Buck and Natalia
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Posts posted by Buck and Natalia
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The NVC said my case was in "Administrative Processing" a few weeks after they recieved it. I think it was approved the next week, or something like that. So it may just be their way of saying "its being processed"? Anyway, I wouldn't worry about it quite yet.
Whewwwwwwwwwww........ I hope so.
Thanks
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Do any of you know what it really means when the NVC says that your petition is in "Administrative Processing"? NVC has had our petition for about a week but has not forwarded it to Moscow. Does "Administrative Processing" mean that there is a problem with the security checks? How long can one expect their petition to be delayed at NVC if it is in "Administrative Processing"?
Any information would be much appreciated.........
Buck & Natalia
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The VJ process, aint it great?
The VJ process, yes. It's great. This community has kept me sane. Well, sane-ish. The "V" process? Not so great. I mean, great for the alcohol industry. Not so great for me.
Hahaha..... true. The process has not been so great for us either. We won't miss it at all. We have now hit a slight "snag" (called "Administrative Processing") regarding the NVC security checks. Apparently, red flags are being raised by my fiancee's past terrorist activities (she just wouldn't listen when I said "Don't bomb that bus"....... joke) or her former rank as a Major in the FSU police (not a joke)......... or that we will be unleashing her 17-year-old son on the American High School system (probaby more of a risk to him actually). Actually, I suspect that the increased security check is probably due to the fact that a known scammer was using the same name and surname as my fiancee. The computer may have beeped when it saw her name. We will now see how long this particular delay lasts.
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Well I got some good news today,
I called NVC and was told my package is on the way to moscow, it was sent on the 7th of Nov I think.
I would add if anyone wants to actually TALK to a person on the phone at the number they give at NVC,
(603-334-0700) your best bet is to call before 10;oo am East coast time. Got right through each time.....well not "right through" but within a 5 min wait.
I was given a "case number" starting with MOS.
So how will I know when the case arrives to Moscow? The guy on the phone said it could take up to two months.
Wait a week or so for it to arrive and then begin trying this email address: consulMo@state.gov
The Moscow Consulate responded to me within 4 days of receiving my email. Of course, they had not yet received my petition because it was not sent yet....... but they did respond timely as follows:
From: Consular2, Moscow [mailto:ConsularM2@state.gov] On Behalf Of Consular0, Moscow
Sent: Monday, October 29, 2007 1:26 AM
To: Buck XXXXXXXXXX
Subject: RE: K1 Visa Status: WACXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
As of today, we have not received the case from NVC
Sincerely,
Public Liaison Unit
Consular Section
US Embassy, Moscow
*** Note the "ConsularM2" reply email address. That might even be more direct.
Good Luck,
Buck
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Actually, at both places that I have interned one was a solo practitioner and another is a professional corporation that is really just a one man team with occasional of counsel help were far from the typical firm structure.Sadly, most law firms really stick-it-to the clerks to limit benefits. The clerks then get to stick-it-to the firms when negotiating starting salary requirements when they become associate attorneys. However, the firms then stick-it-to the associates again regarding billable hour requirements. I don't miss any of this. It is probably too late to change course now, but are you really certain that you want to go into a profession where for the next several years you will mean nothing more to the partners of the firm than your billable hour totals? Of course, they will state just the opposite when hiring you. I am hard pressed to think of any profession more demanding on your time at the entry level or less suitable for starting a new family with a spouse immigrating from another country. On a more constructive note, if you do want to stay with the law, have you thought about working as an attorney in place with no billable hour requirements....... such as government attorney, in-house corporate counsel, or other less time-demanding area? Just a thought.To be honest if I could land an associate position with partnership track that would be pretty amazing considering the kind of debt I am in. The work or treatment wouldn't really scare me. My wife has been here for 3 years she is pretty much American now. Not an issue at all.
Of course the other options all sound fine except working for the government because it doesn't pay much. Might have to go solo too if I can't find a job. I am more scared of generating clients, since I seem to lack those kind of skills.
