Inna & Brian

The amount of work cooking Russian food is amazing. Inna doesn't really like to cook but she is a really good cook. Everything has to look and taste nice. She spends hours slicing and dicing all kinds of things. When I come home from work, there is beautiful woman and homemade dinner, soup, salad, bread cheeses, yogurt, cake, etc. Life is good!

Her salads are wonderful. She's gotten people at work hooked on Russian salads. My favorite is the ham salad made with curry or paprika. That stuff has some serious flavor.

Inna agrees with Victor. She says the baloney in the US is too sweet and bad texture. She only made baloney salad one time. Inna is having a difficlt time adjusting to US food. She says it is a strange country because the vegetables are sweet and the fruits are not sweet. And don't get her started on how soft and watery potatoes are or the lack of variety in grains and fruits.

Inna agrees with Victor about the cottage cheese. She thinks it's gross. We buy cheese from mexican grocery store (requeson?). That or ricotta is a close substitute. She really likes carnberries, blueberries and peanut butter.

I'll join and on the love for the crepes and dumplings (Inna has made them with blueberries). But no one mentioned the little meatballs -- kotliki? Those are very tasty. But my favorite are the cakes

Did I say life is good with a Russian woman?

Another suggestion for saving money. We have found that it usually saves a good bit of money to buy a direct flight ticket from NYC or DC and then a seperate ticket from home to NYC or DC. But don't forget to look at the excess baggage fees for the ticket from home.

Thanks everyone. I'm glad I didn't make a dumb mistake.

And bigdog, I agree! After the initial reaction of "what!!" I actually felt better knowing that finally someone is working on the file.

Look at Skyscanner.com. We just got RT airfare from DC to Moscow for $550 and Aeroflot has reasonable one way tickets. It may be cheaper to fly from Ukraine to Moscow then to US.

Remember we are almost in the travel season so ticket prices will just keep getting higher.

We received and RFE in the mail today for my wife's AOS I-485. We are adjusting from an K-1 visa. The RFE is kinda strange. It is addressed to my (adjusting) wife's name. It says (in printed form) to 1, "Submit two current passport style color photos of yourself." and 2, "Submit a completed and signed G-325A, Biographic Information Sheet, if you are between 14 and 79 years of age." But then in handwriting it says "*G-325A and photo for (my name)"(emphasis added). I am the USC spouse.

We are adjusting from an K-1 visa and I followed the guidelines and did not send an G325A for me (the USC spouse). We did send an G-325A for my wife.

1. Did I misread the guidelines and USC spouses have to send an G325A and photos? or

2. Is this a new requirement? or

3. Is this just an excuse by USCIS to delay the processing of the I-485 application because they are way outside the normal processing times for the application?

My second concern is the reading of the RFE. Are they asking only for my G-325A and photos or are they asking for both our G-325A and photos? My inclination is to send G-325A and photos for both of us. I'm thinking it is better to send too much information then to have them delay (or worse deny)the application because we did not respond fully to an RFE.

Any thoughts would be aprreciated.

Here's the situation in a nutshell. We filed for AOS in August. In February the application was beyond normal processing time. We filed a Service Request. There has been no repsonse to the service request. We talked to a CSR Tier 2 today. He stated the AOS is still in NBC and not at the local office. He said there was nothing more customer service can do to help. He suggested we contact the Ombudsman and/or Congressional Rep. We just did those two things tonight. He said an Infopass appointment would be a waste of time since the local office does not have the file and they would not be able to answer any questions. BUT he said the local office can request a file to be transferred from the NBC to the local office. So our questions are:

1. Would it be a mistake to ask the local office to transfer the file from NBC? Would this possibly cause more delays? Has anyone else done that (I searched but did not see any threads about this topic) and if so was it helpful?

2. Is there anything else we can do? I don't understand how they can be outside the normal processing times and then be well outside the Service Request time and there is no next step to take within USCIS?

Great write-up. Thanks!

@James

I've heard the term "Russian dollar" before. As I understand, it means US money that is almost new. The money should be crisp, no tears, no folds and security strip in place. I've really had a problem exchanging money but one time I got the stink eye and asked if i had better bills for some $100 I was trying to exchange. I thought the money was in good shape just a little worn.

Hi,

Alla's interview is scheduled for March 20th. From what I have read in the NVC invitation email for the interview, and consulate instructions, these points seem clear. But I just want to verify with people who have actually been to their interview for K-1 or CR-1 in Moscow:

1. She must bring 2 pre-paid, pre-addressed DHL envelops for their passports to the interview: one for her, one for her small son.

2. Since I already paid the $404.00 Visa Fees to NVC (and we have the receipts) she does not have to pay a fee at the Consulate

Could someone who has actually been there confirm this?

спасибо большое!

We did the interview earlier this month for K-1. I'm not sure if it is the same for a CR-1. We did not have to pre-pay for the shipping envelope of the passport. I believe it was included in the visa fee. Pony Express delivered the visa. You can either ask for it to be delivered to the home address or to be picked up at PE office.

Good luck with interview.

