W-2's are a must if you have them

I dont have them, I hope this is not a problem

Order transcripts then

I dont have W2 forms because I am self employed

1099's?

I still would order transcripts to remove all doubt... They are free BTW

I experienced the same situation... no w-2 due to SE income. Hopefully you have a tax return. If you expensed most or all of your revenues brought in from business, you show a minimum income.... correct? If your minimum income on the tax return is less than the required minimum to support a spouse (per immigration guidelines), then you need to show assets. Your assets can be equity in your home, business equipment that you own, property that you own, anything that is of value that is easily marketable or liquidated. There is a guideline for these too.... something like 20k in assets for each 10k required to show on your support schedule.... anyway, if you have assets, then you need to have a CPA verify, and sign a statement that those are your assets. If you have a registered corporation, you will need to have the CPA verify, sign, provide a copy of the resolution from the state of incorporation, etc. Anything you may have such as business equipment, you need to show that you or your business holds the asset and how much is owed, etc. Next, if you have a home, you will need to go to your County's recorders office and obtain a copy of the deed, the tax bills, and a copy of the mortgage statement... to be safe, hire a title company to conduct a search for liens against the property. Finally, look up an appraiser to place a value on your assets and get a signature and statement, etc. All supporting documentation should be notarized and signed--the workers at the embassy will want to see stamps and signatures on everything that they normally don’t encounter.

I believe I read somewhere 2 -3 weeks ago that form I-134 does not need to be notariazed anymore, is this true?

If I am not mistaken, it was reported but for the Buenos Aires consulate... this does not necessarily apply worldwide.....

Unless you read something else

Hi to everyone,

I'm posting here for the first time and would like to ask few questions. My interview date is 19th of August, and I have a police certificate dated 28th of May -- this is ok, right? Can I pass my medical exam three weeks before the interview? Thanks.

Yes, you are fine. Police Certificates are good for 6 months as well as the medical is good for 6 months.
My Ulyana called today to schedule her medical and was given July 24th, but this was too soon for her. They told here they only schedule up to 10 days away from today's date, so if she wanted something in the following week to call back on Monday. So, she will call back on Monday to schedule her and her daughter's medical.

Conincidentally, we have our Interview on August 19th too, at 9:30AM. Where are you from - USA?? If you are from America, and your interview is scheduled around the same time, I will see you at the Embassy.

John

Hi John,

Thanks for your reply... I was already thinking about the possibility of getting another certificate tomorrow I'm from Ukraine, my fiance Mark is from the USA. Funny, but I was told 9:30, too.

Didn't know that they schedule medical up to ten days, thanks for that info.

Sasha

Actually the PC is valid for 1 year. This is the answer I received directly form the consulate. Medicals should also have the same validity period.

Medical exam and police certificate are both good for one year according to the info packet I downloaded from the embassys web site

Thank you, fwaguy and Muddy

Slight difference in name spelling - Petition versus Passport - This cause a problem?

Hello all, wondering if anyone can help.

My Natalia just got her international passport today.

-They spelled her first Name in English as: 'NATALIIA' - with 2 letter 'I's
-For the petition, I spelled her name with just one 'I' - 'NATALIA'
(I don't understand where they got the 2 'I's from..)

Her first name in Russian is spelled 'Наталья'
-What is also strange - they spelled her name in Russian on the passport as 'HATAЛIЯ '

Also, for her last name, they used a 'Y' for one letter where I put an 'I'
Her last name in Russian is 'Удовиченко'
-I spelled in English as 'UDOVICHENKO'
-They spelled on the passport as 'UDOVYCHENKO'

Does anyone know if this will create any problems with obtaining her Visa?
-We will now fill in the DS-156 with the passport spelling, but this will be slightly different than what is on the petition.

Also (this might be a stupid question) - would we need to stick with this spelling that is on the passport once she gets to America?

Thanks much,
Sean

I would wait till visa delivery before getting any tickets

It should not cause problems, this happens a lot with Ukrainian and Russian spellings, but to be on safe side you might wait until you get that visa in hand.

Probably no trouble, as there are Russian, Ukrainian, etc. variants of name spellings that they deal with all the time.

