workin4somethin

We caught our flight out on the 1st and we're home in Texas today!

Welcome home, Michael and Natalia.

(1) Would she have needed to deliver anything to the embassy in advance of the interview date?

No.

(2) Should she go ahead and complete the signature blocks on the Forms DS-230 and DS-156 prior to the interview?

Yes.

Cheers!

AKDiver

Thanks, AK!

Ksenia still has not received anything in the mail from the embassy, and her interview is scheduled for November 8. I sent a query to the embassy, via e-mail. The consular verified that her interview is scheduled for November 8, but they did not answer additional questions. And she has e-mailed the embassy without response.

She has all necessary documents ready and in hand, and she plans to show up as scheduled.

Some questions:

(1) Would she have needed to deliver anything to the embassy in advance of the interview date?

(2) Should she go ahead and complete the signature blocks on the Forms DS-230 and DS-156 prior to the interview?

Thanks.

(Almost there.)

Question: About how many hours per month, on average, do your wives spend talking to people Russia? (For those whose wives are in the USA.)

The rate from my home phone is a flat fee of $4.79 per month, plus 15-cents per minute (16-cents to mobile) via AT&T. All calls are directly dialed. I get clear reception to house phones and to mobile phones. No calling cards. Nothing else to keep up with.

I've been looking into other international calling plans, but... no decision to change yet.

A big APPROVAL here, too.

Congratulations Michael!

It seems it has been a good week for interviews.

Glad to see another K3 succeed.

Just wondering if the Embassy will send all three visas (one K3 and two K4s) out together under the same DHL Waybill... anyone know for certain?

how did you get to that list? I was wondering if i can see the same thing for india

The list I refer to is for the embassy in Moscow. There is a probably a similar list for the embassy(ies) in India. You should ask in the Regional Forum for India - surely someone will know.

One thing I heard is that some other clinics cannot or will not give the missing vaccinations that are required for staying in the US (necessary for AOS). At MOM she elected to get the missing vaccinations and picked up an extra copy of the vaccination record. I highly suggest everyone request an extra copy of the vaccination record. It will come in very handy later as well as save you money.

Good advice!

Another question: Is the MOS number the case number now (for interview, DHL and medical)?

Another Interview Passed!

It looks like it will be a good week for VJers in Moscow!

And I noticed a lot of you are using JFK as your POE. So, how has that been?

MSC number

Thanks!

There are 10 interviews scheduled for the same day; 8 of them have a number starting with MOS. Ours is the only one listed with both, an MOS number an an MSC number. I wonder why none of the others are listed with an MSC number...?

I see two numbers listed on the Embassy interview list website. Which one is our "case number"?

One number starts with MOS, and the other starts with MSC (matching the number on our I-129F).

Thanks.

Thanks, Satellite.

We have not progressed beyond the choice of agent on the CR-1, purposely. Thus, the interview is for the K3. I could not differentiate between the two sets of items needed for the interview, but your description clarifies it for me.

We will start the AOS process asap after she arrives here. I leaned towards the K3 from the beginning. And then after waiting through the IMBRA RFEs and a delay in receiving any paperwork once the I-130 was approved, I chose not to spend any more time and money pursuing the CR-1.

I suppose it would not hurt anything for Ksenia to take a prepared I-864 to the interview, in addition to the I-134, just as someone posting here had done. However, we do not want to muddy the water either, with too much paperwork, especially if it is not necessary. Concerning the application fee, it is only a problem for us if Ksenia were to arrive at the interview with less money than is required.

The website for the U.S. Embassy in Moscow states on one page

“link to this page”

that at the time of the interview the visa application fee is $380 per applicant and that the Form I-864 is to be submitted.

On another page

“link to that page”

it states that at the time of the interview the visa application fee is $100 per applicant and that the Form I-134 (not I-864) could be requested.

(1) How much is the application fee for a K3 Visa?

(2) Is there an additional application fee for a K4 Visa for a child traveling with the K3 parent, and, if so, how much is it?

