Hey guys,

So I called the embassy in Moscow, or what I guess was the embassy in Moscow (could've been another place) to change Elena's interview date (AGAIN... this time for reasons here at home... and to make sure that when she really does go to Moscow, we have all our ducks in a row and don't send her on a wild goose chase!) and when I called 1-888-222-5673, the announcement said it was a per-use charge of something like $1.65/min. with a minimum of $5.25 or something like that.

I don't remember the exact amounts, but for the 6 minute phone call I made, it should've been like $10. No biggy. I made a follow-up call later that day for all of 3 minutes. I used my debit card (VISA) to pay the charges. I got a call from my bank's security center about 20 minutes later saying that there was some suspicious activity on my card in Moscow and they wanted to clear it up. Turns out it was the two charges from the phone calls, no big deal. But, what was fishy about the charges was that both charges were for $36.09. There's no way my calls were that expensive, I was only on the line for a total of 9 minutes. Plus, the seperate calls were for different durations, so why are they the same amount?

Just wondering if anyone has called this number before and been charged the same amount. I'm thinking maybe they do it like at the gas station where they place a "hold" on a predetermined amount, then credit it back to your card once it's all said and done. Or.... maybe I got scammed, and will have to pay another $36.09 to call them back and clear it up!

Debit cards work differently than credit cards - it is probably your bank that is keeping the hold. It can take a few days for merchants to post charges to an account - the amounts won't match until they do this. (possibly up to a week later).

Your bank should have the phone number of whoever authorized the charge - I don't believe merchants (even the goverment) are allowed to charge for this. If they do, dispute the charge with your bank.

Slim - delaying the interview again? You do know the K-1 visa is good for six months? It might be better to get it out of the way now.

Sure wish we could've gotten the interview out of the way now, it just wasn't possible. (Last minute cash problems. Plus, the "official" reason was that my dad is having some medical problems, and I do have to tend to those a little more than usual now. His physical therapy should be done by the new interview date though, and the cash should be there too.)


I guess I'll wait to see about the phone charges. I'm hoping they drop the price down in a couple of days. If it's not cleared up by next week, I'll check with the bank and see what they can do about it.

When you talk to the bank about the charges, they can tell you if it's a HOLD or a CHARGE. They are very specific about those things. Many merchants will place a hold for their "minimum" charge. When they get final authorization, they should remove the hold and the actual charge should go through - generally a couple of days, but it's all up to the merchant. Most of the time I've talked to the bank, they will only tell me about charges, not holds, unless I ask specifically.

If you think you might call them again (or anywhere else in Russia), I suggest you get a calling card. There's lots of them out there that charge only 4 or 5 cents a minute. The quality is okay (not the best, but not really bad). You can usually get one for $10 (good for about 4+ hours of talking to Russia) and other denominations ($20, $50, and $100). I use one from cardshop.pushline.com -- They've been pretty decent, and I've used them for several months now. My phone bill to my wife is about $200 a month. Yep. We talk A LOT!

Best wishes!

Looks like Austin doesn't understand about calling the embassy.

About an hour after my girls interview in Moscow her cell phone rang. It was the embassy with a question about her daughter. We got cut off...lost the connection. I called back to the number and said I was returning their call. First they put me on hold, and then I got cut off again. I called back and that person gave me a different number to call. Turns out that number was the $1.95 a minute number. I said NO WAY, and called the first number again and let them know I was returning THEIR call and would NOT pay $1.95 a minute. They did take my call and got all things corrected, or so they said.

Point is there IS a way to talk to somebody there without paying, but I guess you have to have a good reason before they will talk to you. I wish I still had that number. I'll check her cell phone tonight to see if I can pull up that number.

Good point. I never used they pay-by-minute number anyway. The State Dept # in DC was fine (they were able to do almost everything from there, and usually had more information). My wife was able to get through to the embassy with a local Moscow number.

I concur, I also have never used the pay-by-minute system because the embassy has always answered all my questions by email promptly.

Well, there is more money in my account now, but it doesn't say from where. Online banking is cool, but it sucks too!

I can't tell exactly how much they are charging me, but it looks like it's getting straightened out.

E-mail is a good idea. I would've liked to have emailed them, but it was kind of a last minute thing and Elena sent me the number to call, so I called the number she gave me. (I was out of town at the time...)

Hopefully no more calls, no more postponing interviews, nothing. Just a quick 8 weeks, and we'll be in the club with the rest of you.

Update on the bank charges...

It seems that the initial charges were only a hold. My account has been updated and the actual charges are $7.42 per call. (Which is weird becuase one was 6 minutes, one was 3 minutes.) My bank also charged a 2% "international transaction fee" (only $.15 but still... that's 2%!).

Just keep in mind that if you do call the embassy's pay-per-use phone number that you may have a hold placed on your card for more than your charges.

I had a gas pump put $1,000 in holds on my debit card two years ago.

To be fair, this was at an airport (an avgas/Jet A pump), and these gas bills can easily be a few thousand bucks. I only bought about $200 or so to top off the tank (gas was cheaper then), and it took a month to clear the hold. It wasn't the end of the world, but I wasn't exactly happy about it either. I've learned to use credit cards now.

BTW, when I was in London, it cost me about $150 to fill my CAR's gas tank. And this was before expensive gas. Even $3 gas seems cheap to me here (I was paying about $7 there, for a 90 litre tank).

That sucks Don't our tax dollars pay them enough ?

You're right! I'm new to this game. Thanks much for the clarification!

I'll keep that in mind when it's my turn to call.

E-mail is the way to go if you must deal with the embassy. (And if time permits.)

If you must call, just bear in mind that you may be charged a little more than what the recording says... at first. Then it'll get adjusted.

Stick with it Austin... there is a lot to learn in this process... I'm still trying to get it too! Good luck to all of us!