Hey everyone!
I am just so annoyed by the work of the US Embassy in Russia. I had my interview on November, 1. And it took like 5 minutes, at the end the interviewer said that I was approved but i needed to provide my fiance's W-2 forms (i guess the other financial proove wasn't enough). I didn't know whether i should be happy that i was approved or wait until i have my visa on hand! So My fiance sent the forms at that day, a week later a girl from the Embassy called and said that it wasn't enough and we need a co-sponsor. My fiance is in entertainment business so of course the forms didn't show alot. He just gets his checks all the time.
So okay, we had our co-sponsor send all the required documents by e-mail. I am caling the Embassy a week after, they said they haven't recieved anything and it may be a technical problem! I was histerical! I am waiting here like crazy, packed everything, can't think of nothing but the f.....ng day i am finally getting my visa! And they just say it is a technical problem!
I am still pissed by their work!!! such a beurocratic establishment, they can't just be nicer and make the petitoners' life easier. So now i spamed them with the forms in 3 different e-mails, i also faxed the documents. Now i am waiting again as i am so used to already! It's just so not fair, just give me the visa! That's all i need, or i am going to lose it here!!!!

Getting a visa to the US is privilege and not a right. And nothing compares to the Russian bureaucracy!

How sad this all must make you feel. Is it possible that you can just get a sponsor and be done with it? It's insane all the hoops that they make you jump through, but sometimes it's just best to jump through those hoops and be done with it. If you can at all get a sponsor, you might want to try that. Once Visa is in hand it won't matter anyway.

Best of luck to you both!

I pay a lot of money in taxes every year to the folks that run that beurocratic establishment and they didn't even try to make my life easier. So, to think you'd get better service because you paid them a measly little $100 fee is probably where you're off here. Try paying taxes for a few years, then maybe you'll be able to breeze right through this visa process.

On second thought, it'll probably just get harder for you when you start paying taxes because then you'll have to provide your own forms too.


In the mean time, may I suggest doing all the "Russian" stuff you're not going to get the chance to do here anymore. A nice steambath, cheap "woman's stuff" (hair, nails, massages etc.), eat as much caviar as possible, enjoy fresh kvas and pilminy, etc., etc., etc. Once you get to the States, you're going to have to make applications at beurocratic establishments once again just to enjoy those things.

Amen to that...

If you thought your embassy experience was bad, just check out what kind of POE experience you can have with that attitude:
http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...48&hl=taser

It's got to be tough waiting and waiting and then getting the request for more information right at the end of the process, when all we want is for the wait to be over. It's easy to think "and what exactly were they doing during all the time I was waiting?!" Natasha and I still wait for our NOA2, and I dread getting any RFEs or anything else that would slow down the visa in even the smallest way. But I feel your pain, and you will find a way through. Oh, and listen to mox - he's got a good head on his shoulders. Good luck!

As i wrote before i was approved, but now i have to wait more and more to get my visa, and i want it very soon. Just imagine that you were assured to get something but wouldn't be able to get it for some rediculous reasons! That what pisses me of and my fiance too! I just really want to be with my love finally after all that time of waiting...

That is really mean to post me this kind of link, I am not some sicko and can control myself, i am saying i am just very tired

How sad this all must make you feel. Is it possible that you can just get a sponsor and be done with it? It's insane all the hoops that they make you jump through, but sometimes it's just best to jump through those hoops and be done with it. If you can at all get a sponsor, you might want to try that. Once Visa is in hand it won't matter anyway.

Best of luck to you both!
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Thank you MOX! We have a co-sponsor, we sent everything needed from him to the Embassy, and the Immigration Unit a week later says that they haven't received anything. I was like WHAT? i guess they just lost it. So i resent the documents again and now I have to wait for a hopefully good outcome

I really understand that I will not have easy time there with the continous paperwork!!! But the most important thing for me(and nobody could "hear" my pain in my post) is to be with my baby, that is what I need most of all, the visa keeps us apart..........

Make sure you are strong enaugh to go through this,because its whole different story.As slim said here all is expensive,stuff like nails and hair is considered as a luxory.
Moreover people here are way different than in europe..another problem adjustment time going to drive you nuts because you will not be able to work,which for most busy russian girls is worst punishment ever!
stay strong zaika,nikto ne govoril chto budet legko:(

And as time goes by, it gets even worse

***just kiddin'***

Hehe that depends on people i guess:)))
I have times when i hate everything and only thing that keeps me here is a man i love.

My wife has times where she hates everything, especially a man she loves.... but, thankfully, they're getting fewer and farther between.

Hey thank you kotenochek!!!

I am already here and very happy. I had my work authorization stamp put in my passport ay POE, and now I already know that I am definaltely getting a job, i already applied. I know it may be hard to get a job, but as long as I am here with my baby I feel great and no lonely any more!!!

Congratulations! Did you go through JFK to get the work authorizations? My fiancee went through Atlanta and did not get one, however, apparently you can work with K1 visa even without the stamp, at least that's what they are saying at russian fiancee forums.

It seemed here there wasn't really an issue with having the stamp or not having the stamp or anything like that. It was finding an employer willing to hire a potential Immigrations Fine candidate for less than three months. My wife applied at several places and they all said basically the same thing:

"So are you allowed to work here after your three months is up or you can only work for the three months or what if you can work for the three months and then are you still supposed to keep working or.... when you get married are you still allowed to work? What happens if you get married and then it's been like four months and........ you know what? We'll call you. Thanks for applying."

If you can find someone that understands the immigrations process and the legality of employing those on K-1s, etc., than you should be able to work just fine. But what we ran into was most places not wanting to take the chance of getting in trouble over hiring an illegal worker. Even fast food places were very reluctant to hire.

This was also during the big crackdown on illegal immigration last year so maybe that played a big part in it. If it's on TV.... it must be true. So maybe you'll be better off now. Good luck finding a job, and if you do get hired, please share what type of job you got and specifically how you filled out the interview forms and if you were interviewed, how you "passed" the interview process pertaining to your immigration and work eligibility status.

Did your wife disclose her immigration status at job interviews? Did they ask her about it?

Don't forget you can always work for cash. Many in the Russian community who came over as refugees are still on public subsidies, section 8 housing, and work for cash allowing them to go on vacation three times a year and drive fancy cars. Just home ownership is out of the question.
Even here in San Francisco, local Russian stores will pay cash under the table for work! House keepers, handy men, etc. can all get work for cash. If they haven't caught the other 12 million they won't catch you either, plus during AOS all unauthorized work is forgiven, it's the law!

That's exactly where all the problems came from. They didn't understand her immigration status and were too chicken-$#!T to hire her. They thought they'd be fined for hiring her at worst, and would only have an employee for three months at best. So, they just wouldn't hire her.

And working for cash here is out of the question. To work for cash, she'd have to drive somewhere which would defeat the whole purpose of working in the first place. We live near the university so all the cash jobs are filled by hungry college kids.

So, end result, no work for about nine months and then an hourly wage at a small place within walking distance from the home. She doesn't make a lot of money, but by not driving to work, it's like she makes more. She's going to start driving soon (and buy a car) but it's kind of a dual-edged sword... paying for the car means getting a better job which means more monthly expenses which means "the more you make the more you spend."

I don't know if I can win this battle.