K1 Visa for Ukraine Fiancee

[VegasHeat 0]

Thats good to know 'fwa' thank you:)

Yes....I was concered that she hasnt worked, they would shoot her down with thinking she just wanted to flee her country....But obviously is not the case...

Thx push

Then your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to prepare her to make that fact obvious to the Consular officer at interview. This is not necessarily a simple task. Depending on the reason(s) she hasn't worked, it could be daunting indeed.

Kyiv is not Guanzhou.... My wife put on her bio data as "unemployed".... She got asked zero questions at her interview. None. Nada. I am not telling you to not to be prepared, but don't spin yourself into a possible uneeded frenzy either ...... Your experience may not be the same as yours but it is a reference point and should be accepted as such...

[VegasHeat 0]

Just curious 'fwa' did they interview your wife in English, Russian, or both? or do they make it as easy as possible with the language barrier

Thx

Yes....I was concered that she hasnt worked, they would shoot her down with thinking she just wanted to flee her country....But obviously is not the case...

Thx push

Then your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to prepare her to make that fact obvious to the Consular officer at interview. This is not necessarily a simple task. Depending on the reason(s) she hasn't worked, it could be daunting indeed.

Kyiv is not Guanzhou.... My wife put on her bio data as "unemployed".... She got asked zero questions at her interview. None. Nada. I am not telling you to not to be prepared, but don't spin yourself into a possible uneeded frenzy either ...... Your experience may not be the same as yours but it is a reference point and should be accepted as such...

[payxibka 10,048]

Interviews are in the language of choice of the applicant and are available in Ukrainian, Russian and English...

For Kyiv specific questions may I suggest the following thread as it is Kyiv & Ukraine specific...

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=49639

Just curious 'fwa' did they interview your wife in English, Russian, or both? or do they make it as easy as possible with the language barrier

Thx

Edited September 17, 2007 by fwaguy

[VegasHeat 0]

Interesting....I read in some posts before, that they like when they can do interview in English..lol...dunno though...food for thought

Thx

Interviews are in the language of choice of the applicant and are available in Ukrainian, Russian and English...

For Kyiv specific questions may I suggest the following thread as it is Kyiv & Ukraine specific...

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=49639

Just curious 'fwa' did they interview your wife in English, Russian, or both? or do they make it as easy as possible with the language barrier

Thx

[payxibka 10,048]

Kyiv or generally speaking?

Interesting....I read in some posts before, that they like when they can do interview in English..lol...dunno though...food for thought

Thx

[pushbrk 14,514]

In general, determining that that couple has a way to communicate is a key criteria, but it would be quite rare to insist on English for the interview.

Kyiv or generally speaking?

Interesting....I read in some posts before, that they like when they can do interview in English..lol...dunno though...food for thought

Thx

[payxibka 10,048]

In general, determining that that couple has a way to communicate is a key criteria...

1) I wasn't asking you and I was more interested in where the OP was coming from

2) maybe in China... (as YuAndDan has made similiar comments) but I know of many approvals from the Kyiv consulate where the applicant had no Engish skills and the USC had no Russian/Ukrainian skills

[VegasHeat 0]

In general I think, from what I gathered in the U.S Embassy's could be just a thing that maybe they know they are wanting to enter the U.S, and like the fact there English is good....dunno

Kyiv or generally speaking?

Interesting....I read in some posts before, that they like when they can do interview in English..lol...dunno though...food for thought

Thx

[payxibka 10,048]

In general I think, from what I gathered in the U.S Embassy's could be just a thing that maybe they know they are wanting to enter the U.S, and like the fact there English is good....dunno

It may be more prevalent in the higher fraud consulates, but that would simply be a guess on my part because it is certainly not a deal breaker (or does not appear that way) in Kyiv.

[VegasHeat 0]

It was something that was quickly read, but could have been an attempt to get your panties in a bunch...lol

In general I think, from what I gathered in the U.S Embassy's could be just a thing that maybe they know they are wanting to enter the U.S, and like the fact there English is good....dunno

It may be more prevalent in the higher fraud consulates, but that would simply be a guess on my part because it is certainly not a deal breaker (or does not appear that way) in Kyiv.

[payxibka 10,048]

It was something that was quickly read, but could have been an attempt to get your panties in a bunch...lol

Don't get me wrong... Strong English skills is a very positive thing..... My point is simply that weak English skills may not be the negative it appears to be in other consulates....

[VegasHeat 0]

Yes....I agree....Dont think the English is going to make you or break you:)

It was something that was quickly read, but could have been an attempt to get your panties in a bunch...lol

Don't get me wrong... Strong English skills is a very positive thing..... My point is simply that weak English skills may not be the negative it appears to be in other consulates....

