drbilldc

6Hi Everybody!! Just wanted to let you know after 2 1/2 years the green cards are finally IN PRODUCTION!!!! Kudos to the Detroit office, It only took 8 calendar days 6 business days to receive our paperwork and process it.

Dr. Bill

1 down!!!! 1 to go !! got this message after an sms from USCIS--> : On October 15, 2010, we ordered production of your new card. Please allow 30 days for your card to be mailed to you. If we need something from you we will contact you. If you move before you receive the card, call customer service at 1-800-375-5283.

Hi All!

what is the name of the document i need to send to get our original documents back. We abandoned the CR 1/2 visas for adjustment of status. The originals weren't sent to C.I.S. as part of our adjustment of status case file.

Thanks,

Drbill

FYI, no matter what she said, the AOS CANNOT be approved without vaccinations. What she measn is "approved pending vaccinations" If it gets denied, there will be no "defense" that "she said..." However if it gets denied, it seems that it can be re-opened and green cards received.

Some specifics of the cases I worked with. All three were from Ukraine. These involved a local office in two states and the CSC.

Case 1. Applicant (spouse) was told she was "approved" at th einterview but needed a vaccination. Was given 30 days per the RFE (sound familiar?) They could net get an appointment until the 30th day with a civil surgeon. On day 31 the applicant and her husband drove to the local office and hand delivered the paper to the CO that did the interview. Two weeks later she was denied and told to leave the country! She lacked an influenza vaccine, which weas required at that time, not any more.

Applicant filed an I-290 and was finally approved.

Case 2. Identical except the needed vaccine was rubella and the RFE response was 4 days late for the same reason. Shew was told she was approved.

Case 3 is very interesting. The case was forwarded to CSC for processing (Yippee! Right?) Wrong. The applicant had received an AP and EAD previously. There was no interview. The applicant received an RFE stating they did not have a "needed vaccine". The applicant and petitioner could not think of what vaccine was missing, they thought they had them all. They made an infopass appointment at a local office. The local office could not tell them which vaccine was missing. The local office advised them to see a CS and ask. They made an appointment with a CS. The CS said ALL vaccines had been received and not only did the applicant NOT need the vaccines, the CS would not give any because she already had them all. The CS would NOT sign an I-693 because they had a DS-3025 which showed she had all the needed vaccines. "It is obviously an error" The couple made another infopass with our local office and was told to respond to the RFE with a letter and a copy of the DS-3025 (sent with the original package) and "highlight the vaccines". They did. They responded before the deadline. Great.

No news for several weeks.

The woman goes back to Ukraine to visit family using her AP. A few days after she leaves the husband gets a denial letter and her AP IS CANCELLED!!!!!!!!!!! She cannot re-enter the US. Senator Leahy of Vermont was contacted and did a marvelous job in going to the top to get this straigntened out. Ultimately her AP was restored and her green card was issued. The reason she was denied? The DS-3025 has a little box that, if checked, says "vaccinations complete" The box on hers was not checked! She HAD the vaccines and all the dates of all the vaccines were given, but the little box had not been checked!

I had the great pleasure of working with Senator Leahy on these and I can say that despite my considerable differences in opinion on many issues with him, he and his staff are 1000% for Vermonters and he swings a pretty big stick. He has my vote as lomng as he wants to remain in office. I have also worked with him on trying to change this.

The new Menendez-Leahy immigration bill contains language that will eliminate the need for Civil Surgeons to sign off on certain classes of visas for which a medical exam was held within one year and before visa issuance (that means US) And ANY licensed US doctor would be able to do this. Unfortunately I do not care for the rest of the immigration bill. I guess you can't have everything and who knows if it will actually pass or not be amended once the CS lobby gets a hold of it (if there is a CS lobby, who knows?) I do not know if it will survive, get changed, etc. In fact, I do not agree with the bill, it is basically amnesty in a pretty package. But I hope the time comes when we can dump these parasitic CS's from the process.

