teukros

A Social Darwinist. Are you one of those people who voted for Bush twice? Tell me, do you think we should "stay the course" in Iraq?

So don't accuse me of lying.

Lawbreaker!!!!

What kind of a fantasyland are you living in? I did honest work, I earned a small amount of money, I'll declare it on my tax form.

Talk to anyone from New York City (or probably, any large city). There are many, many small businessess that need help but which simply can not afford to pay employees "on the books". I know for a fact that the guy that I was working for was in this situation (and then there was a period of time that he was laid up with a broken ankle and I went a little "above and beyond" with a couple of 82 hour weeks. I helped him to stay in business and I helped my neighborhood and I am very proud of that).

It is not a stretch to say that the City's economy depends upon "off the books" workers.

Do yourself a favor and read this book:

Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor

by Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh

AKDiver, what is your problem?

The list is seemingly endless. There is way more than just one (:

I'll take your word for that.

AKDiver, what is your problem? Believe it or not, some people have to struggle in life. I live in Harlem and take the subway to work in the Bronx. In the third busiest Emergency Department in the United States, like I said.

And I wanted to be able to show that I had been working because I thought it might help our case at the embassy. So don't accuse me of lying.

OK... forgive me for being cranky - I guess I'm in a bad mood right now (time issues, money problems, and chronic sleep-deprivation)

First, back in May or something like that, I asked my "off the books" employer to put me ON his books, he didn't want to (he couldn't afford to). As I was depending on him, at the time, for both money (not enough for rent however) AND food (anything that was expired, I could take home), I didn't press the issue. And FYI, off the books work in the United States aggregates to about 500,000,000,000 dollars a year.

Second, I fully intend to report (my best guess of) the earnings from this job (maybe 5,000 USD altogether) and to pay taxes on them.

Third, I don't appreciate the tone.

Fourth, I am amazed at how badly my initial post was misinterpreted/misunderstood. DESPITE my posting followup clarifications.

Fifth, Diana was approved for her K-1 Visa Friday morning. She was interviewed by an officer who was an attractive young woman. Diana reported that she had a kind face.

The interview was conducted in English. It lasted for about five minutes. The officer asked a few very simple questions like how long have you known each other, how did you meet etc. She DID NOT ask for co-sponsor papers. She liked the fact that I am a nurse and Diana felt that the officer was trying to convince HER: "Don't you know, he will always be able to find a job!"

You mentioned several times about "working off the books". This demonstrates a willingness to violate the law, tax regulations, etc. So, why not just take it a bit further? Just send the consulate fake documents concerning how much you make. You can make it look like you make, oh, say $60K/year. Why not? What's a little more deception and illegality? Go for it man! Be sure to come back and report the results.

Cheers!

AKDiver

p.s.: congrats on passing the exam

Sure, why not?

It's not like they have time to double check with the IRS!

Your girl will be so proud! She will say, "You will have no problem in Russia!"

Ok, I won't suggest she mention it.

Russ, the 9k estimate is how much I should earn at Lincoln hospital between 16 October and the end of the month (before taxes). I have no idea how much I earned working at that store. Not that much, that's for sure. I was paid in cash and it was pretty much hand-to-mouth.

The past years tax returns really don't matter - the current year and your current employment are what matter. The worst case is that you get an RFE for a co-sponsor. Might take some time, but not the end of the world. You are fine once she is in the US.

Russ, thanks for your quick reply, bu this worst case would be very bad indeed, as there IS no other co-sponsor. And there won't be.

As long as the I-134 is good enough for Moscow, you won't have trouble in the states. Best thing you could do would be to get your current "employer" to give you a 1099 for what you were paid this year. From all the hours you are working, it should be enough to hit the 125% mark and not need a co-sponsor. And, you would be in better shape with the IRS. I doubt it would greatly increase your tax bill.

Just be thinking about what you can do to have more evidence for the Embassy in Moscow, if they ask for it. Again, a 1099 from where you worked before would be good enough. Beg and plead for that (they would have to give it to you anyway, as you could just tell the IRS and they wouldn't have much choice).

My previous work was off the books and I won't be getting anything like that either.

