two_black_cats

19 hours ago, uapilot said:

Our CEAC status says that we are ready for an interview, so we thought we'd start getting some of the prep-work done even though the embassy isn't doing K visas at the moment. I know the police report has an expiration of 1 month, but does the medical exam have an expiration? If we do it now, how long will it be eligible for?

Just like other people said medical is good for 6 month and your visa will be valid until the medical expiration date. Also police records are good for 1 year actually  

6 minutes ago, Lucky Cat said:

Correct.  I would certainly be prepared to show a marriage certificate and a copy of the US citizen passport.

Thank you! I will definitely make sure I have all docs ready!

On 12/14/2020 at 7:27 PM, Lucky Cat said:

Yes...as well as spouses and others who are exempt from the travel ban.  I am sorry for this situation..

Did I understand you right that if spouse of US citizen flies to the States thru say, Amsterdam, they are exempt from the ban and will be able to board the plane? 

Does airline require marriage license and a copy of US passport or CR1/IR1 visa says enough? 

Thanks

On 10/2/2020 at 11:35 PM, frodolives said:

My boyfriend (who is from Russia), and I are trying to find a place where we can meet that isn’t closed to tourism. We have considered Ukraine. I know they closed the borders from August 28 to September 28; but I recently saw on the Embassy website that US citizens, and other foreigners, are now allowed to enter and have the option to either quarantine, or present a PCR test with a negative result to avoid the quarantine. I believe I’d also need to buy health insurance specifically for covid costs. Does this mean that they’re completely open for tourism now as long as you have the proper documentation?

Ukraine is open to tourists as of September 28. As far I know land crossings to other countries are restricted for Russians as per 763р http://government.ru/docs/39307/ (it's in Russian). So Russians who are not in exclusions list can only fly if they want to leave Russia. Now there are no direct flights from Russia to Ukraine. So he'll need to fly to Turkey (more affordable) and then to Ukraine. Then in Ukraine as someone said there are two lists of countries - green and red, as of September 19 Russia is green, so he wouldn't need to download the app ( not sure now that russian cases are rising). US of course is red, so americans will need to show negative pcr test or download the app. Yes, you need Ukrainian number to use it. Now you can possibly talk to the guy/girl in the booth and explain that you don't have the number and promise to get it when you can. With me they understood and I just went through. You'll either need to cuarantine for 14 days or take PCR test,  cost 1800 grivnas, results come in about 3 days, you cuarantine until the results and then have to get the results in the app and they just stop counting your cuarantine days, ( it's a very shitty app, so you might have problems with that). With all that said, the cost of tickets, tests and provided male Russian can even get in Ukraine it sure doesn't seem like it'll be that much more economical. Seems to me like Turkey is much better option. But anyway good luck! And do check flights from the States to Ukraine. In july it was a nightmare of a flight! I hope I explained well.

1 minute ago, SteveInBostonI130 said:

 

Sorry to hear about that.  Makes me nervous about the likelihood of us getting an interview date soon (we got our DQ in June 19).

 

I assume you are referring to the online scheduling tool at the ustraveldocs ua site.  That hasn't been operational since the routine visa suspension.  I think the only way to reschedule is to by calling them directly.  Maybe check each week, or twice a week?

 

 

 

 

The NVC sets the initial interview date, but there is an online site for the Embassy in Ukraine to change the date.   But that site has been showing "there are currently no available appointments" for a while now.

Thank you. Yes I'm sure we're talking about the same website. 

I hope it starts working soon and the embassy! 

8 hours ago, o1michmich said:

I am submitting documents for my husbands CR-1 visa. The internal Passport is required but I am not sure what category it falls under. The DOS website shows it to be under ID, but the only options available when I go to submit it are "Passport Biographic Page," or "Other". Anybody know what I should do?

you are at the NVC stage, correct? 

I have not seen the requirement for "internal" passport. We have submitted passport for international travel and it worked just fine. The bio page is the one with the picture. just reminding

3 hours ago, JenIE said:

Oh good, glad they were open and you finally got through!