Thanks for the INFO, not really encouraging news altogether, But thanks nonetheless. It was interesting during the interview the rep kept apologizing for not reviewing our file earlier, because of her case load from the Haitian disaster. Then she told me she would skip the entire personal question section because I had learned to speak Basic Russian FOR MY WIFE. She was very scattered and confused and at one point suggested a break so we went to the car and grabbed some translations of the vaccinations for Aleksey. The whole process was just very different than what i was told.

Dr. Bill

yes should be interesting because during the interview, she specifically said "you're approved, just have the civil surgeon sign off on this" we will wait and see

Dr. Bill

I received an RFE yesterday in regards to the I-693.

I have it figured out, so this is more of a warning to others than a question.

My vaccination history was incomplete, i needed the MMR, and i was told by the mis-information line to get the i693 section 2, vaccination supplement, completed to show i had the MMR shot administered by a civil surgeon, so i did that and sent it, but it seems on the recent update to the I-693 they have said that if you have an incomplete vaccination you are required to to get the full I-693.

I never read that before, so either it wasnt there or i missed it, but still, when will these type of places allow there staff to use an ounce of common sense, its pretty obvious i had the full medical for the K1 and that i have fulfilled the vaccination requirements and the medical, any monkey from anywhere would be able to tell that from the paper work..

But noooooo, common sense goes right out of the window and now i have to fork out $150 for a full medical. AGAIN!!!!!!!

one civil surgeon i called wanted $300 PAYED UPFRONT before i could make an appointment.. i just laughed at her and put the phone down.. Seriously i cant wait to be done with all of this bureaucratic nonsense..

moral of the story:

MAKE SURE YOU GET ALL THE VACCINATIONS BEFORE OR DURING THE K1 JOURNEY!!!

My final though is that if you would like to apply for a position at USCIS ensure that you have feathers, scratch through mud for your food and have an IQ of a teacup..

Dr. Bill

Huh, didn't know that... I'd process packages for people from home

Jim he said he sent it anonymously... so I don't think they'd think bribe. My first thought was "terrorism" actually.

OP - It does seem like you were just trying to be nice and I hope it doesn't affect you like Jim's saying it could

Hi heart was in the right place.

Hi Everybody!

We had our interview on September 3rd, the interviewer said we were approved but issued an RFE for 2 vaccinations each. Went to the civil surgeon who did the entire exams over again and forced us to get Tb shots which delayed us 1 week long story short we fufilled the RFE and the documents will arrive in Detroit tomorrow, but on the bottom of the RFE in small printing it said "returned in 30 days or possible rejection" I paraphrased this. Because of the Doctor's schedule the %th was the soonest we could complete the exams/vaccinations. so we will be at 34 days, not 30. ODDS of rejection? Anyone?

thanks,

Dr. Bill

ok got the plane tickets changed..part 1 of the dilemma is resolving...now to track down these pesky original documents from the I 130.

Bill

well let me elaborate a little, the package was sent to Kiev, then we recieved an appointment for the CR1/2 interview but ignored it and adjusting status here with USCIS. does that change your answer? we also incuded the request to return originals with it but again that's the last we've heard of it since late March.

Bill

Thank you for the advice. Any advice on the original documents that NVC sent to Kiev? The list of documents to bring to the interview, all those originals are in the NVC packet.

Bill

Hi everybody!

we received our travel documents 2 weeks ago, Katerina got plane tickets and went to Ukraine. well....the day after she left we get our appointment date...September 3rd, they are scheduled to return September 8th. Our attorney has advised us NOT to try to get a new appointment date, as she has had clients where they refused to change the date, this particular example the person was military and NEEDED to deploy. Also we abandoned the CR1/CR2 visas for adjustment of status, BUT the NVC sent all of our original documents to Kiev and we haven't heard anything about where they are now. so i'm asking is it really that big of a nightmare to change the interview date...oh also i couldn't change the interview date, the applicant needs to and she's out of the country. and 2. any clue of our original documents we be at the interview...we really need some advice on this here.

