CM&KV

Friendly reminder for everyone 
 

Fine. Finally got my approval

I'm just going in what the embassy had posted on their site back in August. Yes we can speculate till the end of time. Sadly the NIVs are going to feel the burn as there is already a 250 days till interview.  The hubsand is thinking of now applying for another b1 visa since the wait it really long and in hopes he might be able to visa again on a business trip before he has his spousal visa.

Even if they had closed a different office, Moscow would have been given more work. Luckily IV are given prioty over visitor visas. I wish there was more info on vj for those that were doing k1 and the spousal visa interviews during August till December so we could get an idea of could happen.
 
Also the fact that they had to get rid of 60, I was expecting delays.

It is normal practice in Ukraine  to  keep the last name after divorce - to much paperwork you have to submit if you want your maiden name back. Interior passport, Travel document, property titles, Driver License and so on... It's a pain. And usually women just keep the last name like it is after divorce -  to not complicate their lives . 
 
To be honest, an RFE like Rayandrina has gotten... It's not something you see very often. Let's wait and see what yours is  about.. 
 
Anyway, if it's the same, when there are a lot of Services now, in Ukraine, to get the record of your Civilian status (i'm sure Crimeans are there as well, the Record comes from archives, so it should be there anyway)
 
Here is the link how to request and get the record. It's on Ukrainian, but I think your husband can read it
 
https://poslugy.gov.ua/info/service/byservicescope-16/1939/details/0/0
 
 
Good luck!!!!!
 

Seems like you can even get it on-line if you follow the link provided above and click on https://online.minjust.gov.ua/dokumenty/zayava/ it brings you to all kind of records you could request. Pick what you need
 
 

Just wanted to thank the VJ community for all the help!!! My husband had his interview in Accra Ghana yesterday and he was approved for his visa the consular only asked him 5 questions: about how we met, his job, my job, if he met my parents and where would he work in Ghana. We were denied k1 in 2016 and because the CO KM said our relationship was a sham. So I was worried they would deny us again. But my husband said his interview was like 3 minutes and he saw the consular looking through our photo album and smiling. When he gave his initial document at the first window the person said that our file was huge, so they only wanted a few documents. We did front load and send more info with the NVC but I don't know if that really helped or not. God is so good!!!

Which question did you fill the boxes in, Form I-130 page 8, 61A thru C or 62A thru C?
 

Someone had posted a case number (From the TSC) with the last 4 digits as an X, and I went exploring a bit. Looks about 25% or so have been approved from September cases that I had seen, I haven't had the time to go looking at August's case numbers. But we all are getting closer! Sadly one day at a time.

Pretty much, also plan on maybe seeing each other if possible. What I did was I scanned a copy of our notice and placed it in our online files we both have access to, and placed a copy with original in this binder that I'm placing what ever documents we obtain.

I might be a bit ahead of myself, but I just sent off my petition for my Spouse on January 2nd as overnight with certified mail and return receipt. Should be there January 3rd by noon, and I'm expecting someone to sign for it on the 4th.
 
I wanted to send it off on December 30th, but missed the deadline to get it sent off before the 3 day weekend.
 
For the record, my hands wouldn't stop shaking while walking to the post office, and felt like I was going to get sick. But the lady that was helping me reassured me things would be fine as we tried to shove my 2 pounds of papers in the flat rate envelope.  We barely got it in... and used a lot of tape... someone in Arizona is going to hate me.
I had used paper clips to hold the documents in place, and used plastic sheet protectors on all sections of the petition, so when the envelope gets opened, no papers should be ripped.
 
I wish everyone a speedy process.
 
 

I might be a bit ahead of myself, but I just sent off my petition for my Spouse on January 2nd as overnight with certified mail and return receipt. Should be there January 3rd by noon, and I'm expecting someone to sign for it on the 4th.
 
I wanted to send it off on December 30th, but missed the deadline to get it sent off before the 3 day weekend.
 
For the record, my hands wouldn't stop shaking while walking to the post office, and felt like I was going to get sick. But the lady that was helping me reassured me things would be fine as we tried to shove my 2 pounds of papers in the flat rate envelope.  We barely got it in... and used a lot of tape... someone in Arizona is going to hate me.
I had used paper clips to hold the documents in place, and used plastic sheet protectors on all sections of the petition, so when the envelope gets opened, no papers should be ripped.
 
