Mike Bowman

As much as I hate to say it....after you get the visa...the hard part begins. My wife now complains she can't work or drive. She can't contribute to the family. She can't buy her own things. She is 100% dependent on ME! We are doing our AOS...K1 took 6 months (we felt lucky compared to some) We waited 3 months just for an Employment Authorization and Advanced Parole. It took my wife months of getting used to American food. Her English is improving daily but she worries its not good enough to get a job. Trust me...be patient...you may have many more months left before the real fun begins. Its been rough! We will be happy with the green card so she can start getting her own car and driving. Don't get me started on the medical hell the last 6 months has been! Wait is all I can say.

We did our AOS, AP, EAD about the same time you did. We just got out AP, EAD card in the mail yesterday...Thank God! The green card....well who knows. So here's a story for ya that will make you boil. I have a coworker who found a Ukrainian woman while she was here on vacation. She went back home after meeting him, then came back using her tourist visa. They decided to get married. This is a violation of US Visa. They did the AOS...it got RFE'd 2 times! They finally got it right the third time. This was back in November...2 weeks before I submitted my AOS paperwork (legally)...we live in the same area. Within two weeks she got a notice to get her biometrics done . They did that. Within a month after that they had the interview! The USCIS officer yelled at her for violating VISA rules and said they will have to take this case under careful review. They made a decision overnight and approved her for her green card! She got the card the same day as the EAD and AP (a week later). She went to Ukraine for a month and came back already! Me and my wife still hadn't got a notice about biometrics! We finally did. That was a month ago. We are still waiting for our green card yet someone who violates their tourist visa gets a nice smooth "jump in front of the line" and gets everything done in less than 2 months! Talk about being pissed! At least my wife can look for a job but can't drive yet. If that makes any sense. So I feel ya! Hang in there. I'm sure it will come soon enough. On the website ours does not say card processing....but we have our EAD card in hand. AOS paperwork still says in Initial Review.

My coworker just went through this...sort of. His , now wife, had a tourist visa before she met him. She met him while she was over here. She went back to her country and came back over again. Her reasoning to get in was to say shes visiting her "friend". She came and they got married. They filed the AOS paperwork. They got to the interview and USCIS chewed her a new ####### for violating her visa. USCIS reasoning was saying that people who do their paperwork correctly and have to wait to get into the US, you basically bypassed all that and jumped to the front of the line. The case went onto further review (took less than a week) and they were approved. I IN NO WAY AM TELLING YOU TO DO THIS! This is only an experience of my coworker. If she hadn't of left and came back they would have found her guilty of visa fraud. Her leaving proved she didn't have intentions of committing visa fraud because if she was trying to commit fraud she would have stayed and got married the first time they met. You need to have your eggs in a basket before you decide anything. If you did a k1, got denied for any reason, whatever whatever and then got a tourist visa and get married...I'm sorry but if I was an USCIS officer I'd deny you.

Ok so as of right now I'm doing everything correct. maybe I'm just freaking out but the medical Im furious about! I already know the doctors office will just tell me to either pay or she won't sign the documents I need. Shes already been doing it when I made a spat about the flu shot....she stopped what she was doing and said "Ok I'll just write on the documents you refuse the flu shot and you can deal with it at immigration". The blood work was done for measles...so the doctor says. I know no clue what chemicals they are putting into wifes body. They throw this "Well you wont get a green card then if you don't do this or that" like its all a joke to them. These are doctors found on the USCIS website.

Why did you move my topic? Now I won't get any response...thanks

Ok...So...Our K1 process went smooth as butter! Our AOS..or I should say, all the BS before the AOS is killing us! We have multiple problems that I can find a straight answer anywhere and frankly tired of searching considering everyone situation is different. So I will try to explain the best I can here:

My wife is from UKRAINE, we got married on Nov 16th, 2013. We are almost ready to turn in the AOS paperwork but running into these problems:

1. The marriage certificate shows my wifes maiden name and not my last name. When I went back and looked at the marriage license, the only box that ask for her name is a box that reads "Name of bride" (We are not marriage as of this point so I put her name, not my last name). A box next to that says "Maiden Name" (if you were married before. Not extra boxes to check for her to take my last name or nothing.) It is certified as my name and her name, not her name with my last name. This is from the state of Virginia where we got married. I called my mom and she says I did everything correct and that this is normal. How can I get her name changed with the SS office if it doesn't show my last name attached to hers on the marriage certificate?...I'm confused!

