Cherridee

5 hours ago, Mekulisch said:

Check with @Lars & Sasha they were kind enough to help us get on the WhatsApp group

She was able to join the group, thanks for the help. 👍🏻

11 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

What great news!

Thank you, I feel very happy. 

Update for anyone that needs future guidance:

I stayed in Russia and it was the best decision. My fiance snatched a date this morning and girls on whatsapp group alerted me at the same time he was booking an appointment. Team work is definitely a great help when it comes to K1s in Russia. 

4 minutes ago, Mekulisch said:

I will add my two cents.

 

if you are very persistent and have access to the WhatsApp group that monitors dates your time will come.  I admit to being extremely discouraged by various roadblocks that occurred during our time hoping for an interview slot.

kind, concerned, fellow-sufferers helped keep us informed and our spirits resolute.

ask questions and make connections with others here on VJ. and never give up.

Thank you so much for your reassurance as well. Im taking full coverage when it comes to monitoring. Im talking WhatsApp, website monitoring and even my fiancé is calling the embassy quite frequently. I know it is discouraging at times especially when I know there are a lot of people waiting on an available slot and some are waiting far more than I have. 

Im just here praying and taking action and hoping everything turns out well, not just for me, but for everyone who’s in the same boat as I am. 

Thank you for your help. 

18 hours ago, Helena_Siberia said:

Hello there,

 

Russians can transfer K-1 cases only to Kiev, Ukraine. I'm not sure about Mongolia, but I know that girls sent inquiry to Georgia and Armenia, but the US Embassies replied that they won't be able to accommodate their request.

 

I know it's super frustrating, but the group chat helps a lot. I was waiting for the interview spot to open up for almost a month, since March 1st and then was finally able to grab one for April 23rd, all thanks to the girls in the chat. Some girls were waiting for the spot since February 12th.

 

Transferring the case to Ukraine will take a month, so my reco is to stick with Moscow and monitor the dates with the WhatsApp chat.

 

Elena

Absolutely, I think it’s the best choice after weighing in all options. Im afraid to try to transfer and repay fee, then wait a month for the transition only to find that moscow has available dates. Your words just reassured me of my decision and yes, Im monitoring on the chat and I will patiently wait. 

Thanks

32 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Yikes...can someone post a link to VJ in the WhatsApp group so we can help curb the disinfo a little bit...? They can post here in Russian. I speak Russian, will be happy to answer any q's and a bunch of our other regulars here on VJ speak Russian too.

 

The amount of disinfo floating around inside Russia about US visas is off the charts...

Thanks for the Kazakhstan tip, my fiance has traveled to Kaza so as far as I know it’s open borders with Russia. I also thought about Georgia as I know several people went there. However, my biggest concern would be where he would receive his passport. 

If I had to do this process (after NOA2) again I would definitely suggest several things. 

1) Don’t stress while waiting for a change from NOA2 to NVC stage, because most likely nothing will happen before four weeks and constantly calling to NVC will only cause super stress. 

2) Don’t try to skip steps after NVC number is assigned. I mean, don’t pay for visa ahead of time and don’t complete DS160. 

I completed DS160 as soon as I got the MOS number because I wanted to send my fiance the printed confirmation page along with the affidavit of support, turns out I did it again because I had this uneasy feeling I had done something wrong because I was rushing. 

So after I got the email from embassy in which it confirmed that our case was ready for interview scheduling, I did the following: 

- Opened Ustraveldocs Account

- Completed new DS160

- paid visa fee 

- submitted visa fee receipt number to get calendar opened

After five days my calendar option was opened. If one tries to pay for visa fee ahead of schedule the calendar request will take longer, as I recently found out. 

I was also going to schedule an early medical exam before the interview and my fiance was suggested by the embassy not to do it, because even though they say the exam is good for six months, it can be rejected after four. 

Sorry for long reply I just wanted to share my experience and maybe this will help someone who needs guidance and support. It’s such a difficult process to go through when one feels alone. 

35 minutes ago, DaveAndAnastasia said:

We were very lucky in terms of when Moscow decided to open up the calendar for Anastasia; she was able to schedule her interview right away. They had a few iterations of opening up January and February dates in late December/early January that were all snapped up really quickly, but by the time Anastasia could schedule a date, the backlog had been temporarily cleared enough that some dates that opened earlier that day were still open for her.

 

But really your best bet is probably to find one of the WhatsApp or other chat groups of Russian fiancees monitoring the web and calling. They're not useful for much else (scary stories and inaccurate information tends to get passed around among them), but it's the best way to follow openings in Moscow.

Yes, I joined both groups and even though I dont speak russian, they did offer their help. Luckily I joined the monitoring chat for interview availability. Thank you for that information. 

9 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Wow, really? Is it getting that bad? I know Poland is getting a lot of cases from Russians as well.

I hadnt considered Poland. Do you happen to know if Russian citizens need a Polish visa? 

7 hours ago, Bill & Katya said:

There was someone that transferred to Ulaanbaatar fairly recently. 

3 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

Ah, yes -- consider transferring to Mongolia, as Bill suggests.

I had considered Ukraine and Georgia, but just thought maybe it was better to stay in Moscow and now it seems Im reconsidering. Luckily, I was able to join the group support and Im hoping soon a date will open up for me. It also didnt help that I over logged in to the ustraveldocs account and now Im on suspension lol. 

