Hey Everyone
I wanted to write down my story here as i sure someone will be in the same situation as me some day and i wasn't always able to find information
So to tell the end of the story first I got approved for the green card today
I was picked in the diversity lotto last summer( which i had applied for the year before in November ). I applied through the official US Website. All us government sites have the .gov in them. This is free. You dont need to pay anyone to apply for the diversity lotto and all those sites that advertise to keep you in the lotto for 3 years are a scam. They may put you in but its best if you do it yourself as you got a number which you can use the summer after to see if you have won
http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1318.html
The application is simple to do with the only difficult part being uploading the photo but if you read the instructions you should be fine.
I found out i had won when i received a letter from the visa processing center in Kentucky which gives you a case number and the applications you need to fill in. I did these with an attorney as i wanted it to be smooth and then i sent them back to the processing center in Kentucky completed. That was in July. I didn't hear anything again until i was called for my interview ( got letter from Us Embassy in dublin ). This letter gave the interview date and everything i would need for the via interview which were in my case:
I also received another letter from the us embassy in dublin with a list of everything i would need for the interview and confirming the date and time for the interview
Original Birth Cert
Police Cert: Can get from your local Garda it simple to get but can take some time
Medical Report: You have to do a special medical and get certain vaccinations for the US. There are only 4 docs in ireland that do it and its about 350 euro to do the medical
Education certs; The minimum you need is the leaving cert which you need to pass. Although any fas certs etc or any college degrees count as well
Proof of income: You need to show you have some money(Bank Statements and what type of job you want to look for in America. You need to prove your not going to go there and then go on social welfare.
Application Fee: This is broken up but what you need is a bank draft or postal order for $775.
Big Envelope: You need an envelope with 8 euro worth of stamps on it as this is what they will send your passport and documents back to you in. You DONT get your passport back on the day if your successful
What I had:
All of the above ( including photocopies of everything) Its much better to have way more than you need in case they ask
I also had copies of all my older visas to the US. I am currently on a H1b visa so i brought my pay stubs etc from the company i work for . I also had a J vis and some B visas which i brought. While the embassy may be able to see this on their system dont assume they will and bring any old visas you have. You need to be able to prove any time you spent in the US
The interview:
My interview was for 1 oclock but this means you are in afternoon time slot with other people as well. I began to queue up at 12.45 and was the 3rd person in the queue. You have to go through security and they will take your phone off you and put it in a cubby hole and collect it on the way out.
You will then go to a room which for all purposes is like a bank(with windows with glass) with seats. You get a ticket number and are called in order of your number
The first window you go to the lady took all my paperwork on the list and the medical report which the embassy sends to you and the cheque for the $775
I then sat back down and waited to be called for the actual interview
2 couples were ahead of me and they did their interviews and got on fine
The actual interview itself is very straightforward you go up to the window ( your not in a private room or anything like that) You do your fingerprints and you swear an oath to tell the truth
The lady then went through all the documents i had given her and i could see she had the application i sent back to kentucky.
She asked me where i was born and what year
She asked me about the medical
She asked me about my college and what i did there
She asked me had i lived anywhere else other than the US
She asked me how i planned to support myself in the US
She was very pleasant and professional and the whole interview took all of 2 minutes. Mine was pretty straightforward as i was already living there legally.
She then told me they would finish processing the visa and that once it was issued i would have 6 months to activate it by going to the US .
This was all today so i haven't got my passport back yet and will update the post when i get it and the package .
Hope this helps someone out
Moss