2. We got her a Social Security number and it has her full name (First, middle, last) but her passport only shows first and last. Will this be a problem? But...since we are now married I want to change the Social Security card to have my last name on her name. Our marriage certificate does not reflect this so will they change it to my last name or not?

3. We want to get her a drivers license and I was told we need to bring in the marriage certificate and her passport....well this is fine and dandy as of right now because her names all match (marriage certificate, passport, and SS card) but we need to change her last name to mine for the AOS documents. AOS is more important but once we change her name to my last name nothing will match and I know DMVs are stupid about immigration and will reject us because the names dont match...even though we are married the marriage certificate shows her last name and not mine. What to do here I have zero clue!

4. Our freaking medical is driving us UP A WALL! This is taking FOREVER! So we go into the doctors office after calling 20 different places...all we busy, didn't want to do it, or going on vacation...excuse after excuse. We found one and we go in and right away they want another TB test. They said the TB test for her to come here was NOT good enough and unless we can provide proof another one is needed. We actually had the Xray from Ukraine...the doctor refused to even look at it. She claimed we needed this and that vaccine (Which is fine) but then said we also needed a MANDATORY Flu shot (#######?????!!!!) I am against all flu shots! They are not needed for anyone! The doctor said we can refuse it and get denied for a green card (basically being a ) So my girl got this unneeded flu shot. We had to get another TB Xray done and blood work done. OK not a problem! They said they will call in a few days with xray and blood work results. A few days go by and nothing. I call and they dont return a call...I called again 2 days later and they didn't return a call again. I call a third time (with not the nicest voice) and I get a call back saying they are waiting on blood work still...I explain its been over 10 days now...they said this is a 10-14 day process...other offices say 2-3 days. They also said when we come back in my girl needs a physical....WHAT???? I'm only reading about needing vaccinations....not an additional TB test, flu shot, physical. Now...the doctors office calls us today saying the hospital they sent our blood work too has lost it and we can pay an additional $120 to draw more blood and send it away WHAT!!!!!!!!??????? ####### is going on with these stupid people?!!! I'm more than outraged right now!

So all in all...this is what Ive done...ALL the AOS paperwork has my name attached to her last name...since we are married. I have a suspect marriage certificate, botched medical exam where they just want money, and zero clue about getting her a driver license due to names not matching up after we do a name change. This is not supposed to be this complicated and to me...it seems like American can give 2 shits about immigrants...and I'm American!!!! Don't even get me started on trying about putting my wife on my medical insurance!

Any help would be awesome. I didn't want to write this on another post due to some post being years old and people complaining about "reviving old threads" and never getting a response. Thanks...sorry for the rant!

This might be an old thread but I'd share my experience with the SS office. 1st....I had no clue my girl could get a SSN a few weeks after she is here. I assumed after we got married on a K1 Visa. By the time I got home from out wedding and honeymoon I read on here that you have to go to the office before 14 days of your I-94 expiring. I'm like "Great! My girl is gonna be pissed!" After all I was reading on here about people being turned away for this or that I told my girl we were late to the office and we have 2 days left before 14 days. So we decided to go the next morning. I get home and my girl is being lazy and decides she doesn't want to go today but tomorrow...now we have one day left! So I get home from working 13 hours, jump in the car and go...we get there 2 minutes before the office opened. We sign our name and see we are the 9th person. I'm thinking this will be a 4 hour ordeal. We got out number and when we sat down they already called 461...we were 463. 10 minutes later we were called to our window. The woman there was in her late 20's. We came dressed normal, not looking like poor bums. We said Hi with a smile and said I need to get my wife a new SSN under a K1 Visa. I handed her the paperwork and her passport. I spelled her middle name incorrect on the SS-5 form but the woman fixed in the PC no problem. No questions asked and 5 minutes later we left with the woman telling us her SS card will be here within 14 days. End of story....it was painless and free and took 15 minutes max!

