Trapper99

6 minutes ago, TastyCake said:

Thanks for the 411.  Maybe the CPL is spot on with this explanation but i find it puzzling how people just a few weeks before us were getting interviews in 1-3 weeks.  There has been THAT much of an influx of K1s in Ukraine that all June and July appointments are booked solid???  Color me skeptical but, as you say, it's the best info we have so far.

 

I think I'm resigned to the fact my appointment will be when it is already scheduled.  I need to stop doing this but it just burns me up when I look at other timelines (Ukraine and other countries) and see people who will be (or are already) done 70-90 days earlier than I will be (NOA1 to interview date).  After the petition got approved, things were moving along very quickly.  And now this.  Frustrating.

 

I know, I know... all cases are different.  In a way it's kind of a b.s. response and, in another way, it is accurate.  I still don't want to hear it.  : o)

It's not only K1s, but all immigrant visa cases. There is a lack of timelines on here showing interviews in June or July which is suspicious, but it is all user reported info so understandable.

Yes I agree with you...best to just expect the interviews will be as scheduled. Kyiv embassy went to among the fastest to the slowest overnight it seems.

1 hour ago, TastyCake said:

I have looked every single day thus far to see if I can reschedule for earlier.  No earlier appointments are appearing at all.  Nothing in June.  Nothing in July.   Nothing in early August.  And August just continues to get later and later.

 

And one thing I find interesting.  I don't see anything in September OR October.  Not that I was looking for either of those months but I just happened to notice this on a quick eye scan of the overall calendar.  Nothing is set up for those months yet?  Maybe this is normal but right now you have something like 6 or 7 days in August to choose from and that's it.  It just makes you wonder if they had someone working there who knew what he/she was doing and that person left or is away on vacation or something.  From a calendar perspective at least, It just doesn't seem to be very coordinated over there right now.  Maybe I'm wrong.

 

A friend of mine (who's wife is a K1 through Kyiv) talked to a Consular Public Liaison Officer yesterday and he said there are indeed interviews in June and July, but they are full purely do to increased demand. Take that for what it is worth, but it is the best info we have so far. CPL said only hope for an earlier appointment would be through a cancellation as there won't be anymore interviews opening in June or July. 

In regards to Sept and Oct, this sounds correct as they probably haven't opened that calendar yet for scheduling. 

Edit: He also told me do not mention what I did (scheduling the interview without receiving email from embassy) or they will cancel it. Said show up with interview confirmation and all documents for interview and will be good to go. They don't have anything that will automatically cancel my interview. 

2 hours ago, TastyCake said:

My fiancee has had similar experiences in the past.  You are correct.  Not shady.  The cost is what the market will bear.  Unfortunately in America we get socked royally.  $375 might get us part of the airfare so pack a parachute and jump 1/2 the way to the destination.

Nothing chaps me more about this when you want to book a flight from US to KBP and it cost $1300, but the exact same dates (and flight numbers) with destinations flipped are $700😵

18 hours ago, millefleur said:

Nothing that I'm aware of. Should not be an issue. "Economic deals" sounds a bit shady but it's also not something the Embassy would care or ask about as it is not related to immigration.

My fiancee's mother just spent 7 nights in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt in a Hilton hotel. All-inclusive with airfare, lodging, and food was $375 USD. Nothing shady to speak of really and great deals to be had!

From the time they confirmed receipt of my RFE to the date of my NOA2 was 8 calendar days. 

Well, I was able to go ahead and schedule an interview for Aug 14th, even without the case arriving at the embassy yet. I guess that answers the question if you are able to schedule an interview without the case being at the embassy yet. I know it's probably not "recommended" to do this. I had case #, filed DS160, and fee paid and the system let me schedule. 

Wanted to give this a shot and see, and not have to wait until it arrives with the next shipment from the NVC. Hopefully this date is our "worst case scenario". Now only question is will they cancel it?🤔

22 minutes ago, Shiran said:

The embassy interview building kinda split into two parts. They only had 3 (one intake window gathering the docs, 2 doing actual interviews) windows dedicated to "immigrant" visas (and for the purposes of the interview K-1 falls under immigrant category. Much greater number is allocated to non-immigrant ones. Basically same 2 people who do K-1 interviews are also interviewing people going through adoption, CR-1, family reunifications, etc etc. But you are right, Ukraine is not known for having overwhelming amount of K-1s. 

If only 3 people working the immigrant visa, 1 or 2 quiting /transferring/fired etc could really throw a wrench into things. Quite possibly could be something like that and they are stuck with scheduling way out until they get a replacements.

5 minutes ago, TastyCake said:

The DHL waybill to Kiev that arrived on May 31 had '2 pieces' in it.  I don't know what that means in terms of total petitions but I played around with other countries using the search mechanism Greenbaum provides and there are much larger shipments than Ukraine.

 

I think less President and more reallocation of resources.  Maybe, just maybe, they found that allocated slots for K-1 were not at 100% capacity and they redistributed for the upcoming months.  And maybe they went a little too deep on the other end.

