Hey all, like Nick said..... Old forums just too much hassle. Plus, I wanted to get a fresh one going here.

OK, time to prove to good ol' Uncle $am that I make enough money to support my little honey. What should I send, and more specifically, what should I put down on the forms?

I'm broke, paycheck-to-paycheck, and what I love about this Russia forum is that everyone here is a realist and not one of those General Discussion/Off Topic forum dweebs that says "How can you have a good marriage and support an alien fiancee when you can't support yourself?" Well, it's quite simple dweeb.... she's from Russia and has no problem making it on $150 a month, so my piddly little $1500 American paycheck is going to seem like the lottery to her! Shut your mouth!" So, back to topic.

I know I must send the I-134. I don't own any property, have any savings or retirement, or any other assets really. (Maybe a computer and some other household goods (and 2nd Amendment stocks) .... couple grand I suppose) so what should I put on that? Should I put down that I have a couple grand in savings? I could (in theory) have a couple grand (my job has overtime seasonally that when I'm working it, those $1500 paychecks turn into $3500 paychecks, so the money is there sometimes, just not now) So maybe $2000 in savings and $5000 in assets? Something like that?

I'm planning on sending in my 2005 W-2 which confirms that I made over $35,000 last year (lucky I worked that OT... and lucky I got out of the Air Force!) and the letter from my employer. Other than that, what else should I do? I remember Satellite and OKFlyboy saying the bank statement with DEPOSITS ONLY was a good thing to send that way they don't have to see the balance, only that I do make enough money.

So that's:
1. I-134 (stating I have $2000 in savings and $5000 in assets?)
2. 2005 W-2
3. Letter from Employer
4. Bank Statement (past 6-12 months, deposits only?)

Is that enough? What else, and is the I-134 OK? Thanks in advance for any help.

I'm behind you in the process, but if I were you I would just use the income from the job and screw the rest. Why bother to try and prove the assests/stocks/savings when your job provides more then enough income for them to approve you?

Is the I-134 even required?

I concur 100%. Go with the W2, Tax return, employment letter, and I-134. We did just fine based on those things only.

I pulled this from the American Embassy Moscow webite on interview requirements......

This is number 10.

Financial documentation from the petitioner may include but is not limited to employment letter for the petitioner with salary information and/or a copy of tax returns (Form 1040) for the last year, bank statement, W-2s. I-134 Affidavit of Support is not required but may be requested by a consular officer.

I provided I-134, 2004 Form 1040 tax return, last 3 years of W-2's, bank statement of last 12 months on bank letterhead, and my salary on employer letterhead.

Natalia said they did take it but it was not discussed.

I know it seems every Embassy does it different but this is straight from Moscow's website. You can always call or e-mail the Embassy too.

Warren

Hi Slim, i provided the I-134,bank statements, 2yrs tax returns,letter from employer...everything that was requested...be sure to have telephone records, e-mails, and photo's to prove the relationship is legit. the CO's are different, so it is best IMHO to cover all bases. in my wife's interview, the photo's seemed to be the most important of all...remember, you have 1 shot...IMHO leave nothing to chance...you do not want to waste time gathering additional info after the interview...all will be okay....good luck....Larry

If I submit the I-134, what should I enter for:

Savings, Stocks, Assets, etc.?

You can leave that part blank. For the I-134 in Moscow, I only had 1 tax return (wasn't a problem). You only need 1 tax return for the AOS (I 864) now as well. (you can submit more if you want.)

Cool! Thanks for the help guys. I'll probably be getting all this together and sent out this week. Only one month away, and with the good reputation of the Russian postal system.... I'd better not delay any more.

Yes Slim you better get on it quick. I have sent a few cards over using regular mail and some took a month while others took a few weeks. I have sent two DHL envelopes and even those took more than a week. Funny thing is that DHL guaranteed 3 or 4 day delivery on their website. When I called them and complained and asked what good was the guarantee the did send me a refund of the entire amount....for both envelopes.

It's been hit or miss for us as well.

Sometimes a letter takes a month, and a package takes two weeks. Sometimes the package takes two months, and the letter takes a week. It's a crapshoot at best.

She's still waiting on her packet 3 anyway, (sent to mom's house, instead of her current address.) but with only about a month to go before the interview, I pretty much know what I need to send, so I'm going to go ahead and get it to her now.

These interview dates sure are coming up fast!