The money I make at Lincoln this year from paychecks should total about 9,600-10,000 dollars (before taxes). Maybe the 1099 would show 12k? I've only been working since 16 October.

I think you're way better off than most of us!

She's sending YOU money, not the other way around. That's going to say a lot to the interviewers! If she's "supported" you through school and now you're done, ready to support her, it's almost as if you guys have had a working marriage for the last year or so already.

I think your odds are better than 90%. Good luck to both of you, and keep us posted!

Thanks, I'll tell her this afternoon! This is just what I needed to hear!

She "only" sent me one fat amount of money through WU a couple of months ago to bail my sorry ### out and prevent eviction (which tapped her out). I will definitely suggest to her that she show this receipt to the Embassy folks!

hmm my math was bad - maybe the 1099 would show 9k

Less than a week to go

Some of you may have looked at this website

http://www.alchemyfoods.com/rossanddiana/

I created it immediately after my first trip to Russia (and Diana)

It is our story as of mid-February

What I don't mention is that I failed my final Nursing class in the RN program I was enrolled in, so I didn't graduate

I ad-libbed a "Plan B", which was to sign up for the NCLEX-PN test, which I was eligible for, which, assuming I passed, would give me an LPN license which would allow me to work as a Licensed Practical Nurse in New York State. I was afraid I might be forced to work in nursing homes - but my dream was to work in an outpatient clinic or a Medical-Surgical Floor or an Emergency Department, which would give me the experience I felt that I had to have in order to return to school in January 2008 and repeat that class

(at my school, the Borough of Manhattan Community College, you can only fail once - if you fail twice, that's it, you're done - AND if you fail the first time, they raise the bar - instead of needing a 73 to pass, you need a 77! Mind you, I had a perfect 4.0 in my pre-clinical classes - the pre-requisite classes you must take (Anatomy and Physiology, Chemistry, Psychology etc.) before you can even apply for the Nursing Program)

Anyway

I had been planning my first trip to Russia all semester - of course I was thinking that I would have passed by the skin of my teeth - but I failed - but I went to Russia anyway

when I returned I had to map everything out for myself - if I had passed I would have been told that I had to do A and B and C - but I was on my own - eventually I got my ducks in a row and I was given a three month "window" for taking the NCLEX test - end of March to end of June. And Diana wanted me to return to Russia for a second visit so I sighed and said ok, I'll take it end of June...

At this time I was working off the books for a local store owner, full time or more.... less than eight dollars an hour. I had a couple of 82 hour weeks.

Oh and somewhere in that time frame I managed to get her I-129F completed and sent off.

NOA1: 27 March

NOA2: 06 April

So I went to Russia the second time, during which time Diana received her packet from the Embassy, and notification that her interview date was going to be late June, but a few days later they called her to tell her that everything had been cancelled.

I returned and studied until I was blind and then took the NCLEX-PN test - I was so sure I had failed - I went home and cried, feeling completely hopeless - but a week later I found out that somehow I had passed (there was nothing easy about this test and I have talked to a few RNs who worked as LPNs first and they all told me that their LPN NCLEX was harder than their RN NCLEX).

So then, (because of IMBRA and Homeland Security's "no time frame" bullshit) Diana wanted a third trip to celebrate - ASAP, which meant Turkey - I knew it was important for me to get to work as soon as possible but I couldn't say no to her (and I wanted to see her again so badly myself) - and she would be paying for everything - so off I went...

The day after I returned our case was reopened: 25 July.

I received the foolish IMBRA RFE in the mail on 07 August,

it was completed and returned to the VSC on 10 August,

and our case was finally, finally reapproved on 01 September.

I started interviewing at all sorts of health-related facilities in Manhattan and DaBronx (I live in Harlem). Lincoln Hospital was my first choice and end of July I walked into the Lincoln Nursing Department and dropped off my resume and filled out their application. Now anyone who lives in the City knows, August is not the best time to be looking for a job (just like January is not the best time to visit Russia. This is my life). A lot of people were on vacation and things moved sooooooo slooooooowly. And if anyone is in the Health Care field, you know what it means when I say, JCAHO was inspecting Lincoln Hospital and interrogating the staff in September. Everything came to a complete stop. What it all boils down to is, although I filled out the application in July, I didn't get a start date until 13 October (my start date was for three days later).