[TONY and TANYA 0]

Vegas, I dont think you have to much to worry about in general, as long as you follow the very basic guidelines. Look at my situation for example. I am engaged to a woman from ukraine and i have been living with her since Jan 5th 2007. We have been waiting for the visa interview which is sept 24th in Kiev. Now i am self employed and have assets, however i am still using my father as a co-signer just in case the interviewing officer asks about employment while i have been living abroad for 9 months. I make 100k+ and am using the 1-134, 2006 and 2007 bank statements and my 2006 1040. Allong with my fathers I-134 and his 2006 1040s. On top of the financial issue is that we are pregnant, she is 24 weeks at this moment and yes its my child, remember i have been living with her since jan 2007. So if you ask me i dont think you can ask for a more "real relationship"!!! Of course she is very nervous about the interview and the POE, as most are. I am a little unsure about the interview myself only because of the fact i have been living here for 9 months and not really working 100%, although you would be surprised on how much work you can get done overseas by internet, fax and cell phones. My fiance is a translator and can speak perfect english also. I have some worries myself about the embassy possible asking about my domicile and about financial situation.

When i came here(ukraine) we had been writing emails and had spend thousands of dollars on international cell phone calls already. So i knew ALLOT about her. When i arrived in the Ukraine we fell deeply in love and i could not leave her, there would have been no way i could have a long distance relationship, no way. Of course she was the same way and didnt want me to leave either. So i stayed as i thought the petition and interview process would be done in may and now its going on October soon. So that goes to show you if you choose to go through with it it can take 9-10 months easy! I own my own business so i can take time off if i choose, but at the same time i am not 100% working as i would be in the US either, so they may ask for more documents or ask more questions about our specific situation. I wish someone would give me some advise or opinions on our situation, i have gone through the whole process with the little help of my hired lawyer(which was useful to a point).

Now for my opinion on lawyers, i have one and he is an #######. However his assistant is useful and friendly. At first i could never have done it without a lawyer. But after doing TONS or reading about this K-1 visa, i have learned a great many things my lawyers never told me. First those lawyers say they have a 100% success rate, and that is only because they tell you do do documents and provide OVERKILL documents. I was told my lawyer that the i-134 is 100% needed and needs to be an original and that it needs to be notarized. Then i was informed by the Embassy in Kiev that it is optional and does not need to be notarized and it does not need to be an original. And a great many other things like that. The lawyers tell you what works for 100% but there are other ways that work also. I wish i would have found this website many many months ago instead here i am posting 1 week before her interview. I would greatly appreciate if someone who has Kiev interview experiences can give me their thoughts about our situation and if we should bring any additional documents.

[pushbrk 14,514]

Vegas, I dont think you have to much to worry about in general, as long as you follow the very basic guidelines. Look at my situation for example. I am engaged to a woman from ukraine and i have been living with her since Jan 5th 2007.

The biggest issue with foreign relationships at interview is convincing the Consular Officer that the relationship is bona fide. Living together for several months pretty much puts any doubt to rest, as does pregnancy clearly husbanded one of the parties to the visa process. This is a big issue, even it doesn't seem to be asked about.

When I mentioned "a way to communicate" earlier, I was not directly referring to English skills. My wife's English skills were rudementary at best, but somewhat better than my Mandarin. The Consular officer was satisfied with asking, in Mandarin "Do you speak English?" and "Does your husband speak Mandarin?" and hearing the answer, in Mandarin "A little?" for both questions. Nothing more was said about language skills and the entire interview was conducted in Mandarin. He did view some of our written communication.

Others at the same Consulate were grilled on their English skills and I've seen people report that they were blue slipped and asked to provide evidence of how their spouse or fiance would communicate with others in the US. I've even read a direct report of a Consular officer refusing to use anything but English. I had dinner with a couple who were blue slipped because she said she could speak some English (Hers was much better than my wife's.) but froze when asked to demonstrate it. They had to submit a 5 minute video of them communicating.

The point is that in any Consulate there is a wide variation of how interviews are conducted. I've long believed that most of the decision making is done before the interview begins, based on various factors and information gathered and noted in advance. In some cases, there are just a couple facts they want to verify and others seem to be summarily denied with no more than a question or too. I've also seen reports of successful interviews after twenty minutes of detailed grilling.

I've also seen numerous reports from applicants who saw applicant after applicant grilled and blue slipped, only to go to the same window and have an easy, successful interview. I've never seen reports of the opposite, interestinlgy enough.

Based, on that, I would neither panic or let my guard down based on a single interview report. Each case is different, let alone each Consulate being different.

I've concluded that more cases than we might want to imagine are not bona fide relationships but only one of the parties is aware of that fact. Those are the most heartbreaking. In bona fide cases, I've concluded that the single most important factor in a successful interview (among those factors in control of the petitioner and applicant) is a confident pleasant attitude from the time the name or number is called until the interview is complete. Fear seems to have a detectable aroma.

[VegasHeat 0]

Very Intersting..

Thank You