Financial Info (prior to interview)

[skinsfan 0]

Hi Russ...thanks for the info. i already sent all the docs for aos. an interesting conversation occurred when i had a meeting with an official with the Charlotte NC sub-station for homeland security..he told me never to use the uscis web-sites for info because the info was either unclear or incorrect....he also said not to use the uscis telephone info system for the same reasons. i would suggest to all VJers to visit district or sub-stations if possible. you can make appointments online, and they will issue all the docs, and make sure that you know how many copies to submitt, and what fee's etc. i found the visit quite informative......thanks again for your help and information Russ.

[Turboguy 6]

You definately need a tax return for the most recent year along with a w-2. If you are self employed you need 3 years returns. You need a letter from your bank or the last 12 months statements. You need three consecutive pay stubs. You need the I-134 of course. I would not worry about assets. They don't look at those very hard unless you don't have the required income.

Some things they never look at. As far as the relationship goes they seem to look at phone records very closely. You might want to include those, along with some e-mails. You never know what you will run into in the interview. They may ask no more than how are you today and they may want her to tell them your great grandmothers middle name. Well that might be a little extreme but sometimes they do get very detailed.

As much as you have riding on this I would not send her unprepaired.

[gimygirl 0]

well slim ...... did she get your documents!!?!?!?!?

[Neonred 3,461]

You definately need a tax return for the most recent year along with a w-2. If you are self employed you need 3 years returns. You need a letter from your bank or the last 12 months statements. You need three consecutive pay stubs. You need the I-134 of course. I would not worry about assets. They don't look at those very hard unless you don't have the required income.

Some things they never look at. As far as the relationship goes they seem to look at phone records very closely. You might want to include those, along with some e-mails. You never know what you will run into in the interview. They may ask no more than how are you today and they may want her to tell them your great grandmothers middle name. Well that might be a little extreme but sometimes they do get very detailed.

As much as you have riding on this I would not send her unprepaired.

Even if you are self employed you only need the last tax return and your W-2. I had 6 months of bank statements but they didn't look at them. They also want a letter from your work. I am self employed and they still asked my girl about a letter from my work! They approved the visa anyway. If things are a little tight with the income and you are self employed then a letter of explaination would be helpful. They also were very interested in phone records. We had phone records from her and from me. Glad I started using one of the phone card companies that allow you to print out a record. They also wanted to see letters and/or e-mail communication. We also had printed records of our ICQ instant messages. They didn't read it, but they did look at it. The interviewer did read some of the cards we had sent each other. They also asked for pictures, and kept one of our pictures.

Entire process at embassy took about 2 1/2 hours, but the actual interview of my girl was about 5 minutes. She said it was the shortest interview of all the girls she went in with.

Edited March 19, 2006 by Neonred

[Satellite 1]

They also were very interested in phone records...They also wanted to see letters and/or e-mail communication. We also had printed records of our ICQ instant messages...The interviewer did read some of the cards we had sent each other. They also asked for pictures, and kept one of our pictures.

We really had very different interview experiences. My fiancee at the time was not asked to produce any relationship documents except 1 photo which they kept and then returned in the DHL envelope with the visa/passport. The relationship proof was established simply by communicating with her in Russian. Although we did have emails and phone records on hand.

[russ 1]

We really had very different interview experiences. My fiancee at the time was not asked to produce any relationship documents except 1 photo which they kept and then returned in the DHL envelope with the visa/passport. The relationship proof was established simply by communicating with her in Russian. Although we did have emails and phone records on hand.

Same here - they didn't really ask much, just pictures and financial documents. They might have looked at some old-fashioned, hand written letters as well. We had emails and phone records, no one looked at them.

Oddly, one of Galia's friends is married to a Russian physicist (in CA). She got here two months before Galia, but already has a green card. Unfortunately, the backlog here in Florida is much longer ...

[slim 1,514]

Just a quick update on Elena's interview....