The cost of this are going to eat you alive! If you live on a very low budget and on one income you will have a hard time saving in time before it's time to pay for something else. So far, with 5 trips to Ukraine from USA, engagement ring, visa paperwork, and sending money here and there I'm up to about $25,000. Yeah ...not cheap!

In Ukraine, once we got our NVC case number we scheduled the medical exam the next day. All we needed was that case number which they can give you over the phone. Every country is different though.

We just got approved for my fiance's K1 Visa this past Wednesday from Ukraine. Received NOA 1 on March 8th. Total days from NOA 1 to Visa approval was 180 days. We did not wait for the consulate to send out ANY packet. If that was the case, we would still be waiting today. We got the case number from the NVC (3 weeks after it was sent from TSC, they said can take up to 8 weeks) paid the visa fee and immediately scheduled her medical exam then the next week did her visa interview. We just received a notice yesterday that the NVC were sending the case to Kiev, Ukraine and to wait for the consulate to send the packet to her house by mail. This is 3 days after she's already had her interview and been approved! Snail mail perhaps?! If we played by the rules she wouldn't even of had her medical exam yet! We were tired of waiting and it worked in our favor. Once we had the consulate case number from the NVC we paid the visa fee at the bank. The next day scheduled the medical exam. Once she passed the medical exam I scheduled her interview online using the number they give you from the visa payment receipt. She picks up her visa on Monday or Tuesday. I go get her next Thursday to bring her to USA...I bet we still won't even have our packet from the consulate yet. Who cares...we got what we wanted. There was no sense in waiting another 4-6 weeks for nothing but laziness on the NVC and consulates side, or whatever you want to call it...more like expected delays! Everyones consulate is different and we are very lucky to have this Visa process completed in 6 months. I read we didn't have to wait for the packet and took a chance moving forward. She was missing some code that would be in the packet but she played stupid at the interview and they pulled up her code on the computer and blamed it on a printer error. I think because my girl went through the trouble and spoke English during her interview instead of Russian. Her English isn't great but they really respected she tried her best. They understood her and she understood all the questions the first time around. The waiting game sucks...it really really does. I guess we found a loophole to speed things up by about a month. But check VJ for how people did this process for your country. In Ukraine, for example, we couldn't pay the visa fee online but could schedule the interview online. She has a pick up location for her visa, it can't be shipped. Once you get your NOA 2 wait about 2 weeks and call the NVC everyday. I called at 8am (eastern time) every morning and never waited on hold not one second. Also check your case status on USCIS for any updates. We noticed they updated online and we got our hard copies weeks later or never got one at all. Best of luck. I'm sure the process will be over soon. So we were able to get our process done from when the case hit the NVC to visa approval about 5 weeks. If we waited for the packet, that still hasn't arrived, I bet it would be 8 weeks or longer. If you can do everything without waiting for the checklist, like we did, go ahead! Depends on the country, you can download all in the information and do everything yourself. This is the case in Ukraine. Another country I have no clue. But yes 2 months seems normal. Maybe even longer.

I spelt my girls middle name wrong on the documents. You have to bring in your passport to your interview and I think they will be more interested in that over your birth certificate because to get a passport you use your birth certificate. Not sure how it will play out but from what my girl said about her interview is that they just browsed over the paperwork really quick. Was more interested in the DS-156, DS-156k, DS-230, and I-134. The rest was just flipped through to see if it was there. I know that doesn't really help you much but I know they are really going by my girls passport over her birth certificate. From what she told me is that most of the paperwork she brought in was given back to her and they only kept the main documents I listed earlier and her passport.I'll have to double check with her to see if they gave the birth certificate back or not.