Dr. Bill

Hi everybody!

well the U.S. governemnt in their infinite wisdom did it to us again. my wife arrived in 2008 and has been here on her K3 and K4 visas. 2 weeks ago we sent ALL the information for an RFE, including original documents. this morning we received a letter saying that they scheduled an interview for her in KIEV!!! she is HERE, her I-94 was sent with the AOS packet and she can't leave the country..obviously. any suggestions? simultaneously we sent the AOS packet with all the fees paid in it also. any suggestions? wait for the green card? anything would be appreciated.

thanks,

Bill and Kateryna

This is a cultural thing, in my opinion, and not designed as a comment on any person (except the two mentioned).

OK folks, here it is, from two marraiges and twenty years of one-sided, self-serving, empirical observation. I welcome any disagreement or suggested adjustment to the scale. These are generalizations only - and no flowers were harmed in the production of this scoring technology, unless you count their eventual death.

American Woman

One dozen roses = 1 point

Eastern European Woman

One dozen roses = 1 point for thinking about her + 1 point for buying roses + 1 point for any reasonably sincere presentation of roses + 2 bonus points for every one of her girlfriends that sees the roses (without limit) + 1 extra bonus point for every girlfriend who sees the roses while she is carrying them, and for every compliment she gets while carrying them.

I use roses only as an example here, as it really doesn't seem to matter to Vika what kind of flowers she receives. My ex wife would have clipped me half a point for flowers that were not her favs though.

YES!!!! Brad your return on investment mathematics are correct!.

Bill

@OP - did you ask your lawyer if he sent the "certified" copies of your documents, or did they send copies of the original documents in question?

for your questions:

1. The best they could do is give you "copies" of any documents, which will not be "certified" for the purposes of NVC. (they usually do not release original paperwork in their files - but you could ask)

2. Good option

3. Better option (probably faster)

@Gary - I think the issue is that the documents are not certified (with a stamp from the originating agency), not that they not "originals". I have seen them ask for those, our own documents we submitted for our AOS were "certified".

yes you're first question IS the question..did the lawyer send just copies, certified copies or did she even send them at all?. so being a male and wanting to simply "solve the problem"

we have certified and apostilled originals in our possession, how and where in the U.S. can we get "certified copies"? any ideas? a notary? a notary in Ukraine? or simply duplicate originals, ? which will be on their way Wednesday...except for the custody agreements.

Dr. Bill

here is a copy of the verbage they used, they did in fact request original copies. i will paste it below i hope the format remains so you can read it. Kateryna's mother will send the documents by mail, but the police certificate should not be required again.

______CORRESPONDENCE INSTRUCTIONS:_________________________________

When responding to the National Visa Center, please include the bar code sheet that came with this

letter. Failure to include the bar code sheet may cause a delay in the processing of your case. The bar

code sheet should be placed on top of all documents being submitted for this case and mailed to the

address provided.

______PASSPORT:____________________________________________________

Please submit a copy of the biographic data page of this person's

passport, including the expiration date of the passport. The

passport must be valid.

______MARRIAGE TERMINATION:________________________________________

The document you submitted is not an original or certified copy of an original issued by the appropriate

government authority. The document must be an original, or a certified copy of the original, bearing the

original seal or stamp from the issuing authority.

______BIRTH CERTIFICATE:___________________________________________

The document you submitted is not an original or certified copy of an original issued by the

appropriate government authority. The document must be an original, or a certified copy of

the original, bearing the original seal or stamp from the issuing authority.

______MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE:________________________________________

The document you submitted is not an original or certified copy of an original issued by the appropriate

government authority. The document must be an original, or a certified copy of the original, bearing the

original seal or stamp from the issuing authority.

______UKRAINE POLICE CERTIFICATE:__________________________________

UKRAINE: Records are available. Police and prison records are kept by the Ministry of Internal Affairs

and the Security Service of Ukraine. Immigrant visa applicants from Ukraine obtain police certificates

at their local Office of Visas and Registration (OVIRs). Applicants outside Ukraine have to apply for

police certificates through the nearest Ukrainian Embassy or Consulate.

______PHOTOGRAPH:__________________________________________________

Please provide two identical front-view color photographs with a white background as required for each

visa applicant.

The photos must have the name of the person in the photo printed on the back, along with the case

also, to clarify the top of the letter was for IR visas i recieved 1 letter for each perosn.

