Tweet
Hello I hope you can help me with some impartial advice.
I will outline my circumstances as follows...
I live in Ireland
I first visited the US on a J1 Visa in 1995.
I returned on a brief holiday in 1996.
I applied for the Diversity Visa Program in 1997 and was awarded the DV Visa from the Lottery.
I visited the US with my VISA documentation in June 1998 with the intention of applying for my GREEN CARD.
A couple of weeks after I arrived in the US I got a phonecall from my brother to tell me my father had passed away.
I immediately 'phoned Aer Lingus and got the first available flight from Chicago O Hare that evening.
When I returned home to Ireland a permanent teaching job came up at my local school and I took it. (I needed to do a probationary year as a teacher).
So basically I am now a permanent resident of Ireland, I work as a teacher here.
When I was going to a wedding in Chicago the following year I was stopped at the Airport and questions were asked about my residency- i.e. they wanted to check where I was living.
Basically two immigration officers kept the flight waiting as they quizzed me about whether I paid taxes in the US etc.
Anyway they let me through.....
I can only think that there must have been a box to tick on the VISA form for entering the US where I ticked that I had a DV VISA.
Anyway the long and the short of it is that I would like to know if I can enter the US with no hassle like this again..
I am a permanent resident of Ireland, I work for the state, I have built a home here I am married here and I have children here.
I think that I will not be able to hold on to the VISA and this is unfortunate as I know that many people would have loved the same opportunity,.
However what is important is that I would like to be able to visit the US on holiday or go to a wedding etc.
Is this possible without any hassle?
By the way my old passport was stolen a couple of years ago in a burglary at our old home so the new one I have has a different passport number on it.
Any advice or help would be greatly welcomed!!
I would really like to visit the US again with my family, but am apprehensive about a 'personal backlash' at me for not proceeding with the DV VISA Application.
What do others think?
I will outline my circumstances as follows...
I live in Ireland
I first visited the US on a J1 Visa in 1995.
I returned on a brief holiday in 1996.
I applied for the Diversity Visa Program in 1997 and was awarded the DV Visa from the Lottery.
I visited the US with my VISA documentation in June 1998 with the intention of applying for my GREEN CARD.
A couple of weeks after I arrived in the US I got a phonecall from my brother to tell me my father had passed away.
I immediately 'phoned Aer Lingus and got the first available flight from Chicago O Hare that evening.
When I returned home to Ireland a permanent teaching job came up at my local school and I took it. (I needed to do a probationary year as a teacher).
So basically I am now a permanent resident of Ireland, I work as a teacher here.
When I was going to a wedding in Chicago the following year I was stopped at the Airport and questions were asked about my residency- i.e. they wanted to check where I was living.
Basically two immigration officers kept the flight waiting as they quizzed me about whether I paid taxes in the US etc.
Anyway they let me through.....
I can only think that there must have been a box to tick on the VISA form for entering the US where I ticked that I had a DV VISA.
Anyway the long and the short of it is that I would like to know if I can enter the US with no hassle like this again..
I am a permanent resident of Ireland, I work for the state, I have built a home here I am married here and I have children here.
I think that I will not be able to hold on to the VISA and this is unfortunate as I know that many people would have loved the same opportunity,.
However what is important is that I would like to be able to visit the US on holiday or go to a wedding etc.
Is this possible without any hassle?
By the way my old passport was stolen a couple of years ago in a burglary at our old home so the new one I have has a different passport number on it.
Any advice or help would be greatly welcomed!!
I would really like to visit the US again with my family, but am apprehensive about a 'personal backlash' at me for not proceeding with the DV VISA Application.
What do others think?