I was able to send a package to Russia with someone who was visiting through some contacts I made in Russia. Maybe you can send it with someone travelling over there soon? *cough*castawaysailer*cough*

I wouldn't trust the regular mail for this. Too much of a pain if there is a problem. While FedEx is a bit pricier, my discount is still pretty good with them. Took 2 business days, the last package I sent. Letters have been running about 2 weeks or more.

Hi Russ......are you sure you only need 1 tax return for AOS.....i thought it was 3 tax returns....just curious as i will soon be ready to send all of the docs for AOS....thanks, Larry

Yep, going to use FedEx for the K-1 docs. Hopefully they'll get there soon.

Thanks again guys.

I use fed ex for documents and usually it takes 5 to 7 days for documents to be delivered to moscow business and another couple days for a residence within the city of moscow. The cost is usually 72 dollars.

$72??? Man, that makes me want to just send them USPS. I've had pretty good luck with them lately. The Christmas box got there in just two weeks.

But I know, for something this important.... what's $72 for some piece of mind? That's a deal in my book. As with everything else in Russia, pay the extra money and rest assured it's going to get done properly.

I still send by stuff with USPS regular mail $0.84 for a standard envelop. I have better things to spend $72 on. If you have time go with the cheap mail. If it fails to arrive in 1 month you can always use the more expensive kind. All your financial documents should be copies anyway. You can always reprint those. The only thing that costs money is the notary fee, and for example my bank does it free for account holders. I've sent important and unimportant stuff to Russia all the time with the cheapest service offered by USPS. Lost one letter in the last two years.

Well guys, going to FedEx right now. $72 is outrageous. If they want that much, I'm going to USPS. I figure a small document package should arrive within three weeks, and that would be plenty of time. If FedEx is only like $20 or something, I'll go with that, but if they're talking over $50 for some docs, they can go ahead with the caveman commercials.

More to follow.....

(edited: The only reason I would consider sending this FedEx is the interview is less than four weeks away. So, kinda gotta sweat the transit time. Hope it all works!)

OK Slim, which way did you end up sending them? Sure hope they get there quickly which ever way they go.

Got the:

Employer Letter
Bank Letter
I-134 (only filled in the salary, left the rest blank)
W-2 (2005)
Three check stubs
Copies of NOA I, II, and NVC letter
New Letter of Intent to Marry

Put em all in a folder with my original I-129F packet stuff at the UPS store. The clerk told me I had three options:

1. UPS 2-Day Guaranteed - $114
2. USPS 3-5 Days (No guarantee once in Russia) - $45
3. USPS 5-7 Days (No guarantee once in Russia) - $16

Guess which one I chose?

Yep, the $16 sounded like a winner to me! We'll see what happens. I hate to think that the status of my fiancee's interview hangs on the reliability of the Russian postal system, but I also hate to think that $100 would be spent on expediting a packet that could possibly arrive on the same day using USPS.

I'm hoping the same people that got her Christmas box there in two weeks handle this packet of documents. Two weeks would be great! So.... stand by!!!

Slim,

I like you but your crazy. I hope your documents get there. Anything russian is very unpredictable I have discovered during my travels to that country. Is it me or do these forums have a lot less people posting?

Yep figsy, it's a crapshoot at best, and that's why I decided to go ahead and just send USPS. We've been having good luck with them recently, so hopefully that'll continue.

Even UPS is going to have trouble delivering to the Far East. They just got a METER of snow this weekend. I keep picturing that commercial where the little boys are playing outside and betting on if the UPS truck will go by...... I don't see it the same way in Vladivostok. But, who knows, maybe it will get there on time and everything will be great! It's a good thing my fiancee is a glass is half-full type too, cause we'd never be able to share any good news when it comes to the postal system.

Here's hoping!!!!

Take a look at:

Memorandum HQOPRD 70/21.1.13, November 23, 2005 from Michael Aytes, Acting Director for Domestic Operations

You are free to send more returns if you want. I sent two to be safe, but if your returns are complicated (like mine) this can be a lot of paper ( a few hundred pages in my case for 3 years). If I had three handy and they weren't too long, I'd probably send them all.

You are free to send more returns if you want. I sent two to be safe, but if your returns are complicated (like mine) this can be a lot of paper ( a few hundred pages in my case for 3 years). If I had three handy and they weren't too long, I'd probably send them all.
[/quote]


I ordered tax transcripts and fortunately they are condensed to just a few pages. My very thick return for 2004 ended up on four double sided pages.

