[sjm]

Hi All

We are DV2010 winners living in London at the moment. We think we might get called for an interview around April/May based on current bulletins.

Can anyone share experiences they have had with proof of funds in the interview. For example, do they ask in all interviews? Is it also based on age, education and employability when deciding whether to question you about funds?

I believe the current guidelines based on a two member family is to have savings of around $18 000 as a minimum...

- We have recently bought a house and are doing renovations so we do not have much savings and unlikely to be able to save that sort of money between now and April 2010.

Should we give up now on getting a Green Card if we cannot meet this requirement?

We do have equity in the house we own but not sure if this can be used as part of proof of funds and how we show this equity? Also heard that if you use an asset then you need 3 times or 5 times the $18 000..

This proof of funds seems to be an unwritten and mysterious requirement of qualifying for a DV Green Card.. :-)



Thanks
SJM

[Dolphie]

Hi. House ownership should be sufficient. We took proof of ownership. We also took 3 recent valuations to show proof of value. We had savings too. I don't think it will count against you if you don't have the required amount in cash.

[C&D]

We were in a similar position, based in Berkshire and purchased our house the day we got our first notification letter and it was also a renovation! When we had our interview a couple of months ago we took our mortgage statement with us, along with bank statements. We were lucky enought to have my brother in the US who completed a I-134 Affidavit of Support Document too. If you are able to get someone you know over there to do that it will be a help. In our interview they asked us how we would support ourselves and we said we would both be working which they accepted with a nod & smile!

You are lucky to have got through as far as you have so if a green card is something you want don't give up, stick it out....it will be worth in in the end!

Good luck, if we can help with anything else feel free to PM us.
C&D

[sjm]

C&D, on 04 December 2009 - 07:02 PM, said:

We were in a similar position, based in Berkshire and purchased our house the day we got our first notification letter and it was also a renovation! When we had our interview a couple of months ago we took our mortgage statement with us, along with bank statements. We were lucky enought to have my brother in the US who completed a I-134 Affidavit of Support Document too. If you are able to get someone you know over there to do that it will be a help. In our interview they asked us how we would support ourselves and we said we would both be working which they accepted with a nod & smile!

You are lucky to have got through as far as you have so if a green card is something you want don't give up, stick it out....it will be worth in in the end!

Good luck, if we can help with anything else feel free to PM us.
C&D

Thanks for the advice! We dont know anyone in the US who we would feel comfortable asking to complete an I-134 at this stage. But hopefully the combination of our Property Equity; Savings between now and the interview; our education and work experience will get us though :-)

[sjm]

Actually researching this a bit more, I would like to slightly change my question...

It looks like the preferred requirement in a DV Interview is to have a Sponsor in the US and Personal Savings and Assets is more secondary.

Can anyone share experiences of having to get an affidavit of support despite having personal savings/assets?

The reason I ask is that I don't really know anyone well enough in the US who we could ask for such a thing at this stage.

[lambg]

Hi booger how did your interview go?when are you collecting your passports?

[Superkruz]

My question is probably a silly one but I really need an answer ....

I am collating my documents for my possible interview in September and was wondering what to do about the "public charge" requirement, for which I intend showing my bank statements.
I dont have original paper statements but I do have original electronic statements because I receive them via email.

1. Would it be acceptable to simply print the electronic ones or should I have it certified? How do I have it certified when I dont have originals to show to the person doing the certification?
2. How far back should the statements go?
3. Do the statements have to go right up to the date of the interview or can it be up the end of the previous month, for example.