 

Anyone with an 8 weeks or > wait may want to email the Kiev embassy and inquire (politely) if more K-1 appointments will be scheduled in June and July.  No promises but it could alert the powers-that-be and then more appointments get set up subsequently making all of us a bit happier.  Just a thought.

 

 

That is the most likely scenario I'm guessing as they opened up more slots for B1/2 and less from K1/CR1. Once I get interview scheduled, I will also send an email but don't expect anything.

I see one other timeline on here that had same shipment dates as you, and they were able to snag an August 1st interview. Currently first available is Aug 14 now.

1 hour ago, TastyCake said:

Good question.  Try completing the DS-160 and pay the fee.  Then, if you haven't already done so, try creating your online account at the State Department website and see if it will let you schedule an appointment.  I think the DS-160 and paying the fee are probably the things the embassy cares about the most.

 

Paying the fee is a biggie.  Have your sweetheart pay at the nearest Raiffeisen branch and get the receipt.  Once she has the receipt in hand, tell her to take a snapshot of it and send it to you in Viber (or whatever you use for communication) so you have a copy as well.  Someone on this board mentioned that to me and it was great peace of mind.  Suppose your sweetie were to lose it accidentally?  Ask her to ask the teller/bank employee to identify what is exactly the receipt number.  In our situation, the teller/bank employee underlined it for us.

 

I believe the format of the receipt number is:  sweetheart's birth date in ddmmyy format followed by the transaction date, also in ddmmyy format, followed by time of day in hhmmss format.

 

For example (birthdate is January 15, 1981, transaction date is June 10, 2019, time of day is 11:15 am and 28 seconds):

150181100619111528

 

Thanks for the info

DS160 is done, and I made an account of the Dept of State and went through that till it asked for receipt number so I am familiar with that. My fiancee is going to pay the fee tomorrow and we will see what happens as far as scheduling interview now or if we have to wait until the June 11 shipment arrives at the embassy. 

Someone else I know went through this process a year+ ago (I actually got the "idea" from him) and he thinks I won't be able to schedule until the embassy actually has the case, doesn't matter I have the case number and paid DS160. Guess we will see!! His fiancee had dual citizenship in Russia and Ukraine (from parents) and although she lived in Russia at the time, she did interview in Kyiv as it was quicker turnaround to interviews.

He also suggested that if I am scheduling an interview in late August, but will keep an eye out for a cancellation, to have my fiancee go ahead and get medical done now that way if there is a cancellation (especially last minute) you are ready to go. Might not be a bad idea for your lady also. 

3 hours ago, Shiran said:

I am rather curious myself why are they suddenly out of interview slots so far into the future, when only recently they had no such issues whatsoever. New President jumps into mind, I don't know if there is a sudden influx of people suddenly willing to leave the country, or DOS pairing down staff at the embassies for whatever reason. Very curious. I am sorry you guys got caught in it. 

The new President was my first thought also. Seems like they had a redistribution of resources or something, and don't have the quantity of interview slots for K1s they use too. Tourist visa applicants can still get an interview only a week out. Anything that caused an influx of K1s had to happen 6 months ago to be effecting the embassy now, not anything recently. I'm thinking it's something at the embassy level and not a higher influx of K1s. I don't see any abnormally high amount of K1s through Ukraine on this site either.

Is it possible to schedule the interview after DS160 is filled out and fee paid, even if status is not "ready" and case hasn't arrived at embassy yet? With the extended wait times, I'd like to schedule as early as possible. 

Edit: All I see in the requirements is case #, passport #, and payment receipt for fee. 

Just to confirm, it is impossible to schedule interview in Kyiv until status goes to "ready" correct? We have case number from NVC, filed out DS160 and are ready to pay fee. If we pay fee will this allow us to schedule before "ready". Reason I ask is for some unexplainable reason, Kyiv embassy has gone from 2 weeks to wait for interview till Aug 14 as of today over the last couple weeks. People looking to schedule in middle of May were saying May appointments still available, but now June, July, and half of August is full. 

Are we stuck waiting till the June 11 shipment and embassy receive before scheduling?

Not happy to hear about these extended times for interviews. Doesn't make any sense cause all past info shows about 2-3 weeks from consulate receive till interview. 

We were looking at early Sept wedding under the assumption that is PLENTY of time (at least 1 month of buffer). Looks like that may not be the case.

Received my NOA2 hardcopy on Saturday saying case was approved on 5/7!!!! Neither old nor new site has been updated yet (seems to be normal hit or miss). 

The .pdf in the first post says 30 days to NVC to receive from USCIS then 5-10 days for case number, but everybody says to call NVC after minimum 10 business days for case number. Is the 30 days the "official" processing time but it moves faster?

RFE, they requested new passport style photos. Not sure what was wrong with previously submitted ones. I know measurements were correct. Only thing I can think is I didn't write names on back.