Hi guys, I hope u all are having a good time while waiting to get to see us husbands or wives lol jk I CANT WAIT TO SEE MINE GODD I MISS HIM

SO MY HUBBY CALLED USCIS LAT WEEK SADLY OUr CASE IS ON NATIONAL BENEFITS SERVICE ONE OF THE SLOWEST OFFICES IN USA TO PROCESS APPLICATIONS, SO THE LADY TOLD HIM IT COULD TAKE 6 MONTHS TO A YEAR BUT THEY DO NOT HAVE A TIMELINE DUE TO THE AMOUNT OF APPLICATIONS THEY RECEIVE!

SO THIS IS MY QUESTION HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE HEARD FROM THE USCIS EITHER THE ONES WHO FILLED ON JANUARY OR MARCH BETWEEN THOSE MONTHS, I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR GOOD NEWS AND KNOW LIKE WHAT CASES THEY LOOKING UP NOW

have a great weekend

We just approved for my fiance's visa this past Wednesday from Ukraine. Received NOA 1 on March 8th. Total days from NOA 1 to Visa approval was 180 days. We did not wait for the consulate to send out any packet. If that was the case we would still be waiting. We got the case number from the NVC and immediately scheduled her exam then the next week did her interview. We just received a noticed that they were sending the case to Kiev, Ukraine yesterday and to wait for the consulate to send the packet to her house by mail. This is 3 days after she's already had her interview and been approved. If we played by the rules she wouldn't even of had her medical exam yet! We were tired of waiting and it worked in our favor. She picks up her visa on Monday or Tuesday. I got get her next Thursday...I bet we still won't even have our packet from the consulate yet. Who cares...we got what we wanted. There was no sense in waiting another 4-6 weeks for nothing but laziness on the NVC and consulates side.

We just got approved ourselves this past Wednesday! Congrats!!!

Sweet you guys answered my next question then because I was wondering what the $350 was for. I paid the $240 through the bank so I should be good to go. I was thinking..."Another $350?" I'll have to update the website myself because it's definitely outdated. Thanks for the heads up!

Thanks guys...soon after I posted this I found this...apparently the instructions I have no got yet but I was able to find them through Google. Sorry for the post. I checked for 2 hours before some key words clicked in my head...its last and I've been working all night.

I know this has been asked a million times but I see different things here and there. I hear police reports are good for 6 months some say 1 year. I can find a definite answer to this. Please help. I'm sorry if this has been posted elsewhere. This is what I found on the Ukraine Embassy/Consulate:

Additional Info? TRANSLATIONS: Documents in English, Ukrainian or Russian do not need to be translated. When you arrive for the interview, you MUST present all the original documents accompanied by an English translation, which is produced by a certified translator, only if the document is not in English, Ukrainian or Russian. After the interview, all originals except the medical examination report will be returned to you. The consular officer has the right to request translation of any submitted document.
PASSPORTS BY COURIER: The Consular Section uses a delivery services to return passports
All documents are valid 12 months?? from the date of issuance. Better check this one out. The US Embassy told us that the local police check report was valid only for 6 months after the date of issue.
Cost of K1 visa has gone up to $350.00 payable at the consulars office in USD. USD exchange rate at embassy was 8.30 to 1 USD, best to get your $ before.

I made it big and bold so you can see. The consulate page supplied here is even confused. Our police report is 7 months old and our interview is next week so needing to find out if we need to order new ones (takes 2 days) so we have them ready for the interview. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hi Everyone! I really need some help with this question. I have a DS2001....what the hell do I do with this thing? I'm reading on other forums I need to send that in along with the DS156, DS156k, and DS230 to get the interview set up. Well here's the deal...I have the interview set up already. I did it myself online. Once I had the NVC KEV****** case number we went ahead, paid the visa fees, set up the medical exam, and after we got our receipt I set her interview up online. The DS2001 is a readiness form to make sure you have everything ready for the interview then they set up the interview....am I missing something here???? Ukraine consulate says I can set the interview up for her online...which I had no problem doing. Should I fill out the DS2001, send in the documents, and attach a memo stating we have an interview set up? I'm confused because I read on the Ukraine consulate site this:

