Please help! Med exam told my fiancee she could not go to interview because she did not have her adolescent vaccination records!!!!! She never went

[baron555 934]

Just got text from Tanya, and she said she did not get the visa today. She only sent me a text which said the med exam was not good, and we will talk when she gets back home in 5 days

I mean she arrived Wednesday sometime and then had to find the medical building and do a physical, then be ready for an interview the next day and find the embassy. I would have much rather went a day or two in advance as well, but she works hard, and I know she got to Kemerovo late last night, then went to work today.

Not trying to play domestic detective but there is something that is nagging about the timeline.

Went to medical on Wednesday, gets told not to do the interview because of lack of vaccination history on Wednesday but decides to wait the interview date of Thursday to send you a text message that no visa and didn't do interview? Text messaging works 24/7. Why not tell you on Wednesday about the medical exam results? And why text messages only and not a text message to you to call her with your international calling card number so you can speak in person?

And then jets on out on Thursday and can't talk or send any more text messages for 5 days until she got back home. Does it take 5 days including a plane trip to get from Moscow to Kemerovo? Something doesn't seem right about this timeline.

And I know it was your plan that you two would get the visa and she would be here pretty quickly, at least for Christmas. Why all the need for work when she will be soon leaving her job? Most K-1 folks, well maybe I don't have many facts, quit their job just before the interview, especially if they are planning to leave quick and are certain they will get the visa.

Just wondering.

Edited October 27, 2010 by baron555

[Krikit 1,163]

Post violating the TOS has been removed, as well as those quoting it.

[visaveteran 1]

She DID NOT go to the interview. Not sure why just yet, but she didn't.

I don't understand why she would be scamming me. As with your significant others I do not know the whole situation. I don't know what the scam is here. It's not like I am dumb enough to send her $10,000. I know you all are not trying to pass judgment, and just looking out for my best interest, and ultimately my heart. I just don't think this is possible. Maybe she had cold feet, but at the same time I would have went to the interview too with or without any papers.

Where is this other person who was scammed like this? Is there a post for him/her? I just want to see if there are any similarities here.

There is an oddness about this problem of missing the interview. The greatest oddity is that the med clinics always want to push giving vaccines to make more money (even if not required). It's hard to believe they'd pass up an opportunity and simply tell her completely false information. Plus, I think the clinics don't want to screw up too many times and have the embassy pull their license. Clearly, she did not need vaccination records to go to the interview.

I am not going to judge anyone's means of communicating with their loved one but communication by texting during something as important and long awaited as the interview seems like a very passive and ineffective means...especially within the context of managing a crisis. I don't know her English skills but if she can text in English she should be able to speak on the phone...but maybe not. Only you know. And waiting 5 days for her to return home wasted a lot of value time...even though the outcome would still be the same; however, you could have begun remedial actions sooner. Now you're really in hurry up crisis mode.

I don't see a scam here as there seems to be no money to gain...unless she begins now to use this crisis in some way to get you to send money. But I doubt that to be the case. Waiting a year and a half to pull off a scam does not sound realistic. She could, however, have gotten cold feet. She would not be the first woman to do so. Or...she simply grossly misunderstood the people at the clinic. But, again, I don't really see how that happens unless she was really nervous or a very bad listener. I mean, they were speaking Russian. I suppose it's remotely possible someone at the clinic was looking for a bribe and tried to scare her...but, again, that's not too likely as they'd be risking their job.

As for what to do now, I'd give some thought to calling your senator and asking for help from his immigration staff person. You can blame the med clinic as the source of the problem. There should be clear instructions from the clinic about interview requirements. Using your senator is not a guarantee of any real help...it depends a lot on which senator and how good his/her staff is. But if they do sincerely try to help, it might help to shorten the wait time for a new interview and/or get the embassy to try and be helpful and understand this was about a misunderstanding fostered by the clinic and not just a "no show."

[sea-monkey 13]

How good is her English?

How often do you communicate and by what methods? Was there a reason why you weren't calling her on this trip?

I talk to my girl every weekday during her morning drive to work in the city center at the same time and sometimes on the weekends. I use a skype package to ring her mobile ($13/400min package (x2)) or skype to send SMS messages, 6 cents a message. I’ve talked to her while she was away on business trips by calling the hotels she was staying at. She is never vague about anything and I always have her flight info, schd, etc.

There is 3G cell service everywhere in Moscow as I talk to her while she zips around town. My girl has 2 mobiles, work/personal. She even has skype on her smart phone and we always chat back and forth when she is out and about....

Why was there no communication?

[Henykat 16]

I don't see a scam here as there seems to be no money to gain

I think he did say about $1500. Almost 4 months salary for a secretary working outside Moscow. Not saying I know what the lady does, but whether this is "no money" is subjective.