Hey slim,

For the US Embassy in Moscow, the I-134 will be required. My Irina just went through the process (passed interview Jan 20, 2006) and the checklist that she was sent for items required fro the Interview included the I-134 from me. I would include all the information that presents the best possible picture of your financial situation. W-2, tax return, letter from employer, pay check stubs, savings, stocks/investments, etc,

Good luck! ! !

Slim, I hope she gets the papers in time, what I did when I sent some paperwork was I sent two sets of the papers in seperate envelopes using the cheap methods, as it turns out both sets arrived 3 days apart, but the funny thing is one set was ruined (water or something) so sending two sets saved me quite a hassle.

That is a good idea Nick.

I put all my eggs in one basket. Probably not the best plan, but that's the way it goes. In theory, everything should be OK, I sent them about a month early. I'll keep you all posted.

If it isn't there a week before, you can always send another copy of everything by Fedex and have it held in Moscow. That should take 3-4 days. FYI - my christmas cards from Russia just arrived this week by regular mail (about 3 months). Regular mail I send there takes 2-4 weeks for me. (we send a lot of letters).

Also a good idea russ. Thanks for the contingency plan!

Hi Russ...thanks for the info. i already sent all the docs for aos. an interesting conversation occurred when i had a meeting with an official with the Charlotte NC sub-station for homeland security..he told me never to use the uscis web-sites for info because the info was either unclear or incorrect....he also said not to use the uscis telephone info system for the same reasons. i would suggest to all VJers to visit district or sub-stations if possible. you can make appointments online, and they will issue all the docs, and make sure that you know how many copies to submitt, and what fee's etc. i found the visit quite informative......thanks again for your help and information Russ.

You definately need a tax return for the most recent year along with a w-2. If you are self employed you need 3 years returns. You need a letter from your bank or the last 12 months statements. You need three consecutive pay stubs. You need the I-134 of course. I would not worry about assets. They don't look at those very hard unless you don't have the required income.

Some things they never look at. As far as the relationship goes they seem to look at phone records very closely. You might want to include those, along with some e-mails. You never know what you will run into in the interview. They may ask no more than how are you today and they may want her to tell them your great grandmothers middle name. Well that might be a little extreme but sometimes they do get very detailed.

As much as you have riding on this I would not send her unprepaired.

well slim ...... did she get your documents!!?!?!?!?

Even if you are self employed you only need the last tax return and your W-2. I had 6 months of bank statements but they didn't look at them. They also want a letter from your work. I am self employed and they still asked my girl about a letter from my work! They approved the visa anyway. If things are a little tight with the income and you are self employed then a letter of explaination would be helpful. They also were very interested in phone records. We had phone records from her and from me. Glad I started using one of the phone card companies that allow you to print out a record. They also wanted to see letters and/or e-mail communication. We also had printed records of our ICQ instant messages. They didn't read it, but they did look at it. The interviewer did read some of the cards we had sent each other. They also asked for pictures, and kept one of our pictures.

Entire process at embassy took about 2 1/2 hours, but the actual interview of my girl was about 5 minutes. She said it was the shortest interview of all the girls she went in with.

We really had very different interview experiences. My fiancee at the time was not asked to produce any relationship documents except 1 photo which they kept and then returned in the DHL envelope with the visa/passport. The relationship proof was established simply by communicating with her in Russian. Although we did have emails and phone records on hand.

Same here - they didn't really ask much, just pictures and financial documents. They might have looked at some old-fashioned, hand written letters as well. We had emails and phone records, no one looked at them.

Oddly, one of Galia's friends is married to a Russian physicist (in CA). She got here two months before Galia, but already has a green card. Unfortunately, the backlog here in Florida is much longer ...

Just a quick update on Elena's interview....

I talked to her on Sunday and she has yet to receive my documents packet. Since my dumbass sent the papers via USPS, who knows when they'll actually arrive. I would expect them to get there tomorrow or Tuesday, but that's really too late anyway. So much for the 5-8 business days.

She is also still waiting on the police check from the regional office. She got the police check from her city on the same day as her visit. Just walked in, asked for it, and got the print out. When she went to the regional office, they told her it was going to be one month. So, she's still waiting on that too.

She called the embassy last week to ask about the police check and they told her that without it, they couldn't grant the visa. However, she could still do the interview on the 22nd, and fax the police check later. After that, she would get the visa. So, that clears up the police check questions that have been on here several times. They went on to tell her that without my financial info, there was no need for her to come to the interview since that was something that she needed to hand-carry with her. So, without that.... no interview.