There was only one other job that I was seriously considering and they were making things really hard for me. Nursing shortage? what nursing shortage?

Which brings me up to the present day.

My job is in the Lincoln Emergency Department, third busiest in the country (if not North America). I wish I had more supervision and guidance at work, a lot of the time I am just on my own, trying to figure out what to do. I hardly ever get to sit down and my ankles, knees and back ache all of the time now. I'm 40 years old. When I come home at night I am so tired I can hardly move, and my mind is like a bowl of cold mush.

Diana's interview date is 01 December.

I completed the I-134 and sent it off, along with last year's tax return (0 dollars, I was a full time student), photocopies of my first two paychecks, and the letter of offering from Lincoln Hospital stating my annual salary ($37,636). This letter is signed by the Human Resources "Senior Associate Director".

I have a co-sponsor - but his tax return from last year is also not good (about $10k). Life in the City has been hard for me and for all of my friends since the Arabs bombed us. There is no one else I can ask who can be a better co-sponsor (several better candidates failed to come through), and this is driving Diana up the wall. She has the impression that the last year's tax return and W-2s are of overriding importance (and during my lunch break calls she doesn't want to talk about anything else :-( ).

My co-sponsor has a very good job now (something like $100,000 dollars a year) but of course no W-2s as of yet. He also photocopied his letter of offering showing his annual salary, and his two most recent pay stubs. No notarized letter from his employer, I bugged him for that but he said that that wasn't possible. Eh, whatever.

I was almost evicted in September - I had to beg Diana to WU me most of the rest of her savings. Now she is tapped out and in the next week I am going to have to WU her whatever I can scrape together. WU is making a lot of money off of us. :-(

So is there any good news that I can give Diana? Or should I have told her to wait until next summer? :-( We've already waited for so long. Personally I feel that our odds are about 90%. I don't think she is that optimistic. :-(

Thanks. I have no idea how I could have gotten so mixed up. Well the I-134s (mine and my co-sponsors) are filled out and notarized. I'll be sending everything out via DHL in a few days.

Oy

I am using a friend as a co-sponsor - and he has already completed an I-864 for me - is this appropriate? Or do I need to ask him to re-do an I-134?

My fiancee recently received her interview date, December 1st. I only filed back in March (victims of IMBRA, first in, last out). Typically, I am leaving everything until the last minute. I am sure that I read on the Moscow Embassy website that they are only accepting I-864s for K1 visas. Am I totally confused? (wouldn't be the first time...)

Be sure to visit the Dom Tatarskoi Kulinariyi a few times. It is one of the best restaurants in the city and has a chef who has won regional competitions. It is a really beautiful place and has live piano music at all times. Lunches are quite affordable. Be sure to try the celery soup - it is served in a bowl which is a hollowed out (large) celery root. If you are on a budget like I was I recommend the Black Opal chardonnay to go with it.

Sorry, I was wrong, it wasn't Black Opal chardonnay, it was Santa Rita 120 Chardonnay.

I hope you have a safe journey and a wonderful time!

I am using TRS to build basics and Linguaphone to develop dialog. Thank Gawd Natasha speaks English almost perfectly, but I still want to be able to respect her family and friends by speaking with them, without relying on her translation all the time..

If anyone is intrested in the Linguaphone mp3s I can see about dropping it somewhere

Here is a part of lesson 3, this is a simple overview, and the next part goes into the listen/understand/repeat portion.

I'm very interested in anything I can listen to, I just don't have the discipline to wade through books of grammar

What is TRS?

This is an old thread but for anyone who is only getting started learning russian this is useful for learning the alphabet:

http://www.alphadictionary.com/rusgrammar/alphabet.html

Be sure to visit the Dom Tatarskoi Kulinariyi a few times. It is one of the best restaurants in the city and has a chef who has won regional competitions. It is a really beautiful place and has live piano music at all times. Lunches are quite affordable. Be sure to try the celery soup - it is served in a bowl which is a hollowed out (large) celery root. If you are on a budget like I was I recommend the Black Opal chardonnay to go with it.

Afrodita and Paprikas are also good restaurants.

