So I’m really bad at posting regularly, but seeing as we’re getting closer to D-day (Disney day, departure day, d-d-d-damn son you finally getting out of the house day, your choice) I figure there’ll be more to talk about. Of course, because I’ve left this post so late it’ll be vague and probably unhelpful to anyone who happens to read this looking for information... but there’s plenty of helpful Disney bloggers and vloggers out there, so hopefully this info will lead you onto the right track if that’s why you’re reading!
So first, a correction from my last post: I’m not a B1/B2 in French. I mean, I could be, maybe. But my exams from last year were A1/A2 level. The reason I’m so approximate nd maybe overestimating myself is because of the way uni classes are divided when it comes to language. Surprise! You could begin learning a brand new language at uni if you wanted to (I’m at La Trobe). If I had gone to La Trobe straight out of year 12, which was back in 2012, I would have enough experience with the language to qualify for Unit 5 or 6, however, because it had been four and a half years, I felt I should go back to Unit 4. (Actually, I spent my first week in Unit 1, but because that week was spent learning pronouncing the alphabet and how to say “Je m’appelle” it was apparent that that was too easy for me). And while I am no genius, and I didn’t have the best grammar, I was toward the top end of the class when it came to vocab. And I was only a couple of marks away from 100% on my written exam. Anyway!!! Back on topic!
The visa process and preparing all the paperwork is decidedly more complicated than the application. There are a lot of fees to pay. There’s a lot of questionnaires to fill out. In my case, the process included me standing at the approximate head of the line in confusion and then having this lady shake her head at me because her booth was free and I guess I technically pushed in front of someone. (I only needed to hand over my passport.. but more on that later).
When you’re accepted into the program, you have a limited amount of time to accept your place, which is about a week from memory. When I was accepted, I went nuts. I was with other uni kids for a group assignment, and we were just making sure the video was fine. I couldn’t concentrate, because all of us who had applied for the January intake were waiting with baited breath for their emails. Someone had already gotten a “no longer in consideration”, so we were all panicking! Cue my freakout as the first person posted their acceptance. The two girls from my group watched as I fretted and finally.. the moment I found my email.. I deleted it by accident. I don’t know how I did it but I did, thank god for the “deleted items” function! Cue calling everyone I know, nearly crying. My parents were in England, and so they got the call at 5am - the first words Mum said after I told her the news were “Oh no!!!”. For the next 3 hours I responded to nearly everything with “Don’t care, I’m going to Disney World!”
Once you’ve accepted your offer, you receive a packet of information, including the fees you have to pay in order to secure your place. One of these fees pays for your housing and utility costs until you get proper pay checks. This is $200AUD (all costs are going to be from memory, and are obviously subject to change). Another pays for housing events and the like, and costs $154AUD.
One of the most time consuming things was getting what I needed from my university in order to satisfy my visa application. You need the university to approve your status as a student and get a representative to sign and stamp a form. This took a couple of trips for me. If you are considering applying for the program and you’re still in first year, keep in mind some things are going to take a little longer because you have to wait until your first year is officially finished. It doesn’t change much else, except you cannot choose your arrival date - only the latter one will be open to you. You’ll need to hand one in by a certain time so your place is secured, but you’ll need another one to satisfy the visa.
I recommend you get your medical insurance before applying for your visa. I don’t recall anyone actually asking about whether or not I had medical insurance, probably because it is a requirement of the program anyway, but I prioritised this over my visa. Because my program is the Australian/New Zealand Cultural Exchange, I had to get medical insurance with a company affiliated with Disney. You have two options - a cheaper one with which you have to pay $50 before a doctor will see you, or a more expensive one without this extra cost. I felt the latter was just going to be better in case I was sick or injured. I have migraines which regular Panadol doesn’t fix, so I’ve seen doctors and visited an osteopath fairly regularly this year to try and fix the issue. I may have to do the same while I’m over there, especially if I’m going to be working full days in hospitality, which I know gets hectic. This cost about $800AUD.
Another thing you should do before your visa is your police check. In fact, this might be a requirement of the visa, but of course I can’t remember and can’t be bothered checking. This is simply a name check (you do not need to visit anywhere for this), which costs about $30AUD and didn’t take long at all. You have nothing to worry about if, like me, your biggest offence is spending too much time on the Internet.
The info packet will contain all the specific information on how to fill out the SEVIS ($35USD) and DS-2019 ($160USD) forms online. Here it’ll help to talk to other people going through the same thing as you, because I had a bit of trouble paying for my DS-2019 application. Here is where I fail as a DCP blogger, because I can’t remember why I had trouble and how I fixed it. I can tell you though, that the online application was very thorough. It will take you about a half hour, and have some contact details prepared. Like your passport, you need some people to vouch for you that aren’t family members. Once you’ve finished the online application, you can make an appointment to go to the consulate.
Because I live in Melbourne, I did not have to travel to get my visa. I went to St Kilda on public transport, got worried that I was lost when I actually wasn’t, and realised that it was freezing outside. Being a consulate, you would expect the building to be glaringly obvious. Not so. In fact, I had no idea whether or not the building I had passed was the building or not - it’s another official looking place amidst other official looking places, but in an area which feels almost rural compared to the CBD in the city. I truly imagined an area like where you would find the Magistrate’s and County Courts. Wrong. Anyway. I was freezing, and very early, and drank hot chocolate in the conveniently-located cafe next door. Then I stood in a line for about 15 minutes (there are signs directing you) before I came in. Don’t be scared or nervous. If you have been to an official building before the process will be familiar - you confirm your appointment, follow the instructions, have your things checked and your bags handed into security. (I visited Barwon Prison twice over two years for VCE, twice because I wasn’t an asshole and listened to my teacher in year 11, this experience was a thousand times more hardcore in comparison as you would imagine).
Another person from Sydney gave me the impression that the visa interview was incredibly daunting. For me, it was not so. I stood in a line in a very well heated room for a time (I forgot to mention that we had to catch the lift because of reasons. The lift was great. It was half made.) before being called forward to a booth. I was lucky to speak to a lovely American woman, to whom I had to give my passport and my DS-2019/SEVIS forms. She asked me why I was going to America, and was delighted to hear about my program. I’m under the impression that they’re well aware of the program, because in my case the conversation turned to how great Disney was, and how I was so excited to go there and how she was thrilled for me. I had my fingerprints scanned on something out of a sci-fi film (twice I got my rights mixed up from my lefts, how), before going to the next person to go through more of the same. He reviewed the same forms before telling me my visa had been approved, and to go and pay my reciprocity fee before returning. This cost a little less than $150AUD.
I’m going to end the post abruptly here because that’s pretty much the entire process. I’ve just realised I should probably have mentioned the DOC and hire documentation, but this post is extremely long like the others, so I’ll try and write a brief description of those tomorrow. See you soon!
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