I talked to her on Sunday and she has yet to receive my documents packet. Since my dumbass sent the papers via USPS, who knows when they'll actually arrive. I would expect them to get there tomorrow or Tuesday, but that's really too late anyway. So much for the 5-8 business days.

She is also still waiting on the police check from the regional office. She got the police check from her city on the same day as her visit. Just walked in, asked for it, and got the print out. When she went to the regional office, they told her it was going to be one month. So, she's still waiting on that too.

She called the embassy last week to ask about the police check and they told her that without it, they couldn't grant the visa. However, she could still do the interview on the 22nd, and fax the police check later. After that, she would get the visa. So, that clears up the police check questions that have been on here several times. They went on to tell her that without my financial info, there was no need for her to come to the interview since that was something that she needed to hand-carry with her. So, without that.... no interview.

They did say that she could wait until Monday or Tuesday for the documents to arrive, and if they didn't, she could call back to reschedule the interview. A month extension would be granted while awaiting documents. I told her that maybe we should wait another three to six months or so (so I could save up more money, my job has been slow lately) and she said that wouldn't be a good reason for extension. I guess the paperwork arrival excuse is good at the embassy, the "I'm broke now" is not.

As for now I'm waiting on a message from her later this week to find out if the documents arrived or not (expecting not) and to see if the interview extension was granted or not (expecting so). Once again... the story of my life. WAITING!

Lessons learned here, and to anyone else in NOA stages right now...

Once the NOA II is granted, get your financial documents together and send them right away. Have her start on her police check (regional) right away. There was some concern as far as these documents needing to be close to (or as close as possible to) the interview date, and that's just not accurate. Do them right away, and get them sent. Another thing that would be helpful is to have travel arrangements made as soon as the interview date is on the website.

We waited for her to receive her packet 3, and that took FOREVER!!! The main reason it took so long was because not only is she in the Far East, but it was sent to her mother's house, then her mother had to send it to her from there. That took an extra 2 weeks, and I was waiting on her to get that so I would know exactly what to send to her. DON'T WAIT!!! Get your financial docs in order (if you're not sure what to send... send too much!)

More to follow on this story. It seems like it's going to delay us a little, but truth be told, it's not necessarily a bad thing because we need a little extra time to get things in order here (travel, housing, etc.) and a little extra money too. I'm just hoping the same lady that told her she can get an extension is the one she talks to this week. Funny how one person tells you one thing, then when it's time to actually get it done, the rules have suddenly changed. Either way though.... the glass is half full. We'll get it done. Good luck to all of you!

[Neonred 3,461]

Sorry to hear about that Slim. We had a major scare with police documents too and were down to the wire getting them, and never did recieve the "official" one from Germany, but thank God we had a faxed copy that my girl had translated. We were sure the US embassy was going to reject it, but they said it was fine. We were terrible nervous about that but now it is all behind us.

Good luck.

[russ 1]

Funny how one person tells you one thing, then when it's time to actually get it done, the rules have suddenly changed. Either way though.... the glass is half full. We'll get it done. Good luck to all of you!

Also, Airlines can send documents for you very quickly (like same day). I've done this before by courier. While it is expensive, it is also reliable. If you are sending small cargo this way, it can be picked up at the airport within an hour of arrival (there are still customs delays going internationally).

For documents, you might get them through the same day by having a courier hand-carry them, though I would guess this would be quite expensive to Russia.

I would start with cargo operations at Delta - they should be able to help you. Otherwise, a courier firm (probably based out of NYC) might help. http://www.citipak.co.uk delivers next day by 12:00 to 225 countries, same day US and Europe (next day Moscow 20 quid). There are many companies delivering documents this way.

For airport pickup, I've found airline cargo to be good, but more expensive than DHL/Fedex. Major advantage is being able to ship larger cargo (more than 1 ton). This is highly profitable for the airline (much more so than passengers), so they are usually helpful. Airlines usually guarantee cargo delivery on-time. They never do this for passengers. Wonder why?