Just wanted to clarify

I have never seen them request "original" documents and have never submitted an original document, only copies. I submitted original translations. If you MUST have originals, then I would say try to get a family member to run them down. S+You should be able to get them at the local ZAGS office easily enough, unless you just want to go tot Ukraine, it doesn't take much to convince me. Myself, I would fly to Ukraine and stay a few eeeks, but that's just me.

Filing the AOS together is no guarantee it will be approved together and it really isn't important. You have filed the AOS, the expiration of her visa is no longer an issue except for international travel purposes, don't worry about that.

here is a copy of the verbage they used, they did in fact request original copies. i will paste it below i hope the format remains so you can read it. Kateryna's mother will send the documents by mail, but the police certificate should not be required again.

______CORRESPONDENCE INSTRUCTIONS:_________________________________

When responding to the National Visa Center, please include the bar code sheet that came with this

letter. Failure to include the bar code sheet may cause a delay in the processing of your case. The bar

code sheet should be placed on top of all documents being submitted for this case and mailed to the

address provided.

______PASSPORT:____________________________________________________

Please submit a copy of the biographic data page of this person's

passport, including the expiration date of the passport. The

passport must be valid.

______MARRIAGE TERMINATION:________________________________________

The document you submitted is not an original or certified copy of an original issued by the appropriate

government authority. The document must be an original, or a certified copy of the original, bearing the

original seal or stamp from the issuing authority.

______BIRTH CERTIFICATE:___________________________________________

The document you submitted is not an original or certified copy of an original issued by the

appropriate government authority. The document must be an original, or a certified copy of

the original, bearing the original seal or stamp from the issuing authority.

______MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE:________________________________________

The document you submitted is not an original or certified copy of an original issued by the appropriate

government authority. The document must be an original, or a certified copy of the original, bearing the

original seal or stamp from the issuing authority.

______UKRAINE POLICE CERTIFICATE:__________________________________

UKRAINE: Records are available. Police and prison records are kept by the Ministry of Internal Affairs

and the Security Service of Ukraine. Immigrant visa applicants from Ukraine obtain police certificates

at their local Office of Visas and Registration (OVIRs). Applicants outside Ukraine have to apply for

police certificates through the nearest Ukrainian Embassy or Consulate.

______PHOTOGRAPH:__________________________________________________

Please provide two identical front-view color photographs with a white background as required for each

visa applicant.

The photos must have the name of the person in the photo printed on the back, along with the case

Hi Everybody!

i will try to explain the best i can where we are at and see if anybody has any ideas about a resolution.

my wife and step son arrived in July 2008 on K3 and K4 visas. after several run arounds with USCIS and NVC we finally found out where to pay the IV fee bill in April 2009, i paid the fees in August 2009 and our attorney submitted to documents for the approval of the IR1 IR2 visas with the plan to immediatley file the adjustment of status following approval. January 6th my attorney telephoned the NVC and they told her to "go ahead and submit the paperwork for the adjustment of status" 2 days later i receive e-mails requesting original documents for birth certificates, divorce documents and custody documents....they were sent in November 2009 and the visa center is now requesting them....of course they will deny that they lost them, The K3/K4 visas expire in late July 2010, We just want the green card!!

suggested options: 1 request documents from the Ukrainian consulate in Washington (the original K3 K4 packet) 2. attempt to have family memebers in Ukraine retrieve more originals. 3. fly to Ukraine to get originals.

Any other ideas? is something wrong with the process here

also my wife wanted to ensure both green cards re received together that is why we filed the IR visas together.

there that is the best i can explain it.....any ideas.

thanks in advance for your advice

Bill Kateryna and Alexci

you certainly would not call the NVC if you submitted the AOS application to the USCIS

BTW, did you submit the I-485 for the K-3/4's?

ok then my question is where can i call? yes EVERYTHING IS SUBMITTED. we got an RFE in October and that was proccessed also. everything

Dr. Bill and Ekaterina

Hi Everyone!

should be a simple question. who do i call to check our green card status? do i call national visa center with the case number? all we have is the case number from the K-3, K-4 visas

Dr. Bill And Ekaterina

Hello:

I am in a unique situation and could use some advice.

