Diversity VISA

[gollmacmorna]

Hello I hope you can help me with some impartial advice.
I will outline my circumstances as follows...

I live in Ireland
I first visited the US on a J1 Visa in 1995.
I returned on a brief holiday in 1996.

I applied for the Diversity Visa Program in 1997 and was awarded the DV Visa from the Lottery.

I visited the US with my VISA documentation in June 1998 with the intention of applying for my GREEN CARD.

A couple of weeks after I arrived in the US I got a phonecall from my brother to tell me my father had passed away.

I immediately 'phoned Aer Lingus and got the first available flight from Chicago O Hare that evening.

When I returned home to Ireland a permanent teaching job came up at my local school and I took it. (I needed to do a probationary year as a teacher).

So basically I am now a permanent resident of Ireland, I work as a teacher here.

When I was going to a wedding in Chicago the following year I was stopped at the Airport and questions were asked about my residency- i.e. they wanted to check where I was living.

Basically two immigration officers kept the flight waiting as they quizzed me about whether I paid taxes in the US etc.
Anyway they let me through.....

I can only think that there must have been a box to tick on the VISA form for entering the US where I ticked that I had a DV VISA.

Anyway the long and the short of it is that I would like to know if I can enter the US with no hassle like this again..

I am a permanent resident of Ireland, I work for the state, I have built a home here I am married here and I have children here.

I think that I will not be able to hold on to the VISA and this is unfortunate as I know that many people would have loved the same opportunity,.

However what is important is that I would like to be able to visit the US on holiday or go to a wedding etc.

Is this possible without any hassle?

By the way my old passport was stolen a couple of years ago in a burglary at our old home so the new one I have has a different passport number on it.

Any advice or help would be greatly welcomed!!
I would really like to visit the US again with my family, but am apprehensive about a 'personal backlash' at me for not proceeding with the DV VISA Application.
What do others think?

[PraetorianXI]

you need to find out what ever happened to your case (DV green card) first.

what "visa" did you use to re-enter the USA the second time?

[gollmacmorna]

I]you need to find out what ever happened to your case (DV green card) first.[/I]

I don't know what has happened to it. It was issued in 1998 and I have only been to the US twice since then (The visit in '98 when I had to go home unexpectedly, and a a two week visit in 1999.

Should I contact the US Embassy to explain my situation.
Would they penalise me by refusing me entry to the US because I didn't 'take up' the offer of the Diversity Visa and future possible Green Card.

Should I take Legal Advice on this?

When I applied for the Diversity Visa I was finishing a Post Graduate course in college and intended working in the US.
However as a qualified teacher in 1998 I had to do one year's probation as a teacher in the Irish System.

My Father's death brought me home in 1998 and a teaching job soon followed.
I met my wife in 1998 and we married in 2001.


what "visa" did you use to re-enter the USA the second time?

I think they may have allowed me in on the strength of the DV98 Program because I think I ticked that I had a DV VISA on the VISA WAIVER FORM, well whatever I ticked I was asked into an office in the airport by two immigration officers.
It was like a good cop bad cop, the older man was mild mannered and the younger man was more intense.
Anyway they were concerned with the fact that I had a DV VISA but was not living in the US.
Eventually they let me go through as I explained to them that I was working as a teacher in Ireland.
I don't want to have a similar experience if I am travelling to the US again, but maybe the fact that I have a new passport will make a difference.

Basically all I want is to be able to travel to and from the US on holiday.
As a bonus if it was possible to maintain the DV VISA that would be fantastic to have as I spent alot of time at the time preparing for it getting tests done, injections, etc. etc. - but I wouldn't be too optimistic of keeping it at this stage.

Any advice or help greatly appreciated!!