misha_

Got NOA2 today. Text message, email, the works.

Hey may filers anyone noticed according to Igors list may has the lowest recorded filers in the month. We may Filets only have 48 recorded cases on igors list. there most probably other applicants that hare not on The forum or have not filled out their timelines.could be that around this time of year business is slower for USCIS? giving the, a chance to catchup with their work loads.Previous months have had high k1 filers recorded for the Vermont list. That's good news hopefully once they get round to us it won't take too long to start seeing approvals.

It is just most of this month's filers have not figured out how to use the interwebs yet. The list of the people for a certain month on Igor's list steadily grows until approvals start.

psst, your timeline wants updating.

Well, I heard the almighty appreciates it when the faithful update their timelines promptly.

The gods of government bureaucracy shall smile on the filers of the winter's loneliest month.

There is a sighting of an NOA2 for a February filer on Igor's list today. Go February!

Hey, information freedom fighters. Once done, do you mind posting what to google for to find your site? I suppose local administrators would not mind that, would they?

oh, and, NOA2s for the people! Down with government bureaucracy and RFEs!

I heard April RFEs are bound to bring either May showers or NOAs.

Psst, look what they have right down the road.

Also, I think on this side of the pond, they like to spell filing with one "el"

Your advice is probably sound in many places, but here in Riverside there is a very large hispanic population and 99% of the students in her English classes are Hispanic, mostly from Mexico but some South and Central America as well. So she told me that she will probably speak better Spanish than English when she finishes....

hmm, tough. They'll probably chatter and spanish and won't need to socialize with her. You need somebody socially isolated but with similar background. Eastern European is best. Ideal is another cross-culture couple so that the better halves can gossip about their 'murrican husbands. If that works out, you are golden.

Oh, another place to find company is a russian church. It functions somewhat like a club. The downside is that most of the people who hang out there are not well assimilated so long-term, the influence may be toxic, but it will work as a stopgap measure. One good possibility - a mixed couple like yours. There will be a few there.

Aha! I knew it was something like this....I will be very careful!

BTW, the best remedy is making friends with whom she could only speak english. Especially somebody in similar circumstances: fresh off the boat. Hopefully, with sunny personality and go-getter attitude. The best place for it - english courses. Sign her up. Good luck.

bzzzt, russia withdrawal syndrome alert. The disease is occasionally fatal to the relationship. Also, if untreated the disease may become chronic. Typical recovery time is one year. Russianness should be supplied in controlled doses with the intent of weaning the patient from the dependency. Oversupply may exacerbate the symptoms and delay the recovery.

Mid wait group hug?

Here is a theory. The July-October files are so far down the mound of application files at CSC that to get to them they have to go through more recently filed ones. So they figured they might as well process them.

So, folks, I guess it could be worse. Jon Stewart is making fun of the the department of veterans affairs where claims processing takes more than a year, files routinely get lost, there is no computerized documents processing and a building floor is about to collapse under the weight of paper files.

Alright, rabble rousers, I am emailing the CSC bureaucrats and will sign the petition if one is circulated.

hmm, I heard the holy father is thankful that the visa for his son got approved and swore never to deal with USCIS again.

Unless they got their act together since I got my passport there (unlikely), the process is very Russian. For one, getting through to them on the phone usually takes a few days. Submitting the documents is in person. The documents are also very Russian: they make perfect sense to the consular employees and nobody else. You can save yourself a step if you bring your internal passport and get it stamped there. Otherwise, you won't be let out of Russia the first time you go there until you have it stamped. Which takes a day. Meh.

I heard going through a company that specializes in preparing the passport documents makes the process a lot less frustrating and it is a few hundred bucks well spent.

Well, maybe an article in a major newspaper is indeed going to make a difference. In any case, if anybody cares to organize a coordinated event to put pressure on CSC to get their act together, am I sure there is enough discontent on this board to make this event significant.

Tell him he should be happy that it was he that was kept.

Yes!! Of course it heals everything from pulled muscles to pimples to warts Funny thing is, I think one of our Russian friends found "zvezdochka" in a local Indian shop - so I guess this is an international miracle remedy.

NY Times says it is of Chinese origin and it got to the soviet union by way of Vietnam. Anyhow, it is supposed to cure everything and yesterday's hangover.

Honey, I can lose myself in your borscht, your pelmeni turn me on like a radio, and I can eat your potato salad all night long!

Is this the smelly collar thing she made of cheesecloth and filled with foul smelling cooked stuff? It was from a NIGHTMARE! YES, she tried that. And I think after trying to strangle me with the thing, she ate it...after it sat on the kitchen counter for three days!

I swear, some of this is like Voodooo potions or witch's brew!

No, that's something else. Ask her what "zvezdochka" balm is. On the second thought, maybe it is safer not no know.

In Hague convention: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostille_convention a number of countries (US, Ukraine and Russia included) agreed to mutually recognize other countries' notarized documents. US is somewhat liberal with respect to foreign document legalization, so getting apostilles for foreign documents is usually not required.

However, in Russia, and, I am guessing, in the Ukraine, a public notary is a figure of importance. As the citizens of these countries spend time and money jumping through hoops to get their documents officiated there, it seems unfair to the Russian/Ukrainian bureaucrats that people over here have it so easy. As a way to level the playing field so to speak, this apostille business is enforced. It arises when a US document needs to be presented to said bureaucrats. For example, a power of attorney (доверенность) with notarized signature.

The procedure of getting the apostille is this. You need to get an ordinary notary to notarize your document (your signature), get your county's court record clerk to verify that the notary's commission did not expire. The whole thing is then presented to the secretary of the state's office where, for a few dollars fee, they attach the apostille. This procedure is usually explained on the website of the secretary of your state (google for it).

One neat trick is that any attorney can serve as a notary and their commission does not expire so you can save a step.

Good luck. Bureaucrats of the world unite.

All "natural" of course!

Alla TAKES a suitcase full of clothes, shoes, electronics, etc. and returns with it full of "medicine", creams, lotions, potions, magical oils that cure arthritis and smell good, contact lenses, etc. Every time I get a *sniffle* she is digging in the bottom of the closet in her "medicine basket(s)" for the cure, it is in there!

This is not to mention the shampoo, body wash, deodorant, toothpaste ("Blend-a-med" is her favorite)sea salts, facial scrubs, all of which is "cheaper and better" than what we have here.

It is mostly subject to confiscation if checked but she doesn't worry about it and we have never had anything inspected in checked baggage

Heh. Have you been treated with a soviet time cure-all balm called "zvezdochka" yet?