While it shouldn't matter when you apply for the SSN (as long as it is BEFORE day 76 after her arrival in the country). There have been stories that the name change gives the SSA incredible "heartburn' because it no longer matches what is in the system. Bite the bullet and do it before. Anyways you need to go back to SSA when AOS is approved informing them of change in immigration status, so do the name change then....

Ok, sounds good. I knew I'd get a reply from you...you haven't let us down yet.

Thanks

I had Tania get her SSN as soon as possible to open a bank account, use her name for cable service, and to be ready if work she wants becomes available. This is all because of Tania's very independent nature. She's always worked and contributed to the household, and has been working as a book-keeper for years. She will be in charge of paying the bills and so on.

The name change is a non-issue, I think it can be done via mail very easy.

Rob & Tania

Hello all..
Well this is my first post, so let me catch everyone up.

We (Vika and myself) have been working on this for about 5 months so far. Today she had her medical appointment in Kiev. Not bad, although she had a very long round-trip by train from Kharkov.

The interview is scheduled for Sept 17. I will be meeting her in Kiev so that I can accompany her.

So, things are finally getting exciting. I guess the only thing I am worried about now is all of the paperwork that we need for the interview. Any suggestions on organizing it would be appreciated.

I am planning on returning to Kiev in 2 weeks to bring her America. I had a question about immigration at JFK. I have read some posts, but as I recall, U.S. Citizens are sent to one side, and everyone else to the other side. I am a little worried about sending her alone.

In any case, I have been reading everyone's posts for a while, and I appreciate all of the information!

-Lee (and Vika)

Lee,
First of all congratulations so far on where you are at in the process.
We recently came from Kiev and JFK so I can tell you about our experience.

When you arrive in Kiev (the embassy) you will not be able to accompany her in the interview. Although I do believe you can go into the embassy and wait for her. The key here, is that you have all the documents in order, if you do, they will ask her the least amount of questions. They asked my Anya Zero questions
Here is a topic that might be of interest to you as well.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...49639&st=75

You may want to read it from the beginning, but it is specific to Kiev.

I did not accompany Anya to her interview, instead I went there for her trip to get to the USA.
In JFK, yes there is 2 lines, one for the US Citizens and one for all others. The left is for US Citizens and the right for all others. (but it could change as I could swear a few months back it was opposite.

It took her about 1 hour just to get through the line and meet a immigration agent. When she did get there, they asked her for the envelope (the one your not supposed to open). They said NOTHING to her, spent about 10 minutes with her, then accompanied her to a "second immigration control check" which is a room directly behind the immigration post.
You could go in there, but dont test your luck, I was told off when trying to leave to check on the luggage.

I used this time to get our luggage and put on a cart. I was able to stand on the backside of the immigration line to watch for Anya as she talked to the immigration folks. I was told by someone else, that I could have gotten in line with her after I passed. So you may want to check up on that as well.
She spent about 30 to 45 minutes in this room, where again, they told her nothing. To me, they sent all K1 visa's to this room. After the wait, they gave her, her passport back with the appropriate stamps, she was then ok to leave. This made us pretty late to get to our plane. Bonus, use this 1 to 2 hours to talk "nicely" to the agents near the baggage claim area. I talked to one about my incident in the room, and fortunately for me, he was the guy that would "check" our bags. He did not check one bag when we left so that was nice.

Anyways, if you have any other questions you can send me a PM or post in the Kiev Beat post.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=49639

Best wishes to both of you!
T.

If you are with her ask the crowd control officer if she can accompany you in the USC line... I did and they allowed it... but it is best to ask to be sure

I think I am going crazy, I could have sworn I put my post above in the January filers post directing Lee here.
I guess I need more sleep!
LOL

I called NVC yesterday and was told we were received on Wednesday the 22nd. I now have our KEV number, and when I asked if it had been forwrded to the Embassy was told it is still in "Administrative Processing". This of course didn't sit well with me and I did a bit of searching here about this. From what I gather, everyone goes through it. I guess there seems to be some variation of thought on "Admin Processing vs. Admin Review" as some say they are the same, others say they are different. In any case I'm keeping an open mind to it, and read later that they do not assign Embassy case numbers if it is being held up for some reason.

Any of you guys heard this .....Jon? .....Master of the VJ Ukrainian Information Center??

In any case Lena and I are VERY pleased to have the Embassy number. I see that AP/AR has become fairly common for the Russian Fiancees or anyone who has previous K-1's. Neither of us fall into that catagory.

Eric

AP is something every case file goes through... I relate this to a checklist that needs to be completed... The $100K question is what are the items on the checklist... Do they do name checks on the USC? on the beneficiary? else? If the USC is a law enforcement type does it slow it down? What if the alien fiance(e) had some sort of high powered job in some sort of sensitive area (military, nuclear, else) what if any effect does that have on the speed of completing the checklist.... I do not know. It seems most case files clear in 7-10 days for people filing for beneficiaries in Ukraine.

E, if I were a betting man I would bet your case file is completed and processed by the end of the week... I would expect that you should be able to contact the call center and schedule your interview on about Sep 10 and Lena could have her interview on or before Oct 15th...

