First she checked my documents since I was the primary & then my spouses¡¦.
She asked questions like Are you a part of a terrorist organizations, have you served in military, have you been married before, do you have any children of your own, when do you plan to go to the US (early Jan). We replied no to most of the questions. She checked our bank statements thoroughly.
She kept the originals of the letters from our employers, copies of all other documents and returned all our originals including all our old passports. She told us that everything seems to be in order & told us to tale a seat until we were ! called up for the next interview. This first interview took about 25 minutes.
We waited for 5 minutes and were called to a different counter where we met an American guy. He took our both index finger prints. He asked both of us to raise our left hand and swear that we were telling the truth. He also asked us to sign a form. He asked me what my profession was. I replied consulting. He asked what sort of consulting, I replied business.
We asked what my highest level of education was, I replied MBA. He said that we had 2 options ¡V we could pick up the visas next day or we could have them mailed to us.
We chose to pick them up the next day. He said that our H1-B visas are being cancelled and gave us a form that allowed us to return next day to pick up the visa.
We also requested him to cancel our H1-B appointments that we had the next day and he said that he would take care of that. He also advised us to allow 2 hours for the immigration process at the POE (for us LA)
Next day we went and picked up our passports with the immigrant visas. Overall if you have your documents in order it should be a pretty straightforward process.
I want to thank Wikas, Curious, kji, George, Steven and all other members of this board who helped me understand the process and keep my paperwork in order.
I think the DV lottery is a great opportunity for living & working in US.
Other options like the employment visa take immense amount of time to come through.
Good Luck to everyone else who is going through the process & especially for other OC winners I would say keep a good perspective around this process.
Merry Xmas & Happy New Year OC winner
All Replies (0)
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