[baron555 934]

I think he did say about $1500. Almost 4 months salary for a secretary working outside Moscow. Not saying I know what the lady does, but whether this is "no money" is subjective.

Plus the free plane trip to .......did you book the ticket or did she? I know that I have booked all of Alla's plane trips, both to here and back and within the FSU on my own and just sent her the electronic ticket.

[Henykat 16]

Well to put this in to perspective I sent her a one-time $1500. $550 of this was for the plane to Moscow, which I can confirm cost this much. $350 for the visa and another $160 for the physical. So right there we are over a grand. Of course the visa was not granted, but it's not entirely too much, and that is the second time. The other time was for our meeting in Egypt. It's not that much in the grand scheme of things. She has never, I repeat NEVER, asked for money.

I'm just going to hope my intuition is wrong and Chris' is right, because my intuition is really making me nauseous.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

While completed vaccinations are not required for a K-1 visa medical, I believe a vaccination history of some nature is required to take and complete the medical exam.

None at all is required for the visa. It IS required for the AOS after she arrives.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Plus the free plane trip to .......did you book the ticket or did she? I know that I have booked all of Alla's plane trips, both to here and back and within the FSU on my own and just sent her the electronic ticket.

I have also, and I do not know for sure about you, Phil, but I suspect it is the same reason. Alla doesn't want to make the reservations, she expects the man to do those things. I did not do it because I don't trust her.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

While completed vaccinations are not required for a K-1 visa medical, I believe a vaccination history of some nature is required to take and complete the medical exam.

I will note one small variation. Persons from SOME countries may need SOME vaccinations before being issued a K-1. Fiancee applicants from Ukraine and Russia do not.

[sea-monkey 13]

She DID NOT go to the interview. Not sure why just yet, but she didn't.

Where is this other person who was scammed like this? Is there a post for him/her? I just want to see if there are any similarities here.

Ukraine K-1 initial denial - next steps to fix

Pretty much at the same step of the process

Edited October 28, 2010 by sea-monkey

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I will note one small variation. Persons from SOME countries may need SOME vaccinations before being issued a K-1. Fiancee applicants from Ukraine and Russia do not.

Yes. It is a requirement in Australia to be up to date because a K1 is treated as an immigrant visa.

[slim 1,514]

Well to put this in to perspective I sent her a one-time $1500.

Pretty standard. You're not sending her an "allowance" so there's really no reason to jump to any conclusions.

I too find it hard to believe there was no communication

I talked to my fiancee maybe once every two or three weeks throughout our VJ process. Just because folks don't talk every day doesn't mean they're not "normal."

The timeline of no call right after doesn't mean anything either. My fiancee didn't call me. I kind of assumed throughout the whole process that she was a big girl and could handle it herself.

See I am really trying to give here the benefit of the doubt too.

Which you should. By saying RED FLAG I wasn't implying that you should question anything that's happened in the past. Assume she made an honest mistake and press on. However, from this point forward you should be skeptical of anything she does/doesn't do in relation to your VJ process.

you are clearly worried whether you trust her.

He wasn't worried till we all chimed in. I said what we were all thinking and now we've got this guy questioning the whole process.

Really, he shouldn't. But, he should question from this point forward. Proceed, but proceed with caution.

There is some chance that the location that does the medical has personnel that speak English since they do business with the Embassy and might even provide medical services to the Embassy personnel as well. You can call and ask to speak to someone it won't hurt and may ease your mind.

I wouldn't mess with this at all. I wouldn't investigate anything, ask any questions, I wouldn't do squat except set up another interview, another medical check and get her back to Moscow one more time.

We're all in for $1500+ because that's a pretty standard fee to get the VJ interview process rolling. OP is going to have to double that to ensure it plays out. However, let this be the last $1500 because now she knows what she's supposed to do and if she can't (or won't) this time then that's it. The VJ process is a gamble, especially at first. If you're not willing to go the extra mile, it may not work out for you. If it was an honest mistake and needs to be redone, well, then that's what has to happen. However, if it doesn't happen right this time, that's it.

I think he did say about $1500. Almost 4 months salary for a secretary working outside Moscow. Not saying I know what the lady does, but whether this is "no money" is subjective.

Subjective? How much are you in for?

Of course $1500 is a lot for a secretary outside of Moscow. But, $1500 is a drop in the bucket for the VJ process. To say his girl is scamming him for $1500 implies she's a pretty lousy scammer. Sure, maybe she got two free holidays from some sucker in the US. But, that doesn't necessarily mean he got scammed.