Thanks Jon, I'll call NVC on Friday and see where things are at. I hope and pray you're right about the interview I'd really like her to be here by Thanksgiving.

E.

Need some info I leave on Tuesday next week to get married in Ukraine. I know we have to go to the US Embassy to get my no impediment paperwork, but for some reason I cannot remember the name of the office we need to go to for Ukraine permission to marry. Anybody know ?

Quick POE review/experience. Landed at Chicago O'Hare. Got to Customs/Immigrations. An officer directed US citizens to one line, immigrants/visa holders to another line. I asked the officer about K-1 visa holders, he directed my fiancee' to a line. He told me by all means, certainly accompany my fiancee'. I was happy that I didn't have to ask. Waited to together in line for about 5 minutes. Got the next available immigration officer. Karolina gave her the sealed envelope from the embassy. Officer looked at them, asked us 3 questions:
1) How did you meet?
2) To Karolina: Do you have any children?
3) When is the wedding date?
After sorting through to make sure all the documents were there, she said "Welcome To America" and sent us on our way. 10 minutes total time. Grabbed our luggage from the carousel, ran through the scanner, out the door we went. No problems at all. Very fast, efficient, professional.

Glad it was a non event for both of you.
Welcome to America, now go have some fun!
Regards,
T.

I believe that office in Ukraine is called Zaggs, but I will clarify when I get the chance.
T.

Good Deal Joe, glad you made it ok. Now get some rest and begin your new life!

No ZAGS is where you get married. This office is where you get the permission to get married. Ministry of (blank) I even know it's just down the street from the US embassy.

Sorry bgreed, I can't answer your question for you. Look up and ask the user: Liviv_lovers. They married and are in the home stretch for their case.

Now a question for everyone else. We have our Embassy case number, but the petition was still sitting at NVC as of last Friday. I am going to call them again on this Friday to see if it has been sent (we hope so, it's been there since the 22nd of August). Since we have the case number is it permitted to go forward with the Medical soon? I sent the Embassy an email asking this and they sent one of their canned responses to me just saying they do not have the petition yet, and will send my fiancee the information packet once they have it. They completely ignored the question of can we do this now or do we have to wait. I see that the medical is good for one year, but obviously, we don not expect the process to take that long.

Any thoughts?

E,

I have told you thousands of times... Why don't you listen to me...

The medical can be done in a matter of days and and since Lena is in Kiev she can do it at anytime, but the KEV # is all that is required by the clinic to do the medical.. by all means, have Lena call the clinic and schedule if she so desires.

Ok, ok, I got it that time. Sorry.


E.

Hello VJ surfers,

I am pretty new to this site but I find it very informative.
If I get my US spouse visa (we filed for CR-1). how much time should pass before I can travell back to Ukraine to see my family? I am far from getting my visa but I am already thinking about that... funny

P.S. I just got my KEV # assigned with NVC.

Another question. Me and my hubby Daniel had our baby born here in Ukraine. The US embassy issued our baby a US passport. If\When I am issued visa will I have any difficulties taking baby (who is US citizen though born In Ukraine) out of the country when flying to Us without his father.
Yeahh, I gotta fly alone to Us with the baby.

My guess would be no because the baby is departing on a US Passport (with intention to travel to the US) and not a Ukrainian Passport.. but to be safe, I would have a written notarized statement from Daniel acknowledging that you have his full permission to take the baby with you on your travels...... You may not need it but be safe.....

Thanks T. It was certainly nothing that I heard what it was going to be. Wish they were all so easy.

As far as I am aware on a CR-1 (which turns into a conditional greencard upon entry) there are no travel restrictions per se other than not accumulating too much time out of the country....

Etripke,
No need to wait for embassy to send info packet---have your girl download it from embassy site. I had my lady do this as soon as we learned KEV# , so we had everything ready and assembled when they finally scheduled her interview. Medical and other documents are good for a year----be sure to tell her to get a copy of her medical exam for YOUR records. Our illustrious DHS cretins lost Nataly's exam somewhere between JFK and our AOS application. She had to go to a CS here for a complete new medical exam. Interview in Kiev was VERY easy---they only asked her one question.

Hello,
I have a question could you give me the link from where I could download the info paket to start to get ready and my second question for how long is police certificate is valid?
Thanks
Natasha

http://kiev.usembassy.gov/visa_K1K2_eng.html#top

police certificates are valid for up to one year

Wrong link.. previous link was for K1/2

This link is for IR1

http://kiev.usembassy.gov/visa_iv_forms_eng.html

We've done that thanks Everything is ready for her, all organized in binder, just need to send updated financials and schedule medical. Just out of curiosity, why did it take so long for your fiancee's interview?

Thanks.

I called NVC this morning. Today is Day 17 since NVC received our petition, and guess what...the damn thing is still there. I did have a nice CSR who did say that the processing is complete, we are not stuck in name checks, and that it is in the mailroom awaiting dipatch to the Embassy. She also said that it can take 4 weeks to be sent out. That sounds freak'n crazy to me, I haven't found a single timeline for a Ukrainian K-1 taking that long at NVC when it is finished with processing. I did ask if they are sent in batches, and she told me that they do not send individual cases to the Embassy. Why do they even bother sending a letter saying it will be sent out within a week?

