bertal

Thanks Everybody!!!!

Than You!!!

Thanks!!!

Well he got it today they said 3 weeks and they were exact on the time frame. Thanks to all for everything he will be here soon !!! Good luck and prayers to all waiting in this grueling process.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!

All you can do is be patient. We went through the same thing. Vermont has simply slowed to a screeching halt. I called them and they kept telling me to wait two more months. I was calling them every two weeks. Then it just came.

I know it can be nerve-wrecking, and I know exactly how you feel, but just be patient. It will come.

Good Luck!

Done!

Approved!

My fiancee went with her son to the interview, which was scheduled on December 6, 2012 at 8:00am. They live in Ramenskoe, Moscow region, which is 1.5 hours away by train. They were at the consulate at 7:20. There already was a line of about one hundred people. The doors didn't open until 8:00. By that time they say several hundred people were in line behind them.

They were let in at 8:00. They had to surrender their cell phones, flash drives, and such. When they got to the waiting room, they were asked to the window and they turned in all collected documents. From that point, it was a four-hour wait. Finally they were called.

The consular officer was a young lady, who was very friendly and professional. She told my fiancee that they couldn't locate the I-134, at which point my fiancee panicked. The consular office calmed her down, and said not to worry, they will look. She had someone dig through the pile of papers and they have finally located it. The interview went very smoothly. It was more of a chat. She was asked about how we met, to which she started off without stopping. The consular officer smiled and politely changed the subject. She asked where I lived, and again, my fiancee became very talkative. The consular officer giggled, my fiancee has a sense of humor, and said that everything was fine. Then she said, there is one little thing, "You don't have the originals of the documents." My fiancee again panicked, but she has calmed her down and said to bring them tomorrow. Before she left, the consular officer again said to her not to worry, they will send her the visa as soon as they get the originals.

Her son was with her, but they didn't ask him anything. He started chiming in on a conversation, but it appeared that they were conversing with him out of politeness.

Overall, the experience was very positive. The staff were very professional and friendly. The interview did not go on for more than ten minutes. She offered to show them our photos, our phone records, our emails, but they said that they didn't need them. They even didn't care about her son's military ID, although the service desk told me, when I called, that it was a must.

She will now have to make another trip to Moscow to deliver the originals of the documents.

As far as the consulate is concerned, she said that besides the wait, she has absolutely no complaints.

Thanks everyone for your support!!!

I have another question. I'm getting conflicting information. Moscow consulate posted that Russian issued documents do not need to be translated, however, when I called the service desk, they said that they absolutely must be translated. They also said, that they can only be translated by an accredited agency. However, they do not need to be notarized. My fiancee's son's military ID is 28 pages. He never served, and most of these pages are blank. The service desk said that every page must be translated, even the blank ones.

Did anybody have to deal with something like this? Agencies charge around $50 per page. That's insane.

This doesn't make sense.

Thanks.

I would like to thank everyone for the input.

I called the consulate yesterday, and they said that the photo absolutely must be matte. I think that's a consular requirement, because that's not a requirement for department of state.

Thanks All.

first question is "how do you and your fiancee communicate?" and if its english then you must speak english, but if you both speak russian then your can choose to speak russian, but speaking english always looks better even if you just try your best

If she speaks Russian, then she will have to conduct the interview in Russian.

First of all, I want to thank everyone for their replies. The reason I asked this question, is that the Moscow consulate sites explicitly states NON-GLOSSY. To get the sizes in Russia is not trivial, since it is hard to distinguish a professional from a hack there. We have had experience with this, when we needed photos for I-129f. They were completely off, although the photographer has almost swore on the life of his mother that he knew exactly what the US consulate wants, and that he has done hundreds of them. This was not the only one. She went to a number of them. None of them got it right. Then she sent me an image file, and Walgreen's printed it as it was required.

The only thing I'm worried about is that the paper is glossy.

----

To answer a question about the language, as far as I can tell, the interviews are in Russian. The only thing to watch for, is if they ask you how you communicate with your fiance(e), and you say in English, they WILL switch to English. In my case it's not an issue, since I'm fluent in Russian, so that will not be an issue.