You are confusing Russian & Ukrainian languages. Official language in Ukraine is Ukrainian, thus the passport spelling is Ukrainian, not Russian. Hence the different name spelling in English. When filing for petition you used Russian translit, while in the passport translit is done from Ukrainian language. In the petition, u did have to put her name and addy in "native alphabet", which would be Ukrainian. If you used Russian, do not worry, since she will have her birth certificate with Russian spelling, since up to 1991 they were filled out in Russian.

Try to stick with passport spelling for the future, though. On my very first trip to the US (back in 2001), my program sponsor (US Department of State) urged me and fellow program participants to memorize the passport spelling and use it in all official forms in America.

Also, advice Nataliia to use the passport spelling when her docs are translated for the embassy. When first arriving to the US her passport will be her ID and that spelling will be transcribed onto her SS, driver's license and so on.

Thanks, everyone, for the replies and feedback.

Ana - you are absolutely right - I was mixing Russian and Ukraine language. And I did put her name and address in Russian on the petition (not Ukrainian) - Actually I just copied and pasted what my Natlia emailed me, but she emailed me in Russian, not Ukrainian.

-I knew Russian and Ukranian were different languages, and had different words, but I thought they used the same alphabet..

I guess she will just forever be stuck with 'Nataliia'. (That was cute - you spelling her name 'Nataliia'...)

Sean

The aplphabet is almost the same, except for the few odd letters . And Ukrainian authorities do spell it weirdly. I lived with "Anastasia" ever since going to the first grade and learning English alphabet, only to receive my first passport spelling it "AnastasiYa". And my last name appeared to be even funkier. Hm... actually can't wait to get Dave's last name, lol .

When people leave Ukraine do they need to get exit stamp on their ukrainian passport?
What happens if they dont and later travel back to ukraine ?

Hm... I believe there is no avoiding the stamp... In all the times I've traveled out of the country, they always stamped my passport on the very last page. It's done on the second level at Boryspil airport. You go through the line and they usually ask you where you are going and what for and than stamp the passport and wish you a safe trip . The stamp itself is nothing major - just barely readable pale square.

Sorry, I meant exit visa. I read Ukranians must sent their international passport to a goverment office and get the exit visa, it could take 3 months for them to do it and return it and most dont do it because 3 months is too long and they worry the passport(with the foreign visa) would be lost

We have discussed some of the infamous Exit Visa issues here before. My wife never received this, but there seems to be other issues that will arise later on if you don't. One of those is property rights (she owns her own Apt. in Kyiv) and the transfer of the property. Like most issues in Ukraine it is filled with government requirements. At the time of her departure my wife could not just register her brother as living there because she needed to be a permanent resident over here, which is not given until later. She is now, but even still, the requirements are more than just stopping in at one ministry office and having it taken care off. There seem to be surprise requirements that pop up as you go along.

Getting into the USA may be a huge undertaking and dealing with what seems like a restrictive and messy process, but in looking at the process to transfer property, get your children out of the country, etc over there, it at least has some consistancy to it.

You do not have to get exit stamp, nothing happens to you if you go back later on. Would recommend your spouse keep their Ukrainian passports in their maiden name and use it later on, no will know the difference. And it will make life when they go back to travel or visit Ukraine much more easier and simple.

What if you are married in a civil ceremony in Ukraine? Doesn't the passport(s) need to change to reflect a name change (there will be one in our case)?

When we got married in Ukraine, my wife took my last name. We then got her internal passport changed to reflect the name change. Once that was done, we got her international passport changed to reflect the name change. I figured it was better to get all this done over there to avoid further hassles once in the USA and also on the paperwork. Everything went very smooth in our process.

Were there entry/exit problems at passport control?

We had seen a lot of discussion on whether or not an exit visa was needed from Ukraine or whether that was only something in the past. Like everyone else I read about we didn't do anything in regards to an exit visa. We brought her cat and dog from Ukraine also...no problems anywhere in the process.

Maybe or maybe not... depends on your locality. My wife was able to change the spelling of her first name from Svitlana to Svetlana when we were married.. (some counties in MN allow any of the names of either party to be changed). So in the end, she changed only the spelling of her first name, adopted a middle name, and changed her last name.

