Phreedom

Thought I'd pass on some useful advice so other people don't get caught in the same trap Irina and I did.

If your spouse will need to renew her Ukraine international passport in the foreseeable future (after arriving in America), you should think twice about changing her name upon marriage. In order to get her passport renewed, she is required to first change her internal passport to her new last name THEN she can renew her international passport. This cannot be done through any Ukraine embassy, she'll need to return to Ukraine. As many of you know, this isn't a fast process, likely can take months. If she retains her maiden name, she can then renew her international passport through a Ukrainian embassy. She'll be required to show her green card and social security card.

The only other option (aside from going back to Ukraine) is to change her name back to her maiden name, get her green card and SS card reissued, then apply for the passport renewal.

I wish I had known this sooner, I would have had her renew her passport before she left OR we wouldn't have changed her name.

I'm not sure of the correct forum to post this, mods feel free to move if necessary.

Thanks Hin-d, the only reference I found to DS-156 is on visajourney.com - Kiev Embassy. I can't find it in the Embassy instructions so I'll just remove it.

Good call on the letters of intent. I remember reading that somewhere! Even if they don't require it , it certainly won't hurt.

By the way, your interview date is two days before mine. best of luck to ya!

I'm so excited I can barely contain myself! Thanks to the VJ community for all the support on this journey!"

I've read all the documents provided by the Embassy (They don't send out a information packet in Kiev, everything is in PDF)

Here's my interview check list. Am I missing anything? Thanks in advance!

• Original Birth Certificate

• Ukraine Passport

• Police Certificate

• Medical exam certificate

• Marriage Certificate

• Divorce Certificate

• 3 Passport Photographs

• Form KEV-1

• Form DS-156

• Form DS-160 (online)

• Evidence of Support

  • Form I-134 (Original!)

  • 2012 Tax Return 1040

  • Employment Letter

  • Last two pay stubs

• Proof of relationship

  • Skype logs

  • Airline tickets

  • Engagement ring receipt

  • Hotel receipts
  • Pictures

Try this link from the state department to help you size your picture for a passport.
http://travel.state.gov/_res/flash/cropper/FIG_cropper.html

I'm confused. I thought the original question was whether or not to include English translated docs for the embassy interview. When filing aos, of course, translated docs are necessary, but that could be done in the US, no?

No translated documents are needed for interviews at the Kiev embassy (Providing the documents are written in English, Russian or Ukrainian). I assume every US Embassy in every country is different so check the requirements.

Any non-English documents need to be translated upon the initial filing.

Wow, I can't believe we're this close! What a crazy ride this has been.

My Fiancee seems to think any documents (she needs to give to the interviewer) must be translated into English.

Example, we have hotel receipts from my visit in September. The receipt from the engagement ring. These are in printed in Russian (with the exception of my name)

Should we translate the receipts? Anything else that should be translated to English?

Any advice is appreciated.

Hello, Phreedom,

Did you get an email from the NVC stating this, "The NVC recently received this petition. This petition is currently undergoing necessary administrative processing. You will be notified with further instructions when the processing is complete"? When I called the NVC a couple days ago for my case number they gave it to me. The gentleman on the phone told me that he "sees a little administrative processing on our case." So I asked him, "what kind of administrative processing?" He told me that it was just the usual background checks. So I asked him if they perform this administrative processing on all K1 visa petitions, and he replied yes. Furthermore he also told me that I would be receiving this email. So I feel what you felt, a little worried. Did your case status change that quick? Did they assign your beneficiary an interview date?

I haven't received any email from them. I called them every few days to check since a week after NOA2. As of last Friday, they finally told me they have the case but it isn't in the system yet. They finally gave me the case number as of Tuesday but told me it was in AP. I checked the status online anyway and it said:

As of today (Wednesday), that message changed to:

Your case is in transit to the Consular Section. Your interview date was provided to you by the National Visa Center.

I will call tomorrow to confirm but I'm pretty sure I read somewhere else that means it is on the way to the Embassy.

You can check your case status here (it only gives basic info)

https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx

Wow. I'm blown away. One day later and the case status is changed to:

Your case is in transit to the Consular Section. Your interview date was provided to you by the National Visa Center.

Am I correct in that the case has been forwarded to the Embassy?

Check out the thread titled Stuck at NVC of AP part11. At the moment, this is taking on average about three weeks. It's a totally random thing, we were stuck there ages ago, and I was told at interview it was random. The FOIA request came back with the same story. All you can really do is wait it out, and get your bits and bobs ready for when you are sent on to the consulate. Good luck!

Yea I was reading that thread. There seems to be a number of possible reasons for AP at NVC. The one that sticks out is a backlog of case preparation for the consulate. Given that CSC is letting the cases pile up after NOA2, then sending them in large batches to NVC, stands to reason this is the cause for AP. I can only hope at this point it'll pass quickly.

The waiting game sucks.

My NOA2 was 9/27. I called NVC today and they finally have my case number. However they told me my case is in AP. I'm trying not to panic! Hopefully it'll come out of AP quickly.

I called NVC today. I finally got a case number - yay!

I was told by the rep on the phone my case is in AP and it could take several weeks. I've searched around and this doesn't seem too uncommon but I can't help but be a little worried. Can anyone chime in and ease my mind a little?

Those of you with cases pending at NVC from CSC hang in there. My NOA2 was on 9/27

Yes, as everyone else said hang in there. My I29 was approved by USCIS on 9/27. I called NVC today and I was told they have my case but it is not entered into the system yet. Finally they have it! I hope things start moving along much quicker now!

I'm disappointed CSC took so long but whatever, we're hopefully on the fast track now

Yea, this is maddening.

I call the NVC today - they don't have the case yet. I call USCIS today and after asking about my case, the Tier 1 operator is now saying it can take up to 90 days. I ask: "Can you please tell me why Texas and Vermont services centers have (about) a 10 day turnaround from NOA2 and California takes 90 days?"

Reply? "I don't know anything about Texas and Vermont. What are they?"

As my head fills with dozens of possible sarcastic replies relating to government worker incompetence and stupidity, I hold my composure.

Me: "Yea, don't worry about that. Can you please transfer me to Tier 2"

In a very condescending manner, he tried to dissuade me from the transfer stating "they are going to tell you the same thing". I just smiled and said, "no worries, I'd still like the transfer"

(Note to self: Next time you consider voting to fund a government program to fix something, remember this conversation)

One hour later my transfer was answered. Tier 2 operator was much more pleasant. She put in a service request to find out the status of the case (and assigned a case number).

Interesting to note both Tier 1 or Tier2 operators said they are unable to see anything relating to the case numbers (example date) being shipped to NVC.

So ...yea, I needed to vent. Damn. My girl and I should be on the home stretch by now if not already finished!

I'm in the same boat. My I29F was approved 9/27 and still waiting for the NVC to receive it. I call about every other day. I'm not sure if they can tell how many times a person calls to inquire about a case they don't have yet. Some of the reps from the NVC are downright rude and condescending. If I heard one of my customer service reps talk to a client like that they'd be pink slipped. Grrrrrrrrrr

yea, this is frustrating. I got my NOA2 on 9/27 and I'm irritated that it may take until 11/27 for NVC to process. As many have mentioned earlier, this is government in all its glory. Oh how I'd like to rant. But I won't.

You're welcome. I've heard the same thing... but unfortunately for us things are moving quite slowly in the California Center right now, so we just have to try and be patient. It sucks, I know.

Jeez it looks like nothing is out of CSC to NVC!