They did say that she could wait until Monday or Tuesday for the documents to arrive, and if they didn't, she could call back to reschedule the interview. A month extension would be granted while awaiting documents. I told her that maybe we should wait another three to six months or so (so I could save up more money, my job has been slow lately) and she said that wouldn't be a good reason for extension. I guess the paperwork arrival excuse is good at the embassy, the "I'm broke now" is not.

As for now I'm waiting on a message from her later this week to find out if the documents arrived or not (expecting not) and to see if the interview extension was granted or not (expecting so). Once again... the story of my life. WAITING!

Lessons learned here, and to anyone else in NOA stages right now...

Once the NOA II is granted, get your financial documents together and send them right away. Have her start on her police check (regional) right away. There was some concern as far as these documents needing to be close to (or as close as possible to) the interview date, and that's just not accurate. Do them right away, and get them sent. Another thing that would be helpful is to have travel arrangements made as soon as the interview date is on the website.

We waited for her to receive her packet 3, and that took FOREVER!!! The main reason it took so long was because not only is she in the Far East, but it was sent to her mother's house, then her mother had to send it to her from there. That took an extra 2 weeks, and I was waiting on her to get that so I would know exactly what to send to her. DON'T WAIT!!! Get your financial docs in order (if you're not sure what to send... send too much!)



More to follow on this story. It seems like it's going to delay us a little, but truth be told, it's not necessarily a bad thing because we need a little extra time to get things in order here (travel, housing, etc.) and a little extra money too. I'm just hoping the same lady that told her she can get an extension is the one she talks to this week. Funny how one person tells you one thing, then when it's time to actually get it done, the rules have suddenly changed. Either way though.... the glass is half full. We'll get it done. Good luck to all of you!

Sorry to hear about that Slim. We had a major scare with police documents too and were down to the wire getting them, and never did recieve the "official" one from Germany, but thank God we had a faxed copy that my girl had translated. We were sure the US embassy was going to reject it, but they said it was fine. We were terrible nervous about that but now it is all behind us.

Good luck.

Also, Airlines can send documents for you very quickly (like same day). I've done this before by courier. While it is expensive, it is also reliable. If you are sending small cargo this way, it can be picked up at the airport within an hour of arrival (there are still customs delays going internationally).

For documents, you might get them through the same day by having a courier hand-carry them, though I would guess this would be quite expensive to Russia.

I would start with cargo operations at Delta - they should be able to help you. Otherwise, a courier firm (probably based out of NYC) might help. http://www.citipak.co.uk delivers next day by 12:00 to 225 countries, same day US and Europe (next day Moscow 20 quid). There are many companies delivering documents this way.

For airport pickup, I've found airline cargo to be good, but more expensive than DHL/Fedex. Major advantage is being able to ship larger cargo (more than 1 ton). This is highly profitable for the airline (much more so than passengers), so they are usually helpful. Airlines usually guarantee cargo delivery on-time. They never do this for passengers. Wonder why?

Otherwise, if they will let you reschedule, I would say DHL for pickup in Moscow at their office is a good choice. Fedex delivery for me outside Moscow has been under $70 with my discount (has never taken more than 2 business days). They call the recipient after arrival in Moscow to confirm delivery.

Excellent point russ!

I could've shipped the docs DHL to Moscow and had them held there for her. That would've guranteed timely arrival and safekeeping. Well, hindsight is 20/20. SO TO ALL VJers IN A TIME CRUNCH TO GET YOUR DOCS TO YOUR S/O, SEND THEM DHL TO MOSCOW FOR HER TO PICK UP!!!

The airline thing is good too. I've heard it's possible to get discounts on tickets by acting as a courier if there is a service in the area. For instance, all of us fly to SVO or DME once in a while. If we stop through JFK on the way and pick up an envelope or small package to carry with us, we can get up to something like 85% off our tickets. Maybe this is an urban legend, but I've heard about it several times. Guess I'll have to ask Jeeves next time I go.

Neonred, I remember all the drama with the police checks and the "travelling uncle." Congrats on getting all this behind you!

Another update....

Talked to Elena again today, and the new interview date is 19 April. Way easier than I thought, and definately good news for us. I was having visions of starting this whole process over.

Just for informational purposes to all of you.... if you need more time to get your documents together or are facing huge charges to get them to her or she has to pay huge charges to expedite processing of police checks, translations, etc., she simply needs to call the embassy and ask for an extension. That's it. Amazingly simple for a USCIS process, but it really does work. And, it works in Russia! I'm still in awe.....

Did your documents make it there yet? If not, I would suggest sending via Fedex (or DHL) for Moscow pickup NLT 7 APR 06.