(3) Which Affidavit of Support, the I-134 or the I-864, is required for a K3 Visa at the time of the interview?

Thanks!

Where does Ksenia live?

Check out my timeline notes

Best luck

Thanks, John!

By the way, Ksenia lives in Korolev, a Moscow suburb. It is usually no problem for her to go into Moscow at any time.

Thanks again guys, and just an interesting side note, I've been listening to NPR (National Public Radio) the last couple of days, and they were saying that today at 7:46 AM the 300 millionth American will be added to our population either through birth or immigration.

I know it's not Elena (well, not exactly) but I thought it was pretty cool that she is immigrating on the day that our population topped 300,000,000. I'm thinking about getting her a T-shirt made. Any suggestions?

Front: "I'm #300,000,001" Back: "But I'm #1 for my Candy"

Or even "I helped our population exceed 300 Million and all I got was this lousy T-shirt."

Any ideas?

How about: "I helped our population exceed 300 Million, LEGALLY, and all I got was this lousy T-shirt."

Ksenia has not received anything from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, and her interview is scheduled for Nov. 8th (just 3 weeks away).

We are wondering if she can get what she needs from the Medicina Clinic (medical exam requirements) without first providing them with something from the Embassy...?

I haven't seen St. Petersburg yet, so one possibility was to meet her in Moscow and stay there for a day or two, then travel up to that city, to visit and explore, but as I mentioned, this time of year could be cold, at the beginning of winter...

Dan,

I think your idea of spending some time with her in St. Petersburg is great. A large part of the tourist area there is centralized, allowing you more quality time and convenience. There are many apartments and B&B’s to choose from. And you can get a discounted rate for the time of year. It will be cold and windy, so prepare accordingly. Also, the drivers there are not as sophisticated as they are in Moscow, so always watch your step near the streets. You should make it a point to see Peterhof. It is very nice, even in November. And I know she will appreciate you for it.

For traveling within Russia when you are on a time constraint, flying may be your best option. She should be able to get very reasonably priced airfare. Maybe you should have her check it out. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Why not meet her in St. Petersburg rather than in Moscow? It will spare you time and convenience. However, if you meet in Moscow and later travel to St. Petersburg, then consider taking the Express (much faster) or go first class (a private cabin).

I almost feel like I'm in the Off Topic forum.... where's the popcorn?

Slim, hope you don't let a few poolies spoil your efforts here.

I agree with you... seems like there are some people posting in the Russian forum recently who want to try to turn it into another Off Topic forum. I really hope they don't succeed.

It was so much better when the posts in this forum contained a lot less bullshit and sarcasm.

She loves me, she loves me not…?

I think jealousy will eventually get the best of some of the posters in this thread.

.. Now I've been back for a while, I go to my webserver to clear out the cache to make room for some new websites, and there are dating sites cached there she has been going to

So I ask her about it, and she's like 'i dont mail to them, I just look'.. And I'm supposed to think WHAT? I mean, this looks like I'm off to a wonderful start here.... NOT.... Is this really what russian women think is acceptable??

I don't think it's fair to ask whether "all" Russian women would think this is acceptable behavior. Most important is whether "you" think it is acceptable behavior.

You should have no problem communicating with your fiance, though, to find out what her true intentions were regarding her Internet viewing. Otherwise, she would probably not be your fiance, right?

A marriage relationship takes time. If you rush into it, there will be a lot of unanswered questions remaining even after your wedding.

It sounds to me like you are already passing judgment. However, I've never met a person who hasn't done something stupid before. And maybe it's just one of those things. If you love her, perhaps you should show her how to clear out the cache herself.

I hope you find out what you need to know. Best wishes.

I may travel to Odessa to meet a woman I have been conversing (w/aid of translator) with. She does not understand English, I do not understand (maybe a teeny bit) Russian.