I wish everyone a speedy process.
 
 

Does your girlfriend have Russian citzenship still? If yes, how well is your Russian? You went to school there, and most schools are taught in Russian. If all else fails move to Russia and get married etc, start a life with her there, but make sure you both are ready for it.
 
This is my plan b for my spouse if he gets denied the cr1, we have red flags( married a many times but never to some from a different country till this marriage.) but we have close to two years of face time with each other while he was in the USA on business trips etc. But with us being busy with our work arrangements left little time for traveling and doing things on holiday ( never had a new years or Christmas face to face with him only via internet) and weekends.
 
I wish you the best of luck.

Does your girlfriend have Russian citzenship still? If yes, how well is your Russian? You went to school there, and most schools are taught in Russian. If all else fails move to Russia and get married etc, start a life with her there, but make sure you both are ready for it.
 
This is my plan b for my spouse if he gets denied the cr1, we have red flags( married a many times but never to some from a different country till this marriage.) but we have close to two years of face time with each other while he was in the USA on business trips etc. But with us being busy with our work arrangements left little time for traveling and doing things on holiday ( never had a new years or Christmas face to face with him only via internet) and weekends.
 
I wish you the best of luck.

I'm going to be starting the CR-1 route hopefully this month, waiting on some documents.... Personslly I wanted to kidnap my husband while he was here on a B1, he knew that, and do AOS, but in my area it would have taken the same legnth in time as a CR-1, plus his career requires him to work on a green card (Itar clearance) over an EAD. Seeing as this is his 3nd marriage, and this would be my 2nd, red flags! We thought this would have been a better choice. He also agreed to if this is the route we take we must visit at least once during the process, explained why and  here we are....... Also another pro is we are able to save money, he can see his kids (not petitioning but will be petitioning one of his kids in a few years. The mother has given us a blessing.)
 
Cons were I would have to dig into the american money for saving to pay for child supprt, we woud have to wait nearly a year  to see him back into his career. And possibily missing out some major projects for his career, that could have expanded his career more for when he is looking for work in his field, compared to being unable to work for nearly a year.
 
So the CR-1 was picked because of his career....he only knows how to do th work he is doing now and nothing else. 

I really really really can't believe you are asking this!!!  

Hey guys, so really not having a good week. My fiance has to do the sputum test so that is causing a 6 week delay and now my fiance says she can't find her foreign passport. She seems have lost during her medical exam.
 
Her interview in Moscow is in 3 days. What do we do if she can't find it? We have a color scan of the photo page. 
 
I read it takes three weeks or so to get a new one but what do we do about the interview if she can't find it? Should I have her call the us embassy in Moscow?
 
What a disaster! 😔

As a quick update.
 
Yesterday, my boy friend got his passport updated to the 6 months mark, after emails back and forth from the CBP. They ended up asking for a managers letter stating that this company wanted to get him fully extended for the 6 months since the I-94 states 6 months and the passport states 3 months, and the current project he is in is taking longer than expected. And scanned copies of his passport, unsure if it was those pages or the whole thing.
 
I don't know the exact wording of the letter. I just know it took us 2 weeks to get a letter from his boss' boss. And then the CBP replied about 3 days later to come on in.
 
Also he says they gave him a new I-94 print out stating the change in passport, they gave him a brand new stamp and it states that it was done at the inspector's office, and old stamp crossed out.

Congrats!

Salamat, Mahalo, thank you! The ceremony today was by far the most relaxed and jovial part of this whole process! Very low key and relaxed. The ceremony was short--only 45 minutes--I thought three hours!...and plenty of time for photos. I know that Joan was moved during the Pledge of Allegiance and the Star Spangled Banner. Those two never sounded so beautiful to me even as I struggled to somehow stand, hold my heart and take phone video. In short, welcome home my love. This is truly your home now and I love you. Salalmat po!
 
Now on to passport, SSN...well...you know!