I wish that USCIS had a suggestion box - it would be great if these types of documents could be submitted electronically (signed PDFs seem to be ok with most courts in the US), or at least to a central location IN the US. The only thing that needs to be signed is the I-134... Since these are notarized, I don't see the problem with an electronic copy (it still has the notary stamp, which is not impossible or even hard to veriry.)

Good points russ. It would be good if USCIS would allow us to submit signed PDF copies. That would make this whole process WAY easier. Can you imagine? Loggin on one day, then about an hour later, you're done with everything and the packet three (via e-mail) is on the way. We could be done with the whole process in less than a week. Awesome.

OK, back to reality. Hopefully they'll deliver my docs to her sometime next week. Then I'll sigh and go back to waiting patiently.

Another way the USCIS could avoid this whole mess of sending documents is to have everything needed from the petitioner to be submitted in the original I-129F. This would also require quick processing so the information submitted won't go stale. And at the time of the interview collect only the information needed from the beneficiary. Put them together and you get a valid visa decision.
On the other hand, the USCIS could enact a more costly, yet more effect method by mandating that both the USC and foreign beneficiary be present at the interview.

[quote name='Neonred' date='Mar 2 2006, 06:07 PM' post='55634']
You are free to send more returns if you want. I sent two to be safe, but if your returns are complicated (like mine) this can be a lot of paper ( a few hundred pages in my case for 3 years). If I had three handy and they weren't too long, I'd probably send them all.
[/quote]


I ordered tax transcripts and fortunately they are condensed to just a few pages. My very thick return for 2004 ended up on four double sided pages.
[/quote]

They only ask for the schedul 1040 and w-2's Mine are close to 100 pages also. I gave her the 1040's for one year and since I was in Moscow I had with me two more years and one complete set of the full return just to be on the safe side. If they are in the mood if you are self emplyed they can ask for three years. I am an employee but also own 100% of the company I work for so I wanted to be safe. They were happy with one year.

Satellite for President!!!

Still waiting on the papers.....

Got an e-mail today:

Papers arrived in Vladivostok on March 15th. (Original interview was SUPPOSED to be on the 22nd!)

Elena got tired of waiting for the papers and went to the post office today to check on what was going on. The postman told her that the packet wasn't going to be delivered to the house, only to the post office. He didn't explain why they never contacted her to let her know that her packet had arrived. I guess in Russia they don't tell you when you have a packet, you're just supposed to go check. Apparently she didn't know this either (sounds like another "it's Russia" thing) so she didn't check until now.

She did tell me on the phone the other day that I should've put her phone number on the packet too, that way if there was a problem, they could call her. This is something that I've done numerous times in the past, and I didn't put it on there the last couple of times I've sent a package (Christmases) so I didn't think to do it again. I don't know, maybe the postman would've called her if the phone number would've been on there. Then again, maybe not.

USPS did come through though. For the $16 or whatever it was, they got it there in exactly 8 business days. I'm not going to blame them for dropping the ball, and will probably send her documents and things again in this method only next time I'll be sure to write her phone number on the packet/package and have her physically check the post office herself within the 5-8 business days or two weeks or whatever the USPS estimated delivery is. It just pisses me off that her Christmas package (a 9 pound box) was DELIVERED to her house in only two weeks, and this small document sized packet couldn't make it there within three. It was just sitting in the post office collecting dust.

And they wonder why people go postal!!!

Good to hear the documents arrived. It's the Russian post office that dropped the ball and not USPS! Actually the Russian post office was doing business as usual.
$16 is a bargain compared to how much the rest of the group on here has spent on Fedex and DHL. But I still have the record, I continue to send important and unimportant letters to Russia using regular $0.84 letters and they usually arrive between 10 to 14 days.
Good luck, I hope the rest goes smoothly.

I send 75 cent Aerograms (they used to be 60 cents..) These usually take 1-2 weeks. I think that the US Post Office is fine, even for domestic overnight mail. ( With my Fedex discount, they are about the same price, though). The problem is them same as Satellite said - once a package leaves the US, the US Postal Service has nothing to do with it. What you are really paying for with Fedex or DHL INTL is for them to deliver (themselves, more or less) anywhere in the world. Having all those employees, trucks, planes, etc all over the world is what makes it expensive. In the (fairly rare) cases something must be delivered quickly and be tracked along the way, I think their prices are fair.

Late documents in Moscow would have cost me more than $100.

It is funny, though. Galia ended up missing her flight the next week, and had to buy another ticket at the airport. That ended up being another $1,000...