13 minutes ago, Laritya said:

They opened dates for April 9, 23, and 25 about a week about. There were 85+ spots that were taken in about 5-10 minutes. Then on April 1st they opened some spots for April 2nd and April 4th (ridiculous, I know). There are a bunch of other fiancés waiting. Some of them call every 15 minutes. We have a group chat that helps.  

Thank you for your help. May I please have the information about this group chat? I would appreciate it greatly if Im allowed to join. 

1 hour ago, TBoneTX said:

A lot of good folks are rooting for you, so keep the faith.

I appreciate your words and Im surely keeping the faith. Im sure I’ll eventually get one. 

1 minute ago, TBoneTX said:

That's frustrating, isn't it...

Look through the relevant recent threads in this forum, because some advice was given.  Maybe it will help.

Thank you and yes, very frustrating and uncertain. Very heartbreaking at times. 

Hello everyone, 

So, Im finally at the stage where Im allowed to get an appointment for our k1 and since I know that a K1 interview in Moscow is a tough one to snatch, I’d like to ask anyone for any tips or help to make this process a little easier. 

Im trying to find an open slot through the ustraveldocs account, as well as calling the embassy twice a day. I’d like to ask anyone for suggestions.

Thank you. 

Hi everyone, Im attempting to pay my visa fee using a credit card. After agreeing with the terms and conditions it has APPLICANT DETAILS and I have one tiny question. 

It’s asking for the date of birth, card holder name, email, and phone number. Is it asking for my birth date, even though Im the petitioner and not beneficiary? 

Thanks 

4 hours ago, Mekulisch said:

It seems that it varies quite a bit.  According to the DHL hack our file was in embassy hands on 2/26. A few calls to the embassy and NVC later (both saying the other has the file)...we finally received the email from the embassy on March 15th. Note that others in the same shipment received emails much more quickly.

Thanks, it seems I’ll be getting my notice around the same time you got yours, hopefully. 

Hi, does anyone know approximately how long it takes to receive the embassy email from the moment the DHL hack shows the embassy received our cases? My case was sent on March 5th to Moscow, and according to DHL hack it was received March 13. 

6 minutes ago, payxibka said:

Every passport has a unique identification number 

I understood from the form that the NIN was similar to a social security number, not the passport. 

Im currently preparing Form DS-160 and I came across two questions Im not entirely sure how to answer. If anyone can help me, I’d appreciate it. 

Do Russian citizens have the following? 

National Identification Number  

Passport Book Number

38 minutes ago, EM_Vandaveer said:

It's not past 15 April yet, so technically there is no need to show the 2018 tax return (that's filed in 2019). You can just send the 2017 tax transcript.

Thanks for the input

I have a cosponsor for my AofS and she recently filed her latest tax return via e-filing. I printed the tax return, but has a “DO NOT FILE COPY ONLY” watermark. My question is, is that sufficient enough to satiate their documentation request?

Of course, I can wait for the transcript to be available online, but according to IRS website it says it can take from 2-6 weeks. I’d appreciate anyone’s help. 

54 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

Welcome to the forum.

Is that 3x4 inches?  If so, Google "metric conversion" to convert inches to or from centimeters.

You can ask about the translations, but normally documents in the native language of the country of interview don't need to be translated into English.

14 minutes ago, millefleur said:

The photos for the medical will be a different size, the 3x4cm as this is what the IOM needs: http://moscow.iom.int/ru/medical-examination-for-exit-by-turn

 

And the Embassy needs the "American" passport size of 5x5cm. The IOM will use the photos as they see fit for their records, so you'll need to get them printed in different sizes, the two 5x5's for the Embassy and the five 3x4cm for the IOM.

Thank you so much for your help. 

Hello everyone,

Im currently gathering information since we recently got approved for K1 visa interview in Moscow. 

Embassy states it wants two 5x5cm passport photos at the time of interview and five 3x4 photos for medical. Are the passport dimensions different or can all seven photos be the same? 

Finally, all of my fiance’s original documents are in Russian, are English translations required? 

Thank you

1 hour ago, Paul & Mary said:

It is ok.

 

Yes they should be able to fix it and it not the NVC can and if not you can fix it at the time you enter the DS-160 and if not there is always the CO at the interview.    Sooner the better.

 

When my Wife did her DS-260 after getting the petition approved she got a new passport with her married name.   The CO fixed it at the interview and saved us the cost of getting a new green card and the delay associated with it.

Thank you so much! You gave me so much hope and Im grateful for your response. 

Hi, everyone Im new here and would like to ask for some guidance on my recent immigration problem. I would appreciate if anyone can help me or direct me in the right direction. 

This is my issue at the moment. My fiance visa petition got approved on Janurary 29, two days ago, and I went over some things with my fiance and I realized he gave me a different spelling to his name than the one that is on his passport. He is from Russia so in his Russian passport his name is translated with an “i” at the end, but when I made his petition I wrote his name with a “y” because he assured me that was correct, although I did write his name correctly as it is in his passport in russian alphabet, when I was asked to provide his full name in his native alphabet. 

I panicked and was furious he made this tiny but costly mistake and today I called USCIS costumer service and spoke to an officer and she told me it can be fixed and gave me a week till I get a response from them. So I asked for his name to be corrected just as it is in his Russian passport. I hope I was on time to fix the mistake before my case gets transferred to NVC office. 

My question is, does anyone know if my problem really has the chance to be resolved? I guess Im just asking for reassurance or some hope. 

Thanks