Good Luck!

Hi All!

My finacee has an interview scheduled at the consulate in Moscow on December 6. They require two photos for the consulate and two photos for medical exam. They state, that photos must fit all the passport photo parameters, except they have to be matte. The problem is, it's hard to find a place in Russia that will stick to the parameters. If she sends me the images, I can stop by Walgreens' and they will size them for passport (I've done that in the past). However, they print on glossy paper. That was acceptable for my passport. Will the consulate have a problem with it, if the photos are not matte? Are the typical passport photos printed in U.S. "matte enough" for them?

Thanks in advance!

Hi All!

I have another question.

According to the USCIS and consular information, a child of an alien fiancee is eligible for K-2 visa until the age of 21.

The following is from the DOS site:

"Important Notice: Under U.S. immigration law, a child must be unmarried. In order to file for adjustment of status for your child following your marriage to your U.S. citizen spouse, the child’s stepchild relationship with your spouse must be created before the child reaches the age of 18. "

Am I reading this right? Does this mean the child cannot apply for AOS if he/she is older than 18???

If that's the case, what are the options?

Would you like to see your marriage repaired? Would she like to see your marriage repaired? Did you try marriage counseling? Everything can be forgiven, even the worst and the marriage can be repaired and be even stronger, but ONLY if both parties want it.

Do you want to try to fix it?

Does she?

Same questions asked again.

If she doesn't want to fix it, then perhaps you should let her go, and let be whatever will be. Don't sacrifice yourself.

If it is you who wants out without reconciliation, then why would you care so much about her staying here?

Congratulations!

Finally it's over!

But, why would they behave like that? The office can lose her job for behaving like this. Could you have taken them to court? Expose that to the media? Get a congressman involved? This is unusual. It seems that she tried to break you.

Is it possible that someone could have told them that your marriage is fraudulent? There are people that will do that. I know of an incident where an ex-wife wrote USCIS indicating that her ex married a foreign woman he met in graduate school because she paid him off to get permanent residence. Regardless of the fact that she was pregnant with his child, they still dragged that couple through hell.

It just doesn't seem to make sense.

I would like to thank everyone for your replies!

I called the NVC today. Got through, but was on hold for about 10 minutes. The representative was very polite, professional, and far more knowledgeable than at USCIS. She explained that they know to which consulate to send the packet based on the beneficiary's address, and the fact that it was not listed on I-797 is not a big deal. She also said not to worry about the duplicate, because it's probably a fluke and should not impact anything. Then she gave me the MOS number.

Once again, Thank You everybody for answering my question! I'm sure I will have more down the road.

Looks like Vermont is beginning to move!

Congratulations!!!!!!

Good luck in the next step!

Congratulations!!!

I can't offer any advice on the duplicate I-797 forms, but I can tell you that mine also did not have the consulate listed. After puzzling over this for a few moments, I decided that the statement could be interpreted as "...will be forwarded to the consulate listed (in your I-129F application)", even though the part in parenthesis is not actually stated. I may be wrong on that assumption, but I didn't worry about it and I had no problems. Mine went right through to the correct embassy.

Thanks!

That was my initial assumption too, but what threw me off is that when I called, USCIS people became very confused and, for the lack of better word, disoriented. They had no idea why the consulate did not appear on I-797, which tells me that I will have to chase this, just to ensure that it doesn't end up in a void.

As far as duplicates go, I will hold on to both of them, and send them both in for the AOS.

Thanks!

That is confusing I have seen other people here on VJ have this happen to them. If it were me that received two I would keep both because when you file the AOS here in the states you will need a copy of that and throwing away one might not be wise. Also now that you have been approved your petition will be forwarded to the National Visa Center (NVC) it will remain there for 2 - 3 weeks before being sent to your embassy. You can call NVC for an update at 1-603-334-0700 they are very nice people to speak with. You can register at the uscis website to see your updates as your case progresses if you haven't already done that. Good Luck to you

https://egov.uscis.g...ntextType=CU_EN

Thank You very much!