He already said he hasn't sent her "extra" money. Typically scammers jump at the opportunity to scam their marks for things like tendon surgeries and holidays to Moscow. Nope. I think she's still in it for the biggest scam of all - marriage.

Stick with it OP. Proceed with caution, but not too much. Just don't send extra cash. Get her back to the interview then get her over here. If she flounders, then you'll truly know where you stand.

[baron555 934]

And I agree 100% with Slim.

We here do tend to over-analyze these discussions.

I think by the interview I had also sent my Alla about $1500, so that is normal, especially since they have been in a relationship for over a year.

My suggestion would be to contact her, tell her about where to possibly find the vaccination history, then go to the new interview and ensure that all the plans will be executed regardless of what anyone tells them. Period.

If she had gone to the interview they would have just given her a 221g for the medical documents and given about a month to get those to them.

Edited October 28, 2010 by baron555

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Pretty standard. You're not sending her an "allowance" so there's really no reason to jump to any conclusions.

I talked to my fiancee maybe once every two or three weeks throughout our VJ process. Just because folks don't talk every day doesn't mean they're not "normal."

The timeline of no call right after doesn't mean anything either. My fiancee didn't call me. I kind of assumed throughout the whole process that she was a big girl and could handle it herself.

Which you should. By saying RED FLAG I wasn't implying that you should question anything that's happened in the past. Assume she made an honest mistake and press on. However, from this point forward you should be skeptical of anything she does/doesn't do in relation to your VJ process.

He wasn't worried till we all chimed in. I said what we were all thinking and now we've got this guy questioning the whole process.

Really, he shouldn't. But, he should question from this point forward. Proceed, but proceed with caution.

I wouldn't mess with this at all. I wouldn't investigate anything, ask any questions, I wouldn't do squat except set up another interview, another medical check and get her back to Moscow one more time.

We're all in for $1500+ because that's a pretty standard fee to get the VJ interview process rolling. OP is going to have to double that to ensure it plays out. However, let this be the last $1500 because now she knows what she's supposed to do and if she can't (or won't) this time then that's it. The VJ process is a gamble, especially at first. If you're not willing to go the extra mile, it may not work out for you. If it was an honest mistake and needs to be redone, well, then that's what has to happen. However, if it doesn't happen right this time, that's it.

Subjective? How much are you in for?

Of course $1500 is a lot for a secretary outside of Moscow. But, $1500 is a drop in the bucket for the VJ process. To say his girl is scamming him for $1500 implies she's a pretty lousy scammer. Sure, maybe she got two free holidays from some sucker in the US. But, that doesn't necessarily mean he got scammed.

He already said he hasn't sent her "extra" money. Typically scammers jump at the opportunity to scam their marks for things like tendon surgeries and holidays to Moscow. Nope. I think she's still in it for the biggest scam of all - marriage.

Stick with it OP. Proceed with caution, but not too much. Just don't send extra cash. Get her back to the interview then get her over here. If she flounders, then you'll truly know where you stand.

It would indicate she is a very clever scammer. IF she is/was a scammer he is not the ONLY person being scammed. It can also explian long periods of no communication...Alla and I talked on the phone 3 times per day minimum throughout and I paid all the phone bills. You are a renowned cheapskate Slim. You wouldn;t be suspicious because it was too expensive. Even now Alla and I speak by phone 2-3 days per day in addition to seeing each other at home and probably send more emails now than we ever did. If I didn;t hear from Alla for 5 days it would mean she was dead.

When Alla went for Sergey's interview she was on the phone with me non-stop (literally) from the time she left the apartment until they took her phone away from her at the consulate. She then was on the phone immediately to tell me the results...same with her medical and Sergey's medical. I will alow for differences in people in general buyt 5 days is out of control.

There were, at one time, lots of scammers whose ONLY intention was to get the costs for a visa and plane tickets from the target and never met or even talked on the phone at all. Most of them were men, not women. The smarter men would employ at least one woman to do the "phone duty" from an insistent target. These have kind of faded a bit as word got 'round and it became better known that Russian women do not just go into the consulate and get visas all by themselves.

Not "asking" for money for medical expenses means little. Had you SENT money and they RETURNED it because medical care is FREE in Russia, THAT would mean something. It could be nothing more than a test for the target to see the limits of that target. Was this one of the $900 per month maintenance types or just the one time $1500 visa types. The rich/dumb ones just send money and emai a Western Union transfer number.

Of course none of this means she IS scamming you, but nothing you have said means she ISN'T. You sent her $1500 for a medical, visa fee, etc. and she doesn't so much as call you for 5 days? Thanks for that, sweetheart! If you send ME nearly 6 months of my salary I will most definitely call right away and say thanks!

Who paid for the trip to Egypt?