I paid for car insurance. What a scam that is! I think all insurance companies are just scam artists. Anyway, that’s my getting scammed story... on to the update...

Olga and Anya received their green cards about a month ago. My 'journey' was a pretty uneventful one, but I will go over the parts I thought helped, and maybe things I did wrong.

For the K1 packet I followed the directions on VJ to the letter. It is hard to go wrong when you do this. Our petition got stuck in 'limbo' for a while, so I contacted my Congressman after the date on the UCSIS website for processing petitions had passed by 120 days. My petition was approved the day after my congressman (or his representative) contacted USCIS. Coincidence?? You decide...

At the Embassy stage everything went smooth except that they sent the wrong papers to my fiancé (wife). She was able to download the correct papers and take care of it all. Don't count on the government or the Embassy to do things correctly, I guess is the lesson. Always check their work! The interview was with a man and was only about 10 questions. At the time she interviewed they wanted to see love letters, romantic pics, and all that gooshy stuff. They asked questions about love etc... I guess they don't do that anymore. She actually did have a problem at the Embassy. She had forgotten to fill out part of a form, or something, I don't remember. They just told her to fill it out and do the interview later. It was no problem. I seem to hear that alot. Don't worry too much if everything isn't 'perfect'. Go to the interview as scheduled no matter what. Or at least reschedule if you have time.

Coming to America was not a hassle. My fiancé had a letter from her daughter’s biological father stating it was ok for her to travel to the states. She was never asked for this paper by anyone. When she arrived in the US (POE Los Angeles) the customs personal told her to wait in the wrong line 3 times... She finally found the right one. She said the person in front of her did not speak any english, was coming in on a K1 visa, and did not answer the questions very well, but was whisked on through. My fiancé can speak English well, answered all questions perfectly, had her daughter with her, and had lots of pictures (that they actually asked to see) and was held there for like 1/2 hour before they let her in. You never know with these customs people what they are looking for.


Coming to America was not a hassle. My fiance had a letter from her daughters biological father stating it was ok for her to travel to the states. She was never asked for this paper by anyone. When she arrived in the US (POE Los Angeles) the customs personal told her to wait in the wrong line 3 times... She finally found the right one. She said the person in front of her did not speak any english, was coming in on a K1 visa, and did not answer the questions very well, but was wisked on through. My fiance can speak English well, answered all questions perfectly, had her daughter with her, and had lots of pictures (that they actually asked to see) and was held there for like 1/2 hour before they let her in. You never know with these customs people what they are looking for.

When we got home things were fine. My wife is not the type of person to walk around going 'oooooo' and 'ahhhh'. Mostly it was pointing out what things are better in Russia! We have visted a member of this board, I don't remember his nickname but he doesn't visit anymore. Doudis or something. His wife and mine are friends. We visited them in Arizona and also went to the Grand Canyon when we were there. She is now pregnant and my wife is visiting her again in a few weeks. I believe she is due in August. If anyone was wondering about them, they are very good and happy with everything.

My wife has taken ESL lessons in several places to brush up on it. She used a school where they train teachers to go abroad and teach english. Since they are students she got the schooling for free. Once she got a job she quit those classes. I suggest looking in craig's list etc. and finding someplace that likes to have bi-lingual folks as a first job. Much easier to get in the door.

Other then that, we have seen and been lots of places here in the Northwest. We are 'active' people and arent' the type to sit and watch TV all day. In that way we are good together. She does all those things mentioned in the 'cultural differences' thread though... Sometimes its cute, other times its not

If you have any questions about anything, feel free to ask.

Glad to hear things are great! Yeah, haven't heard from Doudis in a while... Or Medvejonik - that's what I used to call my someone special. (they thought that bears were ugly, clumsy things though)

AK had a better "I got scammed joke" BTW.

Thanks for posting all that, Chuckles. I remember when you first posted this, I was on the run and only began to read it saying "I'll come back to this later." (My wife was "expediting" me to leave the house.) It must have gotten pushed down the list because I didn't see it again until just now.

I guess I'm lucky because my wife got a job within walking distance to our home, so.... NO CAR INSURANCE!!! (And no car too!!!) Not yet, anyway. I'm sure she'll get one in a few months, and then we'll get scammed too.

Thank You for posting:)Nice to hear people still getting along after this long process:)))

Insurance But it's the law