So, I guess we wait until next Wednesday and I'll call at the 3 week mark and see if it has been sent. At this rate I guess I can expect them to send it by ocean liner, camel and horse to Kyiv and add about an additional month of transit time.

dammit... I need to look at the crystal ball again

Thanks for your reply
but you gave me link for K visas but i'm going on CR-1 way

Work that MoJo Brother I need all the help I can get.

You need to keep reading... see post # 178

thanks, got it now
I don't know why but yesterday it was different page I sow when I clicked on the link
Anyway thanks
I made an appointment for med exam in Kiev on Sep 21st
It's not that cold for now that's why I
ve decided to do this now instead of beeing nervous and rushing in cold winter doing this right before interview
Thanks for your support
Natasha

VJ surfers,

Is a Green Card something like a US passport. Say - Us passport bearers don't need to obtain a visa to enter European Union countries like they don't need any visum to come and saty in Ukraine(up to 3 months). Does a green card beaer need to obtain a visum to come to Greece or Italy for example?

E,
I think you were replying to me.
Long story on the reason she gave me---she had worked for police in Odessa before; and there was a waiting period of x number of years that she could not leave the country---departmental secrets or some such. She had to get a friend to issue her report, and then she mistakenly sent it to the embassy when she sent the request for interview. By that time her friend had also left the department, so she had to find someone else who could help her. It took her months to get a new police certificate.

Hey VJ surfers,

I got my NOA2 from USCIS via e-mail more than a month ago but I've got no notice via regular mail. Do I actually need a hard copy of notice of approval from USCIS at all?

I don't recall them ever asking for it during the rest of the process. Although you should call and let them know you have not received it. Maybe they will send another. Or they may have an address issue.

A green card is not citizenship so you cannot use this as some sort of travel outside the country.
You would have the right to live/work here but you would not be able to travel with it.
After 5 years you can apply for citizenship once you have that, you can get an American passport etc...

My fiancee has her interview in Kiev Sept 27th. I sent her 2 copies of my pay stubs for the last 6 months, 2 copies of my W2s for the past two years, 2 copies of my bank statement, 2 copies of employer statement, and the original notarized I-134. She pointed out to me the other day that one of the documents in packet 3, titled "INSTRUCTIONS FOR IMMIGRANT/K VISA APPLICANTS" (filename "KIEV_INSTRUCTIONS_IMMIGRANT.rtf") has a table on page 5, instruction #12.

The table looks kind of like the KEV checklist. Item No. 3 says "Evidence of support from American fiancee (original or copy)" with two columns checked--one for "copy" and one for "original". She's worried that I did not send her a copy of the I-134 stuff, but everything I read elsewhere seems to suggest it won't be needed. Thoughts?


Like others here I had planned to meet her in Kiev and fly back together but she thought it would be a waste of money, so now I will be meeting her at JFK with my flight arriving domestically 1-hour before her. Apparently all the publicly viewable detailed maps of JFK have been taken down online for security reasons. I'm wondering--where is a good place to meet? I'll arrive in terminal 3 and she in terminal 4. I'm not certain, but when I arrive won't I be in the same "secure zone", and be able to just go over to terminal 4 and wait for her on the other side?

Since you r traveling domestically u won't be in the same zone because they have international zone secured and it;s not concidered the part of USA the best is to wait for her in arrival zone in terminal 4 that way you won't miss each other and u will be able to be near just in case
My opinion
Good luck

Bcartr!

Zadan,
You will be outside of security zone once you travel between terminals. There is 1 exit from customs at terrminal 4, so it will be easy to spot your sweetheart when she exits---don't forget the flowers

PS-secondary processing times will vary depending on the work load--it took my wife 2 hours to get through after her plane landed

Unless it has changed in past few months, I-134 was considered "optional" --I sent the same financial docs as you did---without I-134

NOA2 hardcopy is requested as a part of the AOS package!

Don't worry about providing just copies of the supporting financial data... they are fine....

Fwaguy,


Another day -another question.
My hubby just got DS-3032... what sould he do with it - mail it to me?
And what does the Choice of agent mean? What kind of agent do they mean? would it be my hubby (since we have no lawyer)?

You have the ability to appoint anyone you want to act as you "agent" and typically the applicant will appoint the USC in the event of no attorney involvement.

Agent means the person who will be receiving my correspondence (forms and stuff) from NVC?

Guys, is it a normal situation that our petition was approved August, 7th and we haven't received a hard copy of it (NOA2)from USCIS yet. Hubby called USCIS they said "file i-824 for a duplicate if you want ".. but i-824 is $ 340
maybe we should just wait longer?

Yes that is what an agent is in this situation...

You will not receive a hard copy of your petition, I assume you mean the approval notice... The USCIS had problems and with approvsal notices.. There is an e-mail address to contact...

Read here...

http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/I7...esCSC071107.pdf