....last night. The address at the bottom of each page says

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services

Vermont Service Center EH121

75 Lower Welden Street

St. Albans, VT 05479

EH121?? "Eh" is right. What is this apocrypha? Should I include it in the address I write on the envelope?

And I think I remember, a month or two ago, reading about how other people were filling out the IMBRA RFE - just mark the single "no" checkbox for the first question, and make no other marks on the pages except for the name, email, phone # and date at the very bottom. Please correct me if I am wrong.

NOA1: 3/27

NOA2: 4/11

reop'd: never

RFE ud: never

RFE m: nope

RFE b: none

RFE a: nada

MB: heck no

S/C: VSC

F/C: Russia

No lawyer, no RFE, no change in my online status since April 11....

mmmmm tequila (it seems to be catching on in Moscow). Then scotch, and today how about Bourbon? At least I have some of that. Last time I went to Russia I took two fifths of Basil Hayden's, a fifth of Booker's, a fifth of Baker's, and a 1.75 liter bottle of Knob Creek. It has all been consumed and enjoyed now by a number of Russians...

Whoever is in charge of USCIS should be terminated with no pension for their lack of readiness. I hope they rot in hell, for the pain they are putting all of us through..

Well Chertoff is in charge of the Department of Homeland Security of which the USCIS is a part.

My fiancee told me once that Chertoff sounds like a Russian name, and that "Chert-" means "devil". This could explain a lot.

Unfortunately Dominica is off the table because it would be much too expensive for Diana. So now we are considering Barcelona.

I hope you have a great time in Croatia zhenik !! We almost chose that country to meet and I think it would have been a solid choice. We decided on Spain near Barcelona. I thank everyone again for their suggestions in this thread.

Chuckles, how did you arrange your flight? Through a travel agency as part of a package deal or through Orbitz or something like that? The round trip flights I am looking at cost something like 1300 dollars.

You say you were near Barcelona... do you mean the Costa Brava resorts?

I was just wondering about Spirit Airlines, Diana will be arriving via Paris or Frankfurt or someplace like that.

Today, my sweetie and I were talking about spending some time together in Punta Cana, Dominican Rupublic. She told me that this is the major D. R. destination for Russian tourists.

What are the requirements for Russians and Americans to enter the country?

I was doing a quick search and I found a Spirit Airlines flight leaving out of La Guardia and connecting through Fort Lauderdale. Is Spirit Airlines a good and comfortable airline (compared to, say, United). Are there super-cheap flight options, charter or otherwise, that I need to be aware of? I'd rather be comfortable but if I can save two hundred dollars.....

A few days ago Diana and I were talking about our pal, Michael Chertoff.

She said that it sounds like a Russian name and that Chert- means "devil."

That could explain a lot....

No one aside from people who were unfortunate enough to have their petitions recalled from the consulate have received any kind of official communication from USCIS indicating that we are affected by this. They seem to have taken the view from day one that not telling us anything is the way to go.

I never received communication from USCIS or anybody. The Moscow Embassy called Diana in late May to tell her that her interview date had been cancelled, and that is the grand total of the official communications that have been received by both of us!!!

Also, when checking my status online on the USCIS webpage it is still saying the same damned thing it was saying in late March: This case has been approved....

Only now the news are spreading, how convinient to USCIS.

"Hey, what´s going on?"

"Oh, don´t worry, we have all under control"

Bah!

I really really hope that they do - that they didn't simply put that notice on their website in response to the AP story.

Last August I was completely in my own world when I received a phone call from Alex, my friend and classmate from my Nursing School class. He told me that I might get an email in the next couple of days which was a complete surprise to me, totally unanticipated. He had been in a Russian chat room, not looking for romance, he is happily married. He had met Diana there, she had been inspired by Sex and the City reruns to find someone in New York she could chat with.

Diana works in the Oil Industry and had previously met Texans, she thought all Americans were like that. Alex suggested to her that she email me so she did. We started chatting with MS Messenger and fell in love.

She sure didn't want to move to the USA. She tried to talk me into moving to Russia. But I'm trying to get my nursing career off the ground and with her education and experience she should be able to find a good job here in the City. We're both hoping!