My schedule is crazy as it is already with working full time and going to school full time. For example today I left the home at 6:00am and won't return until 12:15am. So it can't be much more demanding than that.
Actually looking forward to BAR preparation where I will take the recommendation of not working for 2 months!
OK then..... she has been here for some time and it sounds like you two are weathering the working full-time/law school full-time schedule OK. If you two are surviving that schedule reasonably well then law firm work shouldn't pose that much difficulty. A little about BAR preparation: I was sooo ticked off after I finished my BAR preparation course and realized that they could have taught me all I really needed to know in a matter of months rather than zinging me for 3 years of law school tuition. Oh well...... I think law school is what they call an "informal market barrier entry." Good Luck studying for exam and passing the bar. After you take the bar exam, take a nice holiday with your wife if you can. You have both more than earned it at this point !!!
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Buck & Natalia I am glad your paperwork went on to the next step, I am of course still waiting on mine.
Do you have a projected time-line when you expect visa to be in-hand?
If everything stays on track, then VISA in hand will probably be somewhere between mid-January and mid-February 2008.
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Slim, you must have misread my post. I stated that both of my employers refuse to offer anything beyond 20 and 22 hours a week to avoid paying benefits. Therefore, to consolidate, I would have to seek out a third employer. It's not about extra hours, shifts, or different line of work.Consolidating two or more part-time jobs into a full-time job and hoping to keep the same job (or even the same line of work) is a little naive. Consolidating 42 hours of work each week into one job isn't very difficult.Sadly, most law firms really stick-it-to the clerks to limit benefits. The clerks then get to stick-it-to the firms when negotiating starting salary requirements when they become associate attorneys. However, the firms then stick-it-to the associates again regarding billable hour requirements. I don't miss any of this. It is probably too late to change course now, but are you really certain that you want to go into a profession where for the next several years you will mean nothing more to the partners of the firm than your billable hour totals? Of course, they will state just the opposite when hiring you. I am hard pressed to think of any profession more demanding on your time at the entry level or less suitable for starting a new family with a spouse immigrating from another country. On a more constructive note, if you do want to stay with the law, have you thought about working as an attorney in place with no billable hour requirements....... such as government attorney, in-house corporate counsel, or other less time-demanding area? Just a thought.
Buck
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HOW LONG IS IT CURRENTLY TAKING FOR AN APPROVED K1 FIANCEE PETITION TO BE SENT FROM THE CALIFORNIA SERVICE CENTER (CSC) TO THE NATIONAL VISA CENTER (NVC)?
OUR NOA2 WAS ISSUED SEPTEMBER 19. IT STILL HAS NOT ARRIVED TO THE NVC.
WE HAVE BEEN WAITING 6 WEEKS AND COUNTING.
TELL ME YOUR HORROR STORIES.
MISERY LOVES COMPANY.
AAAAAAUUUGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH
GREETINGS, BUCK AND NATALIA,
Our CSC to NVC timeline was 5 weeks and we were also concerned. But finally NVC recieved it and sent to the Embassy within 3 business days.
When you call NVC, use the operator option and have them look up your case by the beneficiarys name and Date of birth. I was told they do not
input the k1 or k3 in the automated system and you will need to talk to the Operator. As of this date, our NVC case number is not in the automated phone system, so I see truth to what the NVC supervisor told us. My wife faxed all the PKG # documents and verified the embassy got it, which they did, now we are waiting for the Interview date.
Good Luck and keep the faith, I am sure you will hear good news soon !!!!!
BRIAN
CONGRATULATIONS BRIAN AND YENYS !!!
The NVC received our petition on 11/02/2007 which was 44 days (6.3 weeks) from our 9/19/2007 NOA2 date. Now we will hope and pray that the NVC's review is problem free and that they forward the petition to the Moscow Consulate quickly.
We thank all of you that responded for your kind words of encouragement and advice....... plus, we had some interesting political/socio-economic chat thrown in as well.
