It’s all happening...
 
The Visa Bulletins for DV 2008 are now being posted each month. The numbers for the OC (Oceania... not the OC) are already high. A lot higher than they ever have been previously. This can mean two things - a) they are going to stall and go slower from now on, or b) my interview is going to be *a lot* sooner than I anticipated. I was thinking I’d scrape in for a June or July 2008 interview but going by that it could be February-ish! Eeek!
 
With this development means lots of preparation so I am all organised for when the interview date arrives. My to do list is as follows -

*Keep saving as much much much as I can. Maybe I should start taking donations? I am attempting to get the Green Card without a job offer or an affidavit of support as I don’t know anyone in the US well enough to ask them to sign one for me. All that I will be showing is raw funds. Basically Dubya wants me to “Show him the money!”.
 
*Renew my passport. Doing this just to save hassles. I still have a 18 months left but am doing it now just to save any hassles later on.
 
*Medical stuff. This is the vaccination part. Ergh. Will type more about this later. The actual *real* medical I cannot get done until interview time.
 
*Police check. I don’t want to get this done until I get notification of the interview as it must be recent to be valid.
 
This is all that is left to do as I have organised everything else like copies of certificates, educational records, bank statements and travel records etc.  I am also going to renew my license for 10 years so that I don’t have to worry about that either. It is all these ‘little’ things. There are only a few websites that are helpful but those that are have provided great information so I’ll just keep getting everything in order so that it is less of all panic stations when the time comes.
 
You can obviously see the process that is needed to get through to just the interview... and they can still say “No!” there and then. You have to *really* want to go due to preparation involved and also the patience - and the stress is unbearable.  It is a rush once you know the latest bulletin has been released and then the time starts until you are counting down to the next one! So far, my life will have been put on hold for approximately 18 months from when this started until when it hopefully ends with entry to the US. I have had to complete a Masters in that time by overloading on my study load which, at the moment is extremely taxing and is stressful enough, but then to think that I am actually doing it all for something that is not even definite can be tough. Especially when one is up until 2am on a Sunday night typing a paper. Yes, I’m afraid it is one of those weeks at the moment. I just wish I could know the answer to what they are going to say at the Consulate and be done with it!
 
The other frustrating thing - no-one understands what I am talking about when I say the phrase “I won a Green Card..” So I just forget about that now.

BUT, once I get there I know it is going to be worth it...
 
 
PS - Like my spiffy photo from the Empire State Building?
Wednesday, 3 October 2007