Kreshatik street on a warm Saturday night.

Ahhh. One of the wonders of the world.

I love riding horses but I have to share my horse horror stories. When I was 4 or 5 we kept an old broken down horse on the property. The horse was nice enough but one day, totally out of the blue, the damn horse stretched out it's head and bit my stomach. That hurt!

Fast forward about 25 years and i still loved and rode horses. One year I was in Colorado and I was riding a friend's horse. We were riding from Aspen to Vail. That is a three day ride. The instruction were to watch out because the horse likes to rub off riders. Sure enough the horse would casually walk too close to branches and rocks. On the first day, I made sure the horse knew I was aware of his sadistic tendencies and I was in charge. No more problems. Then on the third day, the horse jumped a small creek and aimed right for a tree. The little SOB drove my knee into that tree. god I still hate that horse.

All horses are stupid and stubborn and some are plain evil. But there is nothing more beautiful and awesome.

OK, I wanted to ask this about the fee... so they tell us to make a profile on www.ustraveldocs.com/ru and pay the 350 visa fee and schedule the interview. Done and done. now this is why im asking. you go to the instructions page on Moscow embassy website, and it states "Payment. Please pay the application fee ($350 dollars for each applicant) ON THE DAY OF THE INTERVIEW only after an Embassy employee instructs you to do so. We accept dollars and rubles. Credit cards are not acceptable." A. is this another fee on top of the one I paid? B. credit cards were used to pay online. C. the fee was 11550 rubles which works out to $395 according to my visa statement.

What I THINK is happening, is that they now use this website to collect the fee then schedule the interview and they havent updated the instructions page? or do we pay two different fees?? Im thinking too hard, so much going on right now!

Thanks for any input to this!

Deep breaths

You pay one fee and you have already done that. The website has outdated and incorrect information. Now you should be concentrating on getting the paperwork together for the interview and scheduling the medical.

There's no need to shoot back when someone shoots you with a .22 revolver. You simply shrug it off and call 9-1-1 while you hold them at (real) gun point.

Wait.. looks like this topic is about discussing RUB wives/hubbies. May I post about my American hubby sometimes?

I would becareful with going off topic. The RUB forum is all about staying on topic.

Or you could be the next Secretary of the Treasury.

go to epassportphoto.com. Great free website to get photos that meet various country's requirements..

I think I saw a movie like that!

Memoirs of a Geisha?

Thanks everyone for your responses. I feel better now that I know she doesn't have to get there so early in the morning. We talked today about the cold and waiting outside and of course, I'm the only one who is concerned about it. She said she would arrive about 0700.

She is a strange combination of tough as nails but also Princessa Innessa.

Talking about waiting in line reminded of my first time in Ukraine. I get off the bus to the terminal and get in line at passport control. I'm in the first 1/3 of the line. I look down and get my papers together and make sure I have everything I need. I look back up and now I'm at the back of the line. #######!

Everyone in the US (outside NYC) is so polite about queing up. But in Russia people are so rude and pushy. At first I hated it. Now I look forward to being there so I can push people out of the way!

Congratulations! The alien number was typed above the beneficiary's name on the NOA-2 form.

I agree you should have sent him a copy of the petition. But that doesn't explain how he got wrong how many times you visited? Have him email you a copy of the paperwork he received. The paper should tell you what they intend to do with the application.

Good gun story... ah ya. My brother whacked a red fox in this driveway a few days ago with a .22 after it kept getting in the garbage can, even after he strapped it down with bungee cords.

Why did he strap the fox down with bungee cords? Would it have been easier to just shot it?

I think VV would look adorable in a red fox hat

Our interview is set for February 7 in Moscow. I understand the people arrive at the embassy early in the morning and wait outside to pass through security. I'm concerned about Inna having to stand outside for a few hours if the weather gets really cold (-10f would not be unusual). Does anyone have any ideas about how to handle this situation? Why do people arrive 2-3 hours before the scheduled interview? It's not first come first served. She has an appointment scheduled. Does it really matter that she gets there early? Is there somewhere she can wait that is indoors?

Any tips or pointers about what to bring (not counting visa paperwork) or not bring would also be appreciated.

Wow. I turn my back for a minute and a shitstorm erupts. I don't know what happened and I don't care to wade through the muck. RUBbers need to let it go and DON'T FEED THE TROLLS. They will slink back to the rock from whence they came.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program. Does anyone have a good gun story or scammer story to tell?

That one still has her head fckd up. It comes up only when she's mad and lost her cool. My screw ups in Belarus at the strip clubs, night clubs.. my bachelor party...her mom, her friend/class mate, etc.. are always the first to come up, and if she's really on a roll then the cannery chicks come up..

And then he says:

. She's wearing thin with the tude and she thinks I'm going to screw up there. She's got no faith.

Don't leave us hanging. Why is she calling? To make sure you aren't entertaining some Ukrainians girls from the fish packing plant?

Thanks for the reply Baron. What is in the packet? Does the packet just tell us to fill in the forms online? Is there anything in the packet we can't get off the Internet?