Hey everyone,

Hope you're all having a happy woman's day, and if you forgot (or just didn't know) it's not too late to do something nice or play it off as "baby, I was waiting for tonight!"

I should've posted this yesterday as a reminder, but here it is anyway!




To all the wives, girlfriends, S/Os.... HAPPY WOMAN'S DAY!!!

In case anyone besides me was thinking "HUH? Women's Day?" I looked it up.

International Women's Day

International Women's Day (8 March) is an occasion marked by women's groups around the world. This date is also commemorated at the United Nations and is designated in many countries as a national holiday. When women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, they can look back to a tradition that represents at least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development.


International Women's Day is the story of ordinary women as makers of history; it is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men. In ancient Greece, Lysistrata initiated a sexual strike against men in order to end war; during the French Revolution, Parisian women calling for "liberty, equality, fraternity" marched on Versailles to demand women's suffrage.


The idea of an International Women's Day first arose at the turn of the century, which in the industrialized world was a period of expansion and turbulence, booming population growth and radical ideologies.


Happy International Women's Day..

My dad always buys my mom some flowers today, and if one of his daughters happens to be at home, she gets a bouquet as well.

My wife was shocked that I remembered.

every day is Woman's Day

HAPPY WOMANS DAY !!!!!!



HOPE ALL THE LADIES GET A GOOD GIFT TONIGHT *LOL*

Nope,..I didn't forget. Roses & chocolate for my sweetie.

Since I'm the ONLY guy that didn't know...am using this phrase in case I ever forget..

(besides, its kinda true)

For those that are curious here are all the national Russian / US holidays:
http://www.consulrussia.org/Protocol/holidays_engl.html

But let's face it. We live in America and shouldn't we celebrate and acknowledge US holidays? Or are we responsible for all the ones on the list I posted?

There should be no hard feelings if you were ignorant of a foreign holiday. We have our equivalent, mother's day I suppose, but it requires being a mom and not just a "woman" in general.

In Russia it is a big holiday. Anyone know why we don't have such a holiday here?

From my experience it seems March 8th is the most important day for Russian women (except maybe for their birthday.) If you overlook Valentine's Day it doesn't seem to be a huge big deal, but if you forget March 8th then look out!

Anyway it's all good because us guys get our day next week on the 14th! http://www.steakandbjday.com/

I didn't forget....

You clearly do not know my wife. All of them matter She has managed to forget about "Army Day" though. (Russian Men's day for those who don't know, it was last month.)

Kidding aside, Women's day was great this year. I suprised Галина with flowers in the morning, made dinner, and a few other things. Not really out of the ordinary, but it was a fun day. I skipped Russian class yesterday too, and we went to the beach.

I guess I am the devil, I knew it was women's day but did nothing since I didn't really know what to do!

We did go to Social Security where we were informed Оля is authorized to work!

We talked at night and I said, I did not know what to do, she says flowers....anything...so after the talk I walked to the circle K across the street and bought a feather rose and a package of Resse's peanut butter cups!

That seemed to be enough for her!

Mark, I can see your romantic nature was what won her heart. It is not the gift that counts, it is the thought and the feelings you two share. I hope you have dozens of happy Women's days ahead. I will remember that Reeses cup's seem to do the trick.

YOU ARE THE MAN!!!



And russ.... "army day" wasn't exactly celebrated here, either. I was reminded that it was "man's day" but that was about the extent of it. On woman's day, after I was "malidetz" and presented the flowers/card/queen breakfast, etc., she said "It's very good that you remembered.... cause if you would've forgotten....." There was no consequence listed, but I think it would've been something similar to Otto's thread about the Greek woman who started the sex strike.


So the 14th is the official is steak and BJ day? I was wondering about that. I briefly explained it on Super Bowl Sunday (the other "man's day") and Valentines day, but it didn't seem to get a very warm reaction. I'll have to send her the link, that way she can see it's real. Cause if it's on the internet, it has to be real, right?