What forms should be send back to the Consulate? Nothing Other Forms (if any)? 1 External passport or/and child’s travel document(original)
2 Birth certificate (ORIGINAL, COPY, TRANSLATION)
3 Court decree of sole legal custody of the child (if applicable) (ORIGINAL, COPY, TRANSLATION)
4 Police certificate(ORIGINAL, TRANSLATION)
5 Military records (if applicable)(ORIGINAL, COPY, TRANSLATION)
6 Evidence of financial support (ORIGINALs)
7 Divorce decree (if applicable)(ORIGINAL, COPY, TRANSLATION)
8 Marriage certificate/change of name certificate (if applicable) (ORIGINAL, COPY, TRANSLATION)
9 Marriage certificate for K-3 applicants (only if you were married in the US) - original
10 Death certificate (if applicable)(ORIGINAL, COPY, TRANSLATION)
11 Adoption decree (if applicable) (ORIGINAL, COPY, TRANSLATION)

You must also bring with you the following:

13. Two color photographs signed on back for each applicant.
14. DS-156 form – Nonimmigrant Visa Application (2 copies) and DS-156 K– Nonimmigrant Fiance(e) Visa Application (one copy).
• Every numbered part must be completed.
• Do not use dashes or the letters “N/A” or abbreviations.
Application must be presented by each fiancé(e) (K-1) visa applicant.
• K-2 applicants (children of K-1 applicants), K-3 and K-4 applicants (children of K-3applicants) complete only two
copies of form DS-156 – Nonimmigrant Visa Application.
• If the child is included on your passport, you should use your passport information to fill out the child’s application.

As you see it says :send nothing back to the consulate...but yet it does not mention anything about a DS230 form. I see it mentions the DS156 and DS156K. So I'm lost and it's already Tuesday. Her exam is this Friday and interview next Wednesday. We are starting to get the packet together, we have all the forms just clueless about if we even need to send in this DS2001 and what to do with the DS230. Any help would be awesome!!!! I'm sure some consulates are different...not sure but this is for Ukraine

Instructions that I received:

"This office is pleased to announce that we have received your petitions for a non-immigrant visa "k1/k3" so that you may to travel to US to get married with your fiance(e) (k1 visa), or to live with your spouse (k3 visa).

In order to have the final interview before the US consul, please read the instructions below and follow them carefully.

FIRST: Complete and send us form DS-230 Part I and 1 photo (see instructions attached)

SECOND: Gather all the documents mentioned below that apply to your case. Please check the box on left once you have gathered the document and send us by mail a copy of each of the documents requested together with this form. Once we have received and checked your copies, we will schedule your appointment with the Immigrant visa consul. On the day of the interview with the consul, you will have to present ALL the originals documents.

IMPORTANT; THE APPOINTMENT WILL NOT BE SCHEDULE UNTIL YOU SEND US THE COPIES OF ALL DOCUMENTS REQUESTED BELOW:"

Weird! I'm going through Ukraine's consulate and all I did was get the NVC case number (in my case I was assigned a KEV********) Once I got the number we called the medical place and set up the exam. The same day she went and paid the $240 Visa fee at the bank on the website. Once we got the receipt number from that, I went and scheduled her interview. We haven't got one email yet from the Ukraine consulate nor any packages and already have our DS156, DS156K, and DS230 filled out. It was super simple and took all of one day. Some consulates you can pay the Visa fee online. We had to pay in person....big deal but now I'm also curious if we need to send in any documents before the interview. I downloaded the checklist and have all the documents ready but we are still waiting on an email. The whole K1 visa process has been really crappy about sending us emails and notices by mail. We only got an NOA1 email (no hard copy), and email that it was transferred from VSC to TSC, then we got a hard copy NOA2 (no email), no email or hard copy on NVC case number...hard to call everyday, no notice when our case was transferred to the Ukraine consulate and we are very worried we will receive nothing from them either like your post shows. So I need to write a post now asking for Ukraine consulate. Thanks...hope it all goes great for you two

Ukraine is funny with their bank machines. My Visa debit card will work in most machines but every now and then my card won't work in an ATM. They dont have the best banking structure there