Either way it is good news!! Soon will be out of USCIS purgatory!

19 minutes ago, Sarge2155 said:

Can you make out anything in the email from USPS sometimes you can see enough to tell what it is I mean the envelope from USCIS can you see look closer! If you can see your beneficiary name it's NOT a RFE!!!!!! On the other hand they USCIS have sent RFEs out for joint intent letters, but that is an easy fix a fast fix!!!

I can see "Trapper99" c/o "Trapper99" and address. Nothing else visible through window. 

Informed delivery shows a letter from USCIS today!! Nothing on old or new site, nor email or text. I'm kind of expecting RFE since we did a joint intent to marry letter, but fingers are crossed!! I leave in 4 days to visit so will be great to celebrate an approval!!!

6 hours ago, GaryK said:

Possibly but I am not sure what the USCIS process is, if they do things by country, etc.  After a roughly TWO hour wait, I spoke with a so-called Tier 2 officer who, for the most part, was about as much help as a bad case of acne.

 

However, she seemed to suggest that part of the process is to reach out to the beneficiary's country for information on the person you are sponsoring.  Makes sense.  So maybe Ukraine is a little slow to the trigger in providing information back to the USCIS, DHS, etc. while countries like the Philippines have quick turnaround time.

 

Who knows?  Maybe after the election later this month Ukraine will start pumping these things out like a Pez dispenser.  One can only hope.

 

I think I need to take greenbaum's advice and maybe learn how to make pottery,  develop an interest in croquet or knitting USCIS voodoo dolls.

 

It looks like we're both in the same boat, huh?  Same country, same petition timeframe.  Let's hope we both get approvals REAL soon.

 

Щасти.  🙂

12/20 and petition for a Ukrainian here too. It seems like I have been punching the F5 key on the USCIS website constantly. Yes it is discouraging to see people in Jan get approvals already, but when I filed I wasn't expecting to hear something till beginning of June, so if I hear anything in April I will still be overjoyed. We are anticipating an RFE as we sent in a jointly signed "intent to marry" letter.

Hopefully any day for all of us! I'm heading over to visit end of April and it would be awesome to get that approval email when we are together!!

I only check my PO box about once a week, but with everybody saying they are getting their NOA2 in mail before the website updates, me think I need to go check my mail!!

7 hours ago, millefleur said:

I don't think it will make a difference whether they apply before or after the K-1 is approved. The question would come up regardless during the interview under reason for visit, i.e. attending wedding of daughter engaged to USC.

 

The trucking business and vehicle ownership might help. The key is just to focus as much as possible on ties to home country in order to convince the CO that they do not have immigrant intent.

 

Also, Ukraine has a relatively high refusal rate for B visas. In 2018, 40.97% of B visas for Ukrainian nationals were refused. Just to give you an idea of the odds.

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Non-Immigrant-Statistics/RefusalRates/FY18.pdf

Yup, we are aware of the high rate of refusal, and are honestly expecting it to be refused. It's just one of those things where we'd rather try for the slight possibility of approval than never know.

Either way, we are planning a ceremony in late 2020 in Ukraine for all her extended family who wouldn't be able to attend regardless if her parents can or not.

My fiancee and I are coming up on our NOA2 here soon, and are starting to think more about plans for when it is approved. Her parents are going to try for a tourist visa to be here for the wedding. Yes, we both understand the chances are very low, but we feel this is something we have to try so at least we know. Her father has a very good trucking business, and owns 6 DAF tractor/trailers, and had many employees that count on him. We are hoping this will show a major tie to Ukraine, along with 2 homes, bank accounts, etc.

I also understand they have to prove trip on their own merits, etc. My question is, should they wait to apply for the tourist visa after my fiancee's is approved, or is it ok to do in the near future. Most important is approval of the K1, and don't want her parents having a recently denied tourist visa raise a red flag. 

If anyone is bored waiting for their NOA2, here is video of proposal I made over Thanksgiving 2018

Plus another bonus video

If only they let us send this in for proof of bonafide relationship

Congrats to everyone approved recently! Some of these turnaround times are unbelievable from what I was expecting when I filed. 12/20 NOA1 here, fingers crossed to hear something in the next two week!!!

The times between NOA1 and 2 have come way down. Looks like some people in Dec are starting to get there NOA2's, so yours could be any day or still 2 months. Very possible you may need to adjust your plans.

My NOA1 is 10 days after yours, and I am hoping for a Sept wedding, but I am not scheduling anything until interview is scheduled.

According to the timeline on here, we may be about 45-60 days out from our NOA2 so starting to think about the AoS. Reviewing over the document, question came up in the real estate portion. My sister owns some land and we are in the process of doing a land split/construction loan for me to build on this property which I expect to close on in about 60-75 days. Do I just fill out the AoS as accurate and true on the date of signing this document (no real estate or debt), and then explain under the Additional Information by the time this gets evaluated, I may own real estate and have construction loan debt?