Buck & Natalia
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The NVC received our petition on 11/02/2007 which was 44 days (6.3 weeks) from our 9/19/2007 NOA2 date. Now we will hope and pray that the NVC's review is problem free and that they forward the petition to the Moscow Consulate quickly.
We thank all of you for your words of encouragement and advice.
Buck & Natalia
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She's been here a year now and I think she's almost given up on reading my posts. I get in trouble regardless, so I might as well post what I want. The really messed up part is I get in trouble for the stuff that's not so bad, the stuff that's a light-hearted "wow, she's attractive" or something like that, but the serious stuff like "my wife will be at work all day, would you like to come over?" just seems to slide right by. (Not that I've done that, but just for the sake of example.)
I don't know if it's lost in translation or what, but the things that I think should piss her off seem to go unnoticed and the things that are not even serious seem to cause huge, wild and crazy drama.
There is a separation of sorts for us when it comes to stuff like VJ. This is "my" thing. She checks my posts from time-to-time, but for the most part, she leaves it alone because she doesn't like it and doesn't want to waste her time with it. And it seems to cause a whole bunch of unnecessary drama whenever she does check it out. I can post "I'm definitely on the receiving end of the better deal in our marriage." and she'll come back with "What are you saying in this post? You want to tell everyone that you best of the best and your wife is nothing?"
One thing that I've realized about my wife, and maybe your girls are like this too, is being 100% honest to her is not appreciated. She doesn't need to know what's on my mind all the time. She doesn't need to know exactly what's going on or what I'm into. And more importantly... she doesn't want to know. I thought I was going to earn points by being 100% honest about everything and in reality, turns out, she'd rather have the false sense of security that her perception of what's going on inside my head and in my world is reality. It's not, but at least she can think it is, and better for her to think what she wants than have to deal with reality.
It's just easier that way. And things like posting whatever I want on an internet board seem be "out of sight...... out of mind." (For now, anyway.)
Hmmmmm.... what you wrote is consistent with what I have read in different cross-cultural books regarding American-Russian marriages..... i.e. that Russian women are a bit puzzled why American men feel the need all the time to be "sensitive" by constantly verbalizing their thoughts and feelings. The gist seems to be, "Tell me that you love me. Tell me what I need to know......... but keep your American psycho-babble to yourself." On the other hand, my experience is just the opposite. My fiancee wants to feel a deep connection with me all the time and feels a bit left out if I do not give her sufficient details about what happened that day at work, the extent of my daily feelings and emotions about her, and all the other things that are happening in my life. However, I would be curious where the other russian fiancees/spouses fall in this spectrum.
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I guess I am confused why you are inquiring with the USCIS when you appear to have been approved in September
Because I was approved 6 weeks ago and NVC never received my petition. I had to contact CIS to have them locate my petition and determine the reason for the long delay in transferring the petition to NVC after it was approved by CIS.
It took about 5 or 6 weeks for ours 3 years ago, so this seems normal.
Perhaps it was normal 3 years ago. The two CIS Case Officers that responded to me yesterday did not think it was so normal. Likewise, the NVC did not think it was so normal. They stated that usual transfer time was 2 to 4 weeks which is what prompted the email to CIS in the first place.
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I guess I am confused why you are inquiring with the USCIS when you appear to have been approved in September
Because I was approved 6 weeks ago and NVC never received my petition. I had to contact CIS to have them locate my petition and determine the reason for the long delay in transferring the petition to NVC after it was approved by CIS.
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Eh, the times seem to be pretty much the way they've always been. Here's the reply I got:The California Service Center (CSC) does not accept inquiries from the general public via email. All inquiries must be submitted to the National Customer Service Center by calling 1-800-375-5283. The National Customer Service Center will route your inquiry to the appropriate USCIS District Office or Service Center, and will track your inquiry to a final resolution. If you've received a transfer notice regarding your case, please inform the National Customer Service Center at the time you submit your inquiry. The National Customer Service at I-800-375-5283 is available Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, PST.The status of the case, processing dates, addresses and necessary information can be found on line at www.USCIS.gov. Under “Check Case Status”, enter receipt number i.e. WAC. You can also sign up to be notified of any changes occurring with this petition.Officer Hopkinscsc
At least they responded quickly but sorry to see that they gave you the brush-off.