My fiance lives in the Ukraine. I have recently returned from a visit and plan to file the K-1 pettion soon.

I currently live in Michigan and so I must file in California. But, I have reccently been given a job offer and will likely move to Virginia in about six weeks. I'm aware that Virginia petitions must be filed in Vermont.

My question is: Would it be better to file now to California or wait and file to Vermont?

I'm aware if I file now I would have to file a change of address in six weeks or so when I move.

Would filing a change of address cause delays or would it mean that my case would be moved to Vermont, also likely causing delays?

To wait or not to wait? That is the question...(with apologies to Shakespeare)

Thanks.

--Dan

in my opinion FILE NOW!!! changing an address is stupid easy and takes virtually no time at all

Dr. Bill

Hello All:

we had our (successful) K-1 interview last week in Kiev. I thought I would pass along some tips. (I went to the interview and brought all the documents with me)

1. Take your documents with you in carry on baggage! In 30+ years of frequent air travel I never lost a bag, but on this trip, sure enough they lost my bag and I did not get it until the next day...disaster avoided! When I got out of the baggage area and told my fiancee they lost my bag, she almost fell over, but I said "Not to worry, sweetheart, all the documents are here" (in my small duffle over my shoulder) and she breathed a big sigh of relief! Oddly enough they lost my bag coming back also...with her wedding dress inside! We got it two days later, delivered to the house with her shampoo spilled all over her wedding dress! Nothing a cleaner can't fix, thank goodness.

2. Do not bring more than you need. They won't let you take anything but documents and your wallet inside the consulate so travel light.

3. The Kiev consulate has lines outside for appointment times. Arriving an hour early only assures you will wait outside for an hour. You WILL be let in precisely at your interview time.

4. If you use the bank branch nearest the consulate to pay your fees on the day of the appointment, allow at least a half hour for this. There are a LOT of visa applicants all doing the same thing. If you do not want to wait in line, pay it ahead of time at a bank branch farther from the consulate.

5. I brought lots more documents than I needed and two copies of everything. I also brought our entire I-129F file. Better to have it. It isn't like you can run home and get what you forgot. I highly recommend going with your fiancee if you can. For moral support if nothing else. My fiancee was such a nervous wreck (for no reason as it turned out) I do not think she could do it herself. I think she would have fainted when they called her name! Hey, I was nervous also and I am sure I would have been a complete wreck if I was here and knew she was there by herself. It was very simple and the people were very friendly, efficient and professional (see my review of the Kiev consulate)

Gary

CONGRATS!!!!!! this post brought up thoughts and emotions from about a month ago when we did the same thing...:) !!!!!!

very funny though..now that everything is ok..but we had little things go wrong like you...I.E. your wedding dress...waiting outside ..(that si the hardest part of the interview)....lol

but as Ekaterina says: "THIS is Ukraine" meaning ANYTHING can and usually does go wrong.

happy for you guys!!

Bill and Ekaterina

Hello everyone!

I have a question about medical in Kiev.

My fiancée is 7-months pregnant and she is going on medical to Kiev. Is she going to be X-Rayed? Or there is special procedure for pregnant women?

I appreciate any response!!!

Thanks a lot!!!

Hi! Being a doctor i can say they PROBABLY will NOT x-ray your fiancee, as far as procedures, i had a friend in the same situation in late 2006, she reported no problem with the medical they simply noted on the paperwork she was pregnant. and she arrived in the U.S. January 2007 with no problems. will you be a the interview with your fiancee? This couple, both were present at the interview. If you really need specifics i can ask them...but wanted to let you know, with this particular couple there were no problems.

Dr. Bill and Ekaterina

Hi, when we filed for the K1 visa we had plenty of photos from our visits together. When we filed for AOS we had plenty of photos from the wedding. Since then, we haven't really done a whole lot that we would take photos together for. So, if we didn't submit any photos, or only submitted a few, would that be a mojour problem?

Thanks.

we had the exact same situation..photos of honeymoon, wedding previous meetings but then nothing for 10 months virtually...it WAS NOT an issue at the interview!!!

Dr/ Bill, and Ekaterina