DCF in Australia - Reestablishing Domicile Requirements

[amylp 0]

Yeah, I think I got a little too excited when I received the email! Anyway, I ended up responding asking if it was possible to bump the interview date up if they have any availabilities. I guess the worst they could do is say no. If that's the case, I'll ask about the possibility of picking up a visa in person. I'd like to do whatever I can to avoid moving our flights - they were booked months ago by my husband's job and we'd be footing the cost if changes had to be made (I'm assuming it wouldn't be cheap either since they're business class). Fingers crossed!

Just completed my timeline - I'd been meaning to do that anyway.

[amylp 0]

Well, it doesn't hurt to ask for an earlier interview date - I just received an email from the Sydney US Consulate. My husband's visa interview is now scheduled for next Tuesday, February 9th (instead of February 23rd)!

[kaffy 2]

that's awesome!! glad it's working out for ya

[hdouthit 1]

Well, it doesn't hurt to ask for an earlier interview date - I just received an email from the Sydney US Consulate. My husband's visa interview is now scheduled for next Tuesday, February 9th (instead of February 23rd)!

That's awesome!! We are scheduled for Thursday 11th. Keep me posted on how your application is going so we can time it together!!!

[amylp 0]

Well, my husband had the interview this morning (I came along as well) - visa approved! I'll try to write a summary of it tomorrow!

[kaffy 2]

Congrats on the approval!

When do you move?

[amylp 0]

We will arrive in Portland on March 2. Can't wait!

Leaving Oz on the 26th to fly to Dublin, Ireland. Since the Dublin airport has US immigration there, my husband's POE will be handled in Dublin before we even get on the plane!

[amylp 0]

My husband's final visa interview was scheduled for yesterday morning at 9am, and while we were aiming to arrive at the consulate office by 8:30am, it was more like 8:40 by the time we arrived at reception on level 10. If anyone is looking for a place to stay in the Sydney CBD, I wouldn't recommend staying at the Wentworth Sofitel - this place was crazy busy any time we went through the reception area, so it took some time to actually check out. There were constantly loads of British Airways staff checking in and out, and the hotel was understaffed for the number of people coming through.

Anyway, at reception passports were checked, bags were scanned and we were escorted to an elevator. Once at level 59, IDs were checked again before we entered the waiting area. We pushed the button for an "immigrant visa" ticket and sat down to wait. It wasn't long (15 minutes?) before our number was called, and our documents were sorted through by an Australian woman. She seemed to just be checking through documents to make sure all was in order before handing our case off to an immigration officer. At this time the visa fee was paid at the cashier window, and the woman told us the next time we heard our number again, it would be for the interview.

About 5 minutes later our number was called, but it was back up to the Australian woman's window (number 4). This time she said we would have to fill out an additional form (864A) since my husband will be transferring his job when we move to the states. I'm not sure why they didn't request that we fill this out to bring to the interview, but we filled it out while standing at the window. There seemed to be some confusion with the Aussie lady about which one of us filled out each section on the last page, but it was sorted out quickly. It was a good thing my husband and I both showed up to the interview, since we both needed to fill out portions of the form.

While up at the window the second time, the woman also asked if we had any more recent pay slips from my husband's job (we had mailed some in with packet 3). Luckily, I made sure we had some more with us so these were photocopied. There were a few questions about what my husband's salary will be once transferring as well. We didn't have a letter to confirm his salary in US dollars, but we did include a letter from his current office stating his wages, along with his future office confirming a tentative start date. The woman seemed satisfied with this and we sat back down to wait.

A short bit later we were called up to window 8 (I think!) - The 2 windows next to the cashier window were covered by Americans conducting the visa interviews. Our interview as an American woman who was pretty casual and friendly. As she looked through each of the packet 3 documents, she asked a few questions - Where did we meet? Where was my husband from in Ireland? Where were we planning to move to and when? Again, the question of my husband's future salary came up, but it didn't seem to be an issue since his salary is to be roughly the same when switching offices. After finishing going over the documents, the woman told us that the visa had been approved and would be mailed out either that day or the next! My husband was given a sheet of paper that stated his visa had been approved, along with a paper outlining what to expect when we arrive in the US.

The interview day at the Sydney office was pretty painless, and it didn't end up taking too much of the day. The ticket when we arrived on the 59th floor said 8:44am, and we were out of the consulate by 10:10am.

[amylp 0]

The visa arrived a little while ago this morning! I had a bit of a scare this morning with auspost though. When I looked up the express post number online it showed up as delivered at 7:12 this morning when there hadn't been any sort of delivery made. I rang customer service and their system was showing that the package had been delivered as well. I ended up on hold for about 10 minutes while the customer service rep called the local postal center to look into it. Turns out the postal contractor who makes deliveries had a broken scanner that they normally carry around in their car, so she had to scan everything prior to leaving the postal center. Anyway, glad it didn't get lost in the mail!