I am worried about this too as all my money has gone nothing but to this visa process, visiting 4 times, engagement ring, and now I have to fly back with her so another $1500 I'll be spending, then the wedding, then AOS....My account stays below $2,000! I make more than enough money and if I was able to save that money I would have over $25,000 in my account. I'm hoping they aren't going to evaluate me on my bank account alone as it looks not the best. They have to understand people are spending a lot of their money visiting their other and doing this whole visa process. I don't know too many people that have spare $100,000 just laying around. I wouldn't take out a loan to boost your bank account if you make higher than the poverty level. I make 300% higher than the poverty level so I'm hoping this will be ok.

Mine also...was approved on July 25th and still nothing from NVC...been almost a month...but then I got something from my USCIS Case Status stating this:

Post Decision Activity

On August 14, 2013, we shipped this approved or re-affirmed case to the Department of State for visa processing. For more information, please contact them directly.

I was on hold as of writing this with NVC and I finally got my case #!!!!!! Yay!!!!! So it took 1 week from this date on my USCIS Case Status

I just received the I-797C Transfer Notice. My NOA1 was on March 7th 2013. Still no update from people who received this in May? We also are wondering how long the process is from the day we received this notice. We are hoping we are not having to start our 4 months all over again. I'm still waiting to read where someone has a timeline of when they got their I-797C to getting their NOA2. Somebody has to have heard something by now because it would have been 2 months since May. So far it seems like no one has definite answer on this and I have a feeling when I call I will get the same things as everyone else...an unassured timeline. From what I'm reading I'm the only one with a March NOA 1 so far. Any info would be awesome!

Hi! My girl just received an email out of the blue from the Ukraine Consulate called "Your US Travel Documents Customer Portal". Can anybody tell us what this means and if they sent this what is a timeline before we are issued our NOA2? I'm thinking they are finally working on our K1 petition but I have no clue. It doesn't have much for us to do inside this portal site. Any help would be great!

Mike

Gmedia,....you are very correct my friend. I just found out last night myself from Elena....her Ukraine Passport does have both Russian/In the back, and Ukraine shown in the front of this document with her picture attached. I hope this is all CSC needs. We were informed by a lady who translates documents in Odessa, this is the norm with many Ukraine applications with K1 Visa's. The Russian/Ukraine difference in spelling is a common issue. I am having her Russian Birth Certificate Translated to Ukraine, and then to English. Even though it is not a picture document. Just to reaffirm the spelling difference. This is very unfortunate so many Ukraine ladies born before 1991(Old Russia Birth Certificates) probably deal with this issue. Heads up on this Ukraine K1 Applicants,.....

This is what my girl had. She had her normal passport then went and got her travel passport before we did the K1 Visa, this is what shows her name that we used. Resubmit the changes and I think you will be straight....don't forget to write her full name in Russian in the space "Other names used in different languages" This links the two names to the same person.

Here is my FRE from CSC. "The spelling of my fiancée name" My Elena was born in Russia/Ukraine in 1979, so she has a Russian birth certificate, her first name is spelled "ELENA". In 1991, the Ukraine separated from Russia, her name on all documents then became Ukraine spelling "OLENA". CSC wants evidence, in some photo identification manner with each name. "Basically prove that Elena and Olena is the same person. No such photo evidence exist to prove she was Elena,....she was 1-12 years old at the time. Only a birth certificate, CSC seems to want more. Many others here have had to have this problem. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!

I didn't get any RFE but I ran into this problem too and at the last minutes changed all of our documents to reflect the Ukrainian spelling. My girl is Юлия but on her passport it reads Iuliia. So we changed all the documents to read the funny Iuliia name and then in the box where it says "Please write any other name in different languages she may use" In this spot I put Юлия (Russian). We are obviously still waiting. It's been almost 3 months now and no change in our K1 Visa Status yet. So if she has a passport or birth certificate use those names...all the documents have to match. I've never spelled my girls name Iuliia EVER! But for Western Union and Visa documents I have to. She herself even goes by the Russian spelling. I hope you get this fixed so you can move on.