I'd be interested in suggestions, comments, tips from others who have actually traveled to see their potential mate with little understanding of the language . I have PROMT translator on my laptop, and she has a friend that can act as an interpreter, but I know how frustrating it can be to try communication when you don't understand the other person's language.

Thanks,

Rutger

Learn more than just a teeny bit of Russian before you plan your trip over there. The more the better, although you can't learn a great deal in a short timeframe. So... take your time getting to know each other (at least 6 months) before you commit to meeting in person, if you can wait that long.

Hopefully, my spouse will receive her K-3 visa in mid-November, and she would like to enter the U.S. immediately thereafter. After she is here for about six weeks, she will return for her children, who are going to receive their K-4 visas also in mid-November.

Thus, my wife will enter the U.S. about 2 months ahead of my step-children. Can anyone share with me how any of this might impact the Adjustment of Status process?

Thanks a million!

I flew trans-atlantic and farted at some point on the flight, but i noticed that the smell stayed with me for the rest of the flight (4+ hours)as opposed to diffusing and getting mixed with everyone so that no one could know the source.

Anyone knows why fart does not diffuse on a flight at 38,000 feet?

I believe the pressure gradient at the bubble surface is obtained by differentiating the total number of all gases in tissue, including solvent vapor. Partial pressure of nth infinitely diffusible gas in bubble is often the product of gas constant and temperature. It’s simply a dummy variable of integration in time.

Gas transport by perfusion varies in the tissue when it is not well stirred. Tissue-blood gas exchange at all points throughout the tissue includes a position-independent component, which is for a tissue of infinite extent. Tissue-blood gas exchange is modified by a diffusion-limited contribution from bubble-tissue gas exchange, which is largest close to the bubble. All gas losses or gains by the bubble, therefore, occur entirely through the diffusion equation. It is erroneous to include an additional accounting for these losses or gains via a d(PiVi)/dt term in the ancillary mass-balance equation for Pt. Consequently, one cannot incorporate the influence of bubble growth on the tissue dissolved gas tension Pt in a normal two-region model, while it is appropriately used for this purpose in a three-region model. This analytic property of the three-region model makes it particularly well suited to simulate how dissolved gas depletion by bubble growth influences the evolution of one or more bubbles in a given tissue. Modeling of such interactions in a two-region model is also possible but only by considering the anisotropy of the diffusion field and explicitly solving the gradient equation in all directions around each bubble, a process that is too tedious for application in probabilistic models of DCS occurrence.

It is clear that a two-region model with given and Dt is equivalent to a three-region model with Db = Dt and h = 1/ , provided the tissue volume Vt in the three-region model is sufficiently high to render the d(PiVi)/dt term negligible. Recall 2 = 1/ Dt. Because of the reciprocal relationship between h and , h increases with both tissue half-time (= 0.693 ) and diffusion constant Dt (= Db) in equivalent two- and three-region models. With tissue half-time ranging from 0.36 to 360 min and Dt ranging from 1.3 × 10 8 to 1.3 × 10 3 cm2/min in a two-region model, the boundary layer thickness in the equivalent three-region model ranges from a fraction of a micrometer to several millimeters.

Terminal E at the airport in Atlanta usually has rubles, but they keep them in the back office rather than out front; so you have to ask a manager instead of the window clerks. When I went through there last month, you could buy rubles at 23.5 to $1; and the going rate in Moscow was 26.5 to $1. <-- That's a difference of about 11.5%.

Did anyone else making a currency exchange get shown every little speck on their money, and come to learn that you were geting about a 6% exchange penalty for worn notes? Natasha warned me in advance, so I went to my bank and told them I needed good bills for exchange in Russia..

Well, what our bank considers good, and the Russian banks seems to be 2 different things. Fortunately, I had my debit card, and was able to easily get the rest of my rubles from the ATMs there, and kept my dollars for when I returned.

Good point!

Yes, I agree. If taking cash into Russia, you should take clean and crisp $100 bills.

There are some places that will exchange those bills that we too would consider good, for the going rate; however, not everyone knows, in advance, where these places are located.