I definitely will contact NVC. Their line is almost impossible to break through, but I will persist.

Thanks!

Hi All!

Here I am with another question. I got my NOA2 via text message on 10/17. Yesterday I received two identical I-797 forms. The notices are identical, except for the date. One is dated 10/17 and one is dated 10/18. Also, the notice says, that the packet will be forwarded to the listed consulate. However, there is no consulate listed anywhere on the form.

I called USCIS this morning. First, I inquired about the duplicate NOA2. They had no idea how this could have happened, and suggested that I discard one. (Of course, I will do no such thing.) Then I asked about the consulate not being listed. The level one rep became very confused. She put me on hold multiple times. Then she transferred me to an "officer". He said, "I suppose it will go to Russia, but I don't know... I don't know how this could have happened... Call NVC in a week and make sure they know where it needs to go. We have no control over it."

Did anybody have to dial with anything like this? Is there a chance, that the petition will get lost somewhere? I am now beginning to worry. Is there a way for me to ensure that it ends up at an appropriate consulate?

I tried to call NVC, but their number is always busy, i.e. impossible to get through.

Thanks.

I appreciate every bit of help.

The question is, why would you raise this question? Do your friends and relatives drill you with this or do you have doubts your self based on your fiance(e)'s behavior? The ironic thing is, you can marry somebody next door, whom you have known for years, and they can use you, strip you blind, and leave you out to dry. Or you can marry someone from the other end of the world and live happily ever after. I have heard and seen many cases of people bringing someone over from another country, who runs off immediately after the AOS approval. I have also seem many cases of people bringing someone over and melting into an inseparable one whole.

You need to ask your self a question whether YOU are sure of the other person's feelings and sincerity. If you hear others pounding garbage into your head, I'd say, "IGNORE IT". Always remember, that when things are working out for you, there will be a certain degree of envy around you. Follow your heart.

Good luck and best wishes!

We have received NOA2 on the 17th of October. NOA1 was on April 17th. It was exactly six months since the day of NOA1. I called them two weeks earlier and they said that they were currently processing petitions received on March 5th. One thing to keep in mind is that what's posted on their site is a snapshot taken on August 31st. They posted it on October 4th. It appears that it takes them a week to process a petition. Since a month and a half have passed, I would add a month and a half to March 5th, which coincides with the timing we have received our NOA2.

Also, there is site where you can see the average length of processing times for each service center. For VCS they have six months.

Follow this link: Processing Times, where at the bottom "Processing Times" let you see the average time it takes to process various applications by the service centers.

Hope this helps.

You mentioned Russian laws??? I don't think Russian laws have anything to do with this. It's entry into the U.S. with a legal status. If you marry her without her having entered here on a K-1 visa, she will have to leave the US, and you will no longer be able to use a fiancee visa to bring her here. You will then have to file I-130, which takes much longer. So hang in there.

And by the way, VCS is no longer at 5 months. They are up to 6. Also, when you call USCIS, you need to do some math:

They tell you that now they are processing March 5th application. Look at when the page was updated. I this case it's August 31. It is now October 18th. So there is a month and a half difference between the date they posted and today. So you would have to conclude, that if they tell you to wait two more months, one and a half of these two months have already passed. That was the case with my situation. I estimated another month wait, regardless of what they told me, and it was exactly one month.

Good luck, and be patient.

I have checked with USCIS numerous times. You don't need a translation service. Anybody who is competent in both languages can translate the document and certify that the translation is exact. As far as I understand, they don't even need to be notarized.

I had mine notarized anyway, but I didn't use a professional translator. I simply asked a bilingual friend of mine to help out. No questions were asked by USCIS; it went through just fine.

Hi!

Got good news today! Our petition has been approved! My fiancee broke out in tears.

One thing though... She has moved. I filed SR to change her address, but no reply on that yet. Will there be a problem if the papers go out to NVC before they put the change of address through? Did anybody have to deal with a similar situation? How does one chase that?

Thanks.