I hope you don't get what we got at a local shop that surprising specializes in Russian items! Olga from there says "the internet is the internet" when I explained the instructions on this website about EAD...as that Olga believes and told us we could just walk into our local USCIS office...

Another thing that bothered me is another Russian woman told (my) Olga we do not need to mail anything to Chicago, do it all locally...of course she did hers 7 years ago...when you COULD just go to the local office! The Tucson USCIS office told us to mail it to Chicago and after that I read the part under AOS where since 2005 you can no longer file at the local offices.

Marc, can you expand on this a little more? Did they tell you that K-1s are authorized to work anytime? Only after marriage? After entry but before marriage? Until K-1 expiry?

When/How is this possible?

Technically speaking a K1 is work authorized while the visa and status is valid. The visa expires in 90 days and your status changes from fiance(e) when you get married.
However, the problem is proving to an employer that you are work authorized. Bringing a print out from the social security regulations printed on their website probably won't work. A K1 visa is not listed as one of the acceptable documents proving work authorization on an I-9. Not to mention you need a social security card to work. So once again in theory an employer can hire a K1 visa holder not yet married with a social security card for the duration of that visa / status without getting in "trouble".
Good luck finding that employer.

A more practical solution to this problem is having the government modify the I-9 to include K1 visas still valid and in status as a proper document for proof of work authorization or giving temporary EADs like the once given at JFK to every K1 admission.
This oversight is yet another example of legislation and policy written at different times and pieces that don't neatly fit together to form the bigger picture.

They were already married when they went to the Social Security office. Technically, as far as we all know, she's now out of status and thus ineligible to work. However, if they went to the SSA office and were told she was eligible to work, that's something new.

I'm thinking it was a mistake on the SSA's part, but who knows. They probably informed Marc and Olga that she could work until her visa expired, which we know is not true, but that's the common misconception at the SSA office and even most people outside of the government. Elena and I were told similar things, that they could do stuff while her visa was still valid (even though we were married) but not after it expired (EVEN THOUGH WE WERE MARRIED). Almost everywhere we went (BMV, SSA, even USCIS) they were willing to do paperwork and process forms, but only until her visa expired (EVEN THOUGH WE WERE MARRIED!!!!).

This is a sterling example of one government agency not knowing the regulations of another.

The problem we ran into with her getting a job was that no employers wanted to hire her because they were unclear about her immigration status and work authorization. And who can blame them? Not even the government could be sure what they were doing, and they make the rules!

I'm wondering exactly what they were told out there. I bet it's different than what we were told here!

For one thing it is impossible to tell if one is married by just looking at their passport and K1 visa. Recall the Russian internal passport which has the marital status placed in there. And another more obvious problem is having other federal (SSA), state (DMV) and even private entities (employers) verify immigration status, which each taking a different interpretation. Lastly I think the rarity of the K1 visa adds to the problem. Keep in mind statistically more people adjust status through other means than a K1.

It is possible to tell from their timeline on VJ! (And their signature at the bottom of their posts.)

Yep, the K-1 seems like a giant loop-hole (or maybe sink hole) in the immigration process. It's technically not this type of visa, technically not that type.... it's truly in a league of it's own. I was trying to explain to a perspective employer yesterday (for me, not for her) about how the K-1 process works. I saved my breath by simply saying "I'll call you when we get the card."

I don't know if it would be easier or harder if the K-1 was processed in another manner. I know for a fact it would be easier if they were like "OK. Thanks for coming. You've got 90 days to get married. Once you do, your green card will arrive two weeks later. Welcome to the U.S. and A." (Just watched Borat!)

Slim, so how'd it go on the 14th? (If you don't mind us asking! ) Did you get either or both of the special rewards for us guys' special day?

That's April 14th.... not March 14th.

Although, March 13th is my birthday, so even the 14th went pretty well!