Thank you! Although it wasn't helpful. Apparently the people on the phone have the same info as on the website, so she told me there are no dates available. Which makes no sense because obviously people are getting interviews in Kyiv, as we see here on vj. 

Emailed them, hopefully will get an answer.

1 hour ago, kostyaby said:

Thanks!

I'm currently looking into Los Angeles > Amsterdam > Minsk. It seems like Los Angeles > Amsterdam is very stable. I'm not seeing any cancelations in the past 3 or so days, and I called KLM and asked them about it, they say it's been pretty stable, no issues. The only thing is when flying to Amsterdam you have to download a Health form online and fill it out.

Sounds doable!  Good luck! 

2 hours ago, JenIE said:

FYI, With the 4th of July falling on a Saturday this year, they probably have today off and won't be answering phones. 

The embassy in Ukraine answered the phone on Friday the 3d

10 hours ago, Kate.Alday said:

CR1 visa? 😱 how it’s possible? They have to schedule appointment for you, not you by yourself. So sorry, so sad 😞 

Yes, CR1. 

Apparently it is possible. Tried to call them yesterday, couldn't speak to a person. Going to try again today

On 7/1/2020 at 8:21 AM, kostyaby said:

Hi all,

 

I'd like to travel to Belarus at the end of July and am wondering which airlines are serious and don't cancel flights?

 

I heard Turkish Airlines (SFO/LAX > Istanbul > Minsk) and Qatar Airlines (LAX > Emirates > Istanbul > Minsk) is reliable. 

 

Any advice? I had 4 flights canceled in the past 4 months, and really am tired of it.

British airways fly from jfk to London, then Finnair London to Helsinki, then Belavia Helsinki  to Minsk. 

Know that for a fact.

So my July 28th interview was cancelled.

 We received an email with directions from the Embassy on how to reschedule it, and when I go do what they ask, the page says: "there are currently no available appointments".

Has anyone had anything similar happened ?

The country is Ukraine.

21 hours ago, SETETA said:

Congrats! Hope we all hear soon!

thanks! hope so too!

9 hours ago, Sinka13 said:

Yes, they check you immunization card and tell you if you need to do any extra vaccinations, you can do that pretty much same day in the clinic I recall they told someone that but only after 4pm and that didn't work for them. 

 

Also you would need to pass measles titre test so make sure to have measles vaccine done before it. Mine turned out negative so I needed to send them the certificate about newly received vaccine I did this Thursday or I could do it in their clinic if I was from Kyiv. Still waiting on what medical result would be.

Thanks. 

How was your travel to Kiev, no problems?

2 hours ago, SteveInBostonI130 said:

The CO will tell you at the end of your interview if you are approved or not.  They will ask for your passport and hold on to it until all the paperwork is complete.  At least, that was the case for my wife's fiance visa.

 

Hello,

 

When did you receive the interview letter?

 

Thanks for the info!  

We got an email on the 22nd with appointment date july 28 . DQ May 15th

47 minutes ago, SETETA said:

Is it an expedited case?

Nope

On 6/25/2020 at 3:50 AM, Sinka13 said:

Hello everyone

So here is a little overview of my medical exam in Kyiv yesterday.

 

So they scheduled my medical on the 24th at 8am

. I got there exactly at specified time, all tests are performed on the third floor of the clinic. When I got to that floor I saw 4 people sitting there, only later I understood they are all here for the same reason. 

 

First was urine test and x-ray, that was super fast and done in 10 minutes and that's when things got terribly slow. 

 

You don't know what the next test will be, so you just sit in a corridor with the rest of people and wait till they call you. The next blood test took around 45 minutes to be done because the rest of the people went before me. Then it was weight, height and blood pressure tests. It took another hour or so. Finally, there was a medical history check where the doctor asks about diseases you have or had, mental illness, and checks your body and lungs. Personally, for me, the wait felt like it took forever. The first 3 people took around 20-30 minutes each, and the last 2 (including me) took like 5 minutes. I don't know what the reason was for the long wait, but I finally heard that my condition is fine and I'm good to immigrate. 

