# Green Card Lottery



## MJOZNZ (May 11, 2013)

Hi everyone

Very excited to just find out that I have been "randomly selected for further processing in the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program" for 2014. Will be sending all the paperwork to KCC this week.

I would love to hear from anyone who has been through the green card lottery process and hear your experiences. Very interested in timelines, costs etc.

I am in Canada at the moment on a Working Holiday visa which will expire end Jan 2014 so I am wondering if this will all happen while I am still here, or if I will have to return to Australia in January - no idea how long it takes!

Thanks in advance!


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## belgarath (Jul 15, 2011)

If your case number is low, you probably will make it.


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## MJOZNZ (May 11, 2013)

belgarath said:


> If your case number is low, you probably will make it.


Hi Belgarath - thanks for your reply...

Yeah I think it's high for Oceania - 1800+ - I don't think they are even up to that yet for last year's lottery!


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## bago (May 16, 2013)

Hi! I've also been chosen as a selectee for the DV Lottery 2014. Based on what I read, do we start submitting the forms etc. between Oct 1, 2013-Sept 30, 2014? Or can we send them as early as now? Does anyone also know that once the visa has been issued, is that the green card already? How long do we have to remain in the USA while on the green card before we are allowed to leave the country on holiday? We may not be able to move permanently right away but would like to have the green card already.


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## EVHB (Feb 11, 2008)

You can send in your package right now.

How long do you intend to stay out of the US? Because you mention a holiday, but you also mention you can't move right permanently right now. 

You can postpone things by not sending in the documents now, but e.g. after the summer.
In what range is your case number?


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## bago (May 16, 2013)

Thanks for the quick reply. My case number is past 6000. Is that good or bad? I've been applying for the lottery for years. To receive it now when we have just purchased a house and have good existing jobs make it hard for us to just leave. This is a major decision and we have to really weigh the pros and cons of moving to the USA. Starting over again and with the economy down and safety a major issue, we are really undecided at this point. IS there any way we can just go and get the green card and not really move there immediately? It would be nice to have the green card for the future when we are more sure of what we would like to do.


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## EVHB (Feb 11, 2008)

A green card is not a travel document. It requires residency.
USCIS - Rights and Responsibilities of a Permanent Resident

I have no idea about New Zealand case numbers, but you can get an idea about the processing times by looking at the Visa Bulletins. 
This is the one for May 2013: Visa Bulletin For May 2013
Scroll down to "B. DIVERSITY IMMIGRANT (DV) CATEGORY"
In May they are processing up to number 1,115 (from last years lottery)
In April, they were processing up to 1,000:
http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_5900.html


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## bago (May 16, 2013)

Thanks for the info.


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## Aphex (Aug 18, 2013)

*Interview Notification*

Hi there,

I got selected in the 2014 draw as well and I am wondering how you get notified about your interview date? Do they send an email? How much in advance of the interview date are you notified?

Thanks for any help on this.


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## cheeser (Jan 22, 2012)

Normally, yes you get sent an email, and then in some cases you might also get a follow up letter from the local US consulate too. 

6 or so weeks notification was what I got.


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## Aphex (Aug 18, 2013)

cheeser said:


> Normally, yes you get sent an email, and then in some cases you might also get a follow up letter from the local US consulate too.
> 
> 6 or so weeks notification was what I got.


Thanks for your help!


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