I found a PDF from 2016 made by the State Dept for info on applying for immigrant visas in Moscow.
It's a little more detailed than the Embassy website and easier to read/print out:
 
https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Supplemental/MOS - Moscow.pdf
 

On September 23 (or maybe 24?), I posted my fiance's interview experience in Moscow. We thought he would be approved without issue, so we weren't expecting the emotional journey we just went on.
At his interview, the CO asked about my fiance's DS-160 forms from when he applied for a B-2 visa in the spring. He had marked that he was in a common law marriage because he had a live-in girlfriend at the time. My fiance explained why he marked common law marriage, and the CO really grilled him on the dates of our meeting. We had all the proof in the world that our relationship is genuine- I even lived in Russia with my fiance all summer! But it didn't seem to matter because the CO suspected my fiance of lying on his previous DS-160 forms.
So, coupled with the fact that my fiance is an engineer, he was put in AP. The CO said he needed to think about our story and case because "something just doesn't make sense," and he said he would make his decision in a week. My fiance and I waited nearly 6 weeks - 40 days to be exact - when his status changed to Ready and from immigrant visa to non-immigrant visa. We were excited but I was still cautious. This morning, the status changed to Issued. We are thrilled, but I am still having trouble getting excited. Every step in this process has been agonizing. We both lost a lot of sleep and our nerves are completely frayed. We drove ourselves crazy with, "What if? What if? What if?" But now he will be home for Christmas and we can move forward!
To anyone starting out on any visa journey, you have GOT to be careful on every form. Don't omit information, don't blatantly lie, don't tell a tiny lie, don't fudge numbers. Post your situation on these boards and ask people to analyze your situation from a CO's perspective. These CO's truly are trained to find the tiniest inconsistency, which can delay your case or even result in you being refused completely. If you made a mistake on your form, even unintentionally like my fiance did, you need to be upfront about that with the CO. It doesn't matter one iota how genuine your relationship is- if you are caught lying, your journey is over. You will not get a visa and you will probably be banned from ever getting a visa.
Also, if you are interviewing from Russia, China, or any Middle Eastern country, and if your job is even slightly related to science and technology, prepare a resume in English. If possible, email it to the embassy ahead of your interview because you will be asked for it. You will go through AP and it may take weeks or months. This is to run several background checks on you to make sure you don't have plans to come to the US and send sensitive information back to your home country.
Finally, make no plans. We thought our case was solid. We assumed my fiance would be approved right away and he would get his visa a week or two after his interview. Luckily, we didn't buy any tickets. Nobody is safe from a long AP wait. Nobody is guaranteed an approval. I see so many posts on here from people who have made hard and fast plans for after their K-1 approval, and after our experience and others that I've read, I have to warn everyone to be more cautious and tentative in their planning.
Good luck to everyone in their visa journey! Thank you so much for everyone's support, especially those who reassured me in those dark moments right after my fiance's interview. Looking back, I value the honest (sometimes harsh) responses I received. These ended up being the most helpful.

My fiance had his interview September 22nd, and as I posted before, the CO seemed a little skeptical. However, he did keep my fiance's passport and asked for his resume and medical report (his medical was scheduled for the day after the interview because the interview was scheduled just 3 days after packet 3 was sent). My fiance got an email confirming the CO had received his resume.
The CO said he'd make a decision within a week about my fiance's visa, but it's been two weeks now. The CEAC site said his status was updated September 28th.
The both of us are so nervous about this. Even though the CO said he'd make a decision in a week, we have no recourse of action for 60 days from the interview date.
Was anyone out there in AP for several weeks that had a positive outcome? I can only think of lowens8, who was denied after 7 weeks of AP for no apparent reason, and we are both really stressing about that possibility.

Thanks for the good wishes! I wish the CO hadn't said, "I'll tell you in a week," and, well, not. I can handle a month or two of AP if there's a good outcome. I wish I had never read lowens case because it's making me so nervous! You're right - we don't know the full truth, and anyways, nobody would post the full truth online anyways. I'm going to tell myself that they're just checking and double checking and triple checking all the pipelines to make sure my fiance hasn't been involved in anything questionable, and that's what's taking so long. It just threw me off that the embassy got his packet and he was able to schedule his interview 3 days later. I was expecting a smooth, quick finish. That's right - I momentarily forgot we're talking about Russia.

Most 221g's are OK (it's more about what boxes they check). My fiance got one, and the CO checked resume and medical results - which was expected. I'd think that the fact that your fiance has been to America at least twice, from what you said, he should be in good shape. When are you planning on filing? Are you planning a visit to Russia soon?