 

So in total it was 4.5 hours of the medical exam and the results won't be in time for the interview, because my interview is scheduled on the 30th of June at 10:30am, so they told me they would send it to the embassy directly around 11am on the 30th.

 

From what I heard, they were allowed to give only 1 envelope per day, so they found a person who could pick it up themselves and everyone else's results would be sent directly to the embassy.  

 

As for interviews in Kyiv people had them on the 30th,1st, and some other dates but all were relatively soon. I believe they resumed work at a pretty good pace. 

Thanks for the info! We have also received an interview letter. Have our interview scheduled on July 28th. 

Have they asked you for your vaccination records?

41 minutes ago, Sinka13 said:

Nope, we didn't do anything after they told us that our interview is cancelled, since we didn't want to move to US during all this pandemic craziness. 

Anyways got interview scheduled when everything is still quarantined and train system is under lockdown lol

 

oh gosh that will be an adventure if you live out of Kyiv.

Edit: Just checked and it turns out that all public transportation is now reopened as per Embassy's website.. Confused now.

33 minutes ago, Sinka13 said:

Thank you! I also got contacted next day from medical center and they are performing medicals for interview now, although the day before they were not aware of anything. So it seems they resume the activities regardless that quarantine is extended till 31 of July. 

I'll keep posting my progress here

Thanks for sharing ! You`d think they`d get info from the Embassy once they are open.. lol what a mess all this is. 

Anyway good luck to you ! stay safe

On 6/15/2020 at 10:05 AM, Sinka13 said:

Hello everyone, I had my expectations pretty low on having interview any time sooner then September looking at the situation in Ukraine. Until today when I got a call from the Embassy in Kyiv to schedule my interview. The closest day was THIS Thursday. I was shocked!!! Decided not to rush with it and scheduled it next week, but they were not available so new date is June 30. 

 

Funny part is that when I tried to schedule a medical exam clinic was not even aware that the embassy is already working. 

 

I guess interviews are closer than we think.

That is awesome news! Congratulations! Thanks for the update as I am waiting for the interview on Kyiv also. Please do keep us posted if you learn anything. Congrats again and good luck with the medical.

2 minutes ago, ssa123 said:

what i used to do was i clicked it on once and there  was a very dim grey highlight on it and a box outline will appear below once that appears i will wait and then again start clicking and with in 5-10 minutes i was able to read messages..sometimes its only a short head line which wont appear in box if the message is longer than a line then it will appear..

Thank you! I am going to try that !

7 minutes ago, MarlinCobon said:

 

log in and wait about 3-5 minutes and the message will show.

Thanks but no luck... Waited for good 10 minutes

I think NVC post earlier processing date (such as Feb 13) on their website so that people who submitted after that date would not call them with questions like "when? when? when?" . they say loud and clear when you call them that they are working with reduced staff and asking to not call to check the case status. now that doesn`t mean people won`t, so that`s why they "slow down" their processing. and the cases that do get reviewed later must get their attention somehow to be put in front of the line. that is my theory. solely my opinion. 

I called them today (remove lawyer issue) and the wait time was very short, so I believe they are not too busy. I am happy with that and not going to call anymore because that does not help with speeding up process and will just let them work.

submitted DS260 March 03, most of docs on March 10, added a few docs on March 28th.

On 4/21/2020 at 4:29 PM, Jaze said:

Hi Everyone! Just got documentarily qualified today! April 21,2020

Submitted documents: February 13,2020

 

Its just weird that below the documentarily qualified, i also got a passport message but when i opened it , it said about the police certificate..but I know it should be about the passport since it will expire on September. Thank God my husband already renewed his passport before everything started closing.. So I guess he'll just need to show his new passport during interview since when i looked back at the documents it was accepted anyways..☺️

Good luck everyone! We will all be with our loved ones soon!❤

Congratulations and thanks for sharing the good news ! We are in the similar situation. my passport is running out by the the end of June (pushing it I know) Can you please tell me what was in your  "passport message" ? What did they want ? Thank you !