Otherwise, if they will let you reschedule, I would say DHL for pickup in Moscow at their office is a good choice. Fedex delivery for me outside Moscow has been under $70 with my discount (has never taken more than 2 business days). They call the recipient after arrival in Moscow to confirm delivery.

Edited March 19, 2006 by russ

[slim 1,514]

Excellent point russ!

I could've shipped the docs DHL to Moscow and had them held there for her. That would've guranteed timely arrival and safekeeping. Well, hindsight is 20/20. SO TO ALL VJers IN A TIME CRUNCH TO GET YOUR DOCS TO YOUR S/O, SEND THEM DHL TO MOSCOW FOR HER TO PICK UP!!!

The airline thing is good too. I've heard it's possible to get discounts on tickets by acting as a courier if there is a service in the area. For instance, all of us fly to SVO or DME once in a while. If we stop through JFK on the way and pick up an envelope or small package to carry with us, we can get up to something like 85% off our tickets. Maybe this is an urban legend, but I've heard about it several times. Guess I'll have to ask Jeeves next time I go.

Neonred, I remember all the drama with the police checks and the "travelling uncle." Congrats on getting all this behind you!

[slim 1,514]

Another update....

Talked to Elena again today, and the new interview date is 19 April. Way easier than I thought, and definately good news for us. I was having visions of starting this whole process over.

Just for informational purposes to all of you.... if you need more time to get your documents together or are facing huge charges to get them to her or she has to pay huge charges to expedite processing of police checks, translations, etc., she simply needs to call the embassy and ask for an extension. That's it. Amazingly simple for a USCIS process, but it really does work. And, it works in Russia! I'm still in awe.....

[russ 1]

Another update....

Just for informational purposes to all of you.... if you need more time to get your documents together or are facing huge charges to get them to her or she has to pay huge charges to expedite processing of police checks, translations, etc., she simply needs to call the embassy and ask for an extension. That's it. Amazingly simple for a USCIS process, but it really does work. And, it works in Russia! I'm still in awe.....

Did your documents make it there yet? If not, I would suggest sending via Fedex (or DHL) for Moscow pickup NLT 7 APR 06.

I wish that USCIS had a suggestion box - it would be great if these types of documents could be submitted electronically (signed PDFs seem to be ok with most courts in the US), or at least to a central location IN the US. The only thing that needs to be signed is the I-134... Since these are notarized, I don't see the problem with an electronic copy (it still has the notary stamp, which is not impossible or even hard to veriry.)

[slim 1,514]

Good points russ. It would be good if USCIS would allow us to submit signed PDF copies. That would make this whole process WAY easier. Can you imagine? Loggin on one day, then about an hour later, you're done with everything and the packet three (via e-mail) is on the way. We could be done with the whole process in less than a week. Awesome.

OK, back to reality. Hopefully they'll deliver my docs to her sometime next week. Then I'll sigh and go back to waiting patiently.

[Satellite 1]

Another way the USCIS could avoid this whole mess of sending documents is to have everything needed from the petitioner to be submitted in the original I-129F. This would also require quick processing so the information submitted won't go stale. And at the time of the interview collect only the information needed from the beneficiary. Put them together and you get a valid visa decision.

On the other hand, the USCIS could enact a more costly, yet more effect method by mandating that both the USC and foreign beneficiary be present at the interview.

[Turboguy 6]

You are free to send more returns if you want. I sent two to be safe, but if your returns are complicated (like mine) this can be a lot of paper ( a few hundred pages in my case for 3 years). If I had three handy and they weren't too long, I'd probably send them all.

I ordered tax transcripts and fortunately they are condensed to just a few pages. My very thick return for 2004 ended up on four double sided pages.

They only ask for the schedul 1040 and w-2's Mine are close to 100 pages also. I gave her the 1040's for one year and since I was in Moscow I had with me two more years and one complete set of the full return just to be on the safe side. If they are in the mood if you are self emplyed they can ask for three years. I am an employee but also own 100% of the company I work for so I wanted to be safe. They were happy with one year.