Having just departed Ukraine after an extended holiday visit on July 30th, we had more questions from the airline company about the different names between her passport and greencard than we had from passport control. Passport control was easy. In addition, no question whatsoever regarding this infamous exit visa stamp.

Welcome back!! How was Kherson? Did you take pictures? Tell us about the renovated flat!

It is for sale!!!! Know anyone who wants to buy?

The flat renovation is nice... unfortunately there are still so many things packed in boxes that photos do not do it justice...

I was only physically in Kherson for 4 days. Much of that time spent helping my wife get her business closed by providing moral support as she had to deal with the bureaucrats.

From my perspective, Kherson is still Kherson... only small changes.... They have decided to finish redoing the pavers on Suvorova Street (only half finished three years ago). That will be nice when done. It was nice to see some new apartment construction projects as well some retail rehabilitation. Much more interesting architectual design than the sovietskie era style concrete rectangles.

OK we're finally getting into the final stages have received the IV bill and will pay that on Monday. Lena has all her documents ready and the DS-230 filled out. Now we are planning for the interview.

We know she has to take the ability to ommigrate document for her son as well as her medical vaccination records. The I-134 and proofs of on going relationship besides her passport and and copies of all the documents she sent to NVC what other paperwork does she need to take with her to the interview? We're hoping that we might have an interview by the end of September.

Thanks

No I-134 is required..... you should have already or will submit the I-864 to NVC.

I could have sworn that somewhere I read that the I-134 was required. If not that's ok by me. Have sent the I-864

So have I got everything else OK? (by the way the word was immigrate. Fat fingers sorry )

For a K-3 it is but since it appears you are going IV then not....

fwaguy,

Does Kherson still have the water shut off in parts of the city for most of the day during the summer months? That's the one thing that I remember about it when I was there about 5 years ago.

Don

Maybe city supplied hot water but for water generally speaking I would say not for most of the city... Our apartment is in a residential area far away from the center and we have 24 hr water year round.

Where I stayed in Kherson, it wasn't just hot water, it was all water was not available during certain hours of the day. No hot water being available during the summer months is a given in Ukraine. Fortunately, most of the apartments rented by me were, as they say, up to "Western" standards, and had the little "on demand" hot water heaters.

Don

In February I rented a place that had about seven hours of running water per day. It was in a twelve story (I think) building, part of a five building complex. Maybe the water availability has to do with the population density in the complex. I stayed closer to the river in June and the water was 24/7.

When in doubt, a bribe or tip, works wonders with passport control we have found. Just have some cash handy to place in that passport if needed, I have seen it done many times by others over there and it works, sad but true. Usually they hold you up or hassle you I think when they are wanting to make some extra money from a bribe. Since they all get paid so little in that country.

Interesting - I am always afraid that if I put out a bribe while being hassled, I run the risk of getting into more serious trouble. Also, I was told that a Ukrainian official who expects compensation will probably not be shy about telling me. How often have you done it?

What happens if you schedule the visa interview and later cancel it, can you reschedule? Is there a time limit?

I have a question regarding the financial documents and requirements on form I-134. Section C/1 states “copy of last income tax return filed" which is for me form 1040 – does this need to be notarized? Will a simple photocopy do, or do I need to request that my tax preparer give me an additional copy?

Thanks in advance,
Mark n' Sasha

The tax retrun does not need to be notarized. You can provide the return, but must have the support behind the return - such as W-2, 1099's etc. that prove the numbers on the tax return. A photocopy of all of this acceptable.

John

Yes, you can cancel the interview and reschedule. To cancel your visa interview appointment, you need to call the call center with a request to do so and reschedule for another date. Good luck. I am leaving in 8 days for Ulyana's interview on the 19th. I thought you had your's scheduled for the 13th...

John

It is important to read the instructions and do not add words that do not appear. It says “copy of last income tax return filed", it does not say “notarized copy of last income tax return filed".

I plan the trip with my baby from Ukraine to US- would like to have as smooth as it can be...

Is it only US that I have to re-check my luggage if I fly from Ukraine and have to make a connecting flight in USA?

Do I have to re-check my luggage if I have to change my flights in Europe using different airlines - Ukrainian International to KLM??

Thank you...