RS77

A lot of people in the military use there parent's address for official mail.

Your expected to apply within 90 days for AOS, but there have been people that wait, 4, 6, 8 years to do this.  If your going through the Raleigh NC office it is one of the fastest in the country, we got our green card in 78 days.

You can't file for AOS until after you have a marriage certificate. (after your married).

On 6/7/2019 at 10:25 AM, TastyCake said:

For anyone who has already had an interview at the Kiev embassy, I was curious to know if the consular officers are Ukrainian (with knowledge of English, Russian and the Ukrainian language) or do they appear to be from the states and are living in Kiev and have a knowledge of all three languages?  Can anyone with prior experience weigh in?  Thanks in advance.

It's most typical they will ask the applicant how she communicates with you, and if she says English they will try to complete the interview in English. 

16 hours ago, TastyCake said:

Ok, hold the phone guys.  I am on the verge of hanging myself here.  I'm not sure what I should be telling my fiance when she goes to her medical exam at Medikom a week from Thursday.

 

She went to her doctor and got some form with all her current vaccinations on it (is this form what you mean by 'anketa'?).  Even though it seems to have been unnecessary, we had this document translated into English.  I don't know what is on it.  I have never laid eyes on it.  So she will bring this document (and English translation for what it's worth) with her to Medikom.  They will examine her.  This much is clear.

 

Can someone please tell me what I should tell her from there?  She has to tell them she's a K-1 applicant ?????  They don't know this already ?????  I think she mentioned this when she called and set up the appointment.  Isn't Medikom one of two exclusive clinics the embassy contracts with?  Aren't they even mildly competent?

 

Should she say that she wants Medikom to administer as many vaccinations as possible (assuming any vaccinations... updated or new... are necessary)?  Like tetanus, etc.?  We want to do this so we're not raked over the coals by these shyster civil surgeons in the United States???

 

I work really well with bullets.  If there is any way someone can give me some clear, concise bullets on how to deal with vaccinations when at Medikom that would help greatly.  I then need to describe this to my fiancee who will subsequently ask me about 1,000 questions.  I gotta know what I'm talking about.

 

 

Med center processes people all day, if they recommend something you might as well go ahead and get it there.  Otherwise if you don't or you need a second shot in a series you just walk into a Walgreens in the USA pay $20 for it and take the receipt to your AOS interview.

On 6/4/2019 at 1:43 PM, Karl James said:

🤦🏻‍♂️ her interview is within 3 weeks on June 21, now what do we do? 

Its Russia, so most Russians would bride the office to produce it faster.  Within 30 days is standard so you may get it in time either way.

We use Cricket and Lyca.  Cricket (AT&T reseller) has 4 unlimited lines for $100.  Lyca is $29 for unlimited (but throttled speed after 6gb) but they have pretty large free international network.

There is a store across the street from Kyiv embassy where they will store phones for a small fee.

Meest is the best for USA-Ukraine shipping, not sure how they do it so cheap. 

Turkish airlines generally has the best baggage policy, if coming via UIA on their directly flight to NYC you can sign up for a credit card and get 2-3 Bags free.

You don't have to have a return ticket, in most cases from USA at least a round trip ticket is cheaper than a one way ticket though.  I don't speak any Russian and at entry they just stamp you through or they say "tourist" in english and you node your head.

We had:

What are the names of his children?

Have you worked since entering the US?

Have you voted in an election in the US?

A series of questions about if you were a terrorist, have you shot anyone, trafficked anyone?

Mailed AOS Package on Feb 8th and were approved on May 2th.  We were notified of interview date  in Early April, Received temp travel/work earlier in mid April as well.  The other person we knew in state also got a under 3 month file to approval.  Everyone was super nice and interview was a breeze.  Asked for copy of marriage license, asked her the names of my kids and about 20 "are you a criminal type" questions. 

I would suggest you look through your general statues for your state.  When the subject has been brought up for my state (North Carolina) generally all the information posted on the boards is wrong.  Most of it pertains to residency.  Our state has a similar requirement that you get a license within 60 days of becoming a resident (30 in your state).  A resident is defined by someone that has lived in the state for 6 months, if they are not otherwise considered a resident of another state or country.  Residency as it applies to driving licenses is not where you live, it's a legal definition set by your state.

While I didn't read through all the applicable laws for Ohio, this is the definition of a resident as it applies to Licensing in Ohio law:  "Resident" means a person who, in accordance with standards prescribed in rules adopted by the registrar, resides in this state on a permanent basis.  If you have an adjustment of status pending not sure how you can be considered permanent until a Green card is issued.

Wife came on K1, we are married and the K1 is outside 90 days now.  It will be another 5 months before travel authorization.  Customs is not an issue domestically but will there be issues going through security checkpoints?  She would have a foreign passport in her former name with the expired K1 attached.  Should the ticket be booked in her current name, or name to match the passport.  They did check the actual visa in the passport the other times we flew.

Our Visa has been issued, but during the K1 interview (Kyiv) the consular told the beneficiary that I (Sponsor - USA) had a Criminal record, 5 criminal offenses and seemed to press her on wither she was sure she should go through with it.  They said they could not tell what the crimes were and they were thinking of requesting more information from me about them, but instead they just issued the Visa.  The "crimes" were a speeding ticket and 3 plate renewal that were all dismissed, and a failure to come to a complete stop (23 years ago) that I did pay.  These were civil infractions and I didn't disclose them to the Beneficary so they were pretty worried until I spoke them them.  I was just curious if this is normal?

On 9/6/2018 at 4:14 PM, hayesdaniel said:

Hello All,

 

We are currently waiting for any k1 interview slots to become available in Moscow. It's been 3 weeks now with no luck.

 

I've read on this forum a few times that it's possible to do the interview at a different consulate and save a lot of time. Kiev, for example.

 

However, when we dug into the possibility with our lawyer, we discovered that unlike Russia, you cannot pay the visa fee for the Ukraine on ustraveldocs.com except in cash, in person at a bank branch.

 

Is anyone aware of any alternative to paying the fee this way?

 

Or, is anyone aware of a service that would pay the bank fee locally and send the receipt number via email?

 

Thanks very much!

 

Daniel

We moved ours from Moscow to Kyiv.  Send your girl the funds and have her pay the fee in person at bank, she has to be there for medicals and interview anyways.

On 8/27/2018 at 8:53 AM, YulenkaF said:

Hi guys. So for interview needs scans or originals????

Its a very important question by the way....

Thank you for answer

Nothing original is required for the interview, not sure why the original poster has a need to do this unless it is some unique situation.

I went earlier this year.  For invitation is easier and more reliable to just use a company, if individual I think you need to registrar with local PD if I recall.  I used GoingRus and it was $15 USD and you get it in a few hours.  I used VisaHQ to do the visa for me, it was $15 more than applying directly and they handle everything for you.

17 hours ago, jdaveh said:

That is how I understand it, just nice to hear someone verify. My wife misses her two best friends so I want to surprise her on our next trip. Had to search to find flights to Jamaica that did not go through US, England or Canada

Cuba is probably your best bet since there are a lot of direct flights from Slavic countries, although there are additional restrictions on travel for US citizens it is easier for the other party.  I think Aruba worked out on airfare also last time I checked.  USA/Canada airports are designed different than the rest of the world, pretty much every other country has the international terminals separate. 

On 7/11/2018 at 9:25 AM, jvitya90 said:

I've checked the website to make sure he doesn't need a transit visa and it states that if he has a valid US visa that he can travel through the airport without having to get a transit visa. Is this right? I just want to double check!

The international section is divided (unlike our air ports) so they can just pass through without customs.

FYI, I was told that consulate interview location could not be changed until petition is approved.

On 6/19/2018 at 8:35 PM, GP1977 said:

Yes, you are correct. Data plans are dirt cheap. I pay less than $10/mo when i go to visit.  The area in which her mother lives in for 6 months out of the year has no internet connection.   You can pick up a cell signal but you can't  even send/receive text messages with whatsapp.  I have been their myself before and I can receive and make phone calls but thats it.  THe country just got 4g this spring  so hopefully the internet in that area will improve soon.

 

Lyca is a good find.  Its pretty normal for the Dacha in the country to have cell phone service without data.

She is still a Ukrainian citizen if that matters

I am the petitioner.  Beneficiary is located in Samara Russia and we selected Moscow for consulate interview.  Beneficiary spent most of her life in Ukraine and her family is near Kyiv.  Our filling date is Dec 15 2017 so our approval should be any day now (if I understand the timelines correctly?).

There may be possible delays in Moscow due to staffing?  Noticed a note that Russian residents can apply in Kyiv, Ukraine for Visas now for non-immigrant visas because of the delays in Moscow.  Are there Russia specific delays for immigrant visas now as well?

I am looking for advise on if we should try to get the consulate location changed to Kyiv prior to approval.  She is planning a trip to Kyiv anyways to spend time with family before leaving.  If we keep the Moscow location she would vacation in Kyiv before interview, or after issuance of K1 she would stop in Ukraine for a couple weeks before coming to USA.

Thanks