I should have maybe mentioned that I am an attorney with 15 years litigation experience and the email that I wrote to them was pretty stern. Perhaps they did not view me as a member of the "general public" because of the "attorney" byline on my email signature. -
Buck, did you get any results from either the email or fax?
I got TWO responses (1 email; 1 phone) to my email from two separate CSC Case Officers within 24 hours. I practically fell off my office chair to say the least !!! What a pleasant shock.
I still have not received any response to the fax but CSC guidelines say there is normally a 15 day response time to fax inquiries.
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CALIFORNIA SERVICE CENTER EMAIL/FAX INFO (11/01/2007):
Things moving a bit too slowly for you at the CSC on your K1 VISA Petition? Want to contact them about it? Here is an email address that worked for me on 11/01/07:
CSC-XII.129F@dhs.gov
You can also fax a more formal inquiry using the CSC Fax Inquiry Form. Here is a link to the current form (last revised 10/2002):
http://www.artistsfromabroad.org/pdf/a_blankcscfax.pdf
The best fax number to use (at least it worked for me on 11/01/2007) is: 949-389-3482. The Fax Inquiry says the number is reserved for "Premium Processing" but it was the only number that I found that worked. I tried many of the others listed on the form but they had been disconnected or were no longer in service. This is not too surprising as the form was last revised in October 2002. Perhaps you can find better information. I tried but was unable to find other fax numbers that worked or a more recent version of the Fax Inquiry form.
The contact information for CSC changes constantly so I have no idea how long this information will remain valid.
GOOD LUCK,
Buck - Your Brother in Arms
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You guys must've stopped at their nice pink jackets like I did the first time I saw the picture. They're very fashionable the way they're cut. Yeah, I bet I looked at that photo five or six times before I realized they had those classy ribbons on their socks. The jackets just kept catching my eye.
Oh...were they wearing jackets? Sorry, I didn't quite make it that far up the picture...
(yeah I know, you can take a horse to water...
)Hahahaha..... does your fiancee read your posts? Remember that female russian anger thing we talked about? You must like your life spicy.
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I'm not talking about the sick people in the streets. As I doubt there are 50 million people in the streets. I am talking about the working folks who work several part time jobs or even a full time one where medical benefits are not offered. Hard to imagine right? So what are those people to do? They can either choose to buy health care, food, or pay for rent each month. They can have only two of these three each month based on their salary and the cost of the latter. Yet they are too far above the federal poverty guidelines to receive assistance for either three!My friend, I am 45 years old and I have NEVER seen a sick person on the street... that was sober
Sadly, the government already makes many of us choose between food, rent and health care. COBRA was not much of a solution for those of us below retirement/Medicare age because many, myself included, could not afford the COBRA premiums. By the time I hit retirement age I doubt there will be much, if anything, left in the way of Social Security benefits. In other words, the US Government has not given me much "bang for the buck" for the healthy amount of taxes withheld each month from my paycheck. However, our government has been good at using our tax money to fund dubious military excursions into the Middle East and other less noble projects. I have no problem with part of my wages being used for the public good such as public schools, caring for the elderly and underprivileged, and properly staffing necessary government offices such as CSC....... but, as you can see, our money is being put to other uses.
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HOW LONG IS IT CURRENTLY TAKING FOR AN APPROVED K1 FIANCEE PETITION TO BE SENT FROM THE CALIFORNIA SERVICE CENTER (CSC) TO THE NATIONAL VISA CENTER (NVC)?
OUR NOA2 WAS ISSUED SEPTEMBER 19. IT STILL HAS NOT ARRIVED TO THE NVC.
WE HAVE BEEN WAITING 6 WEEKS AND COUNTING.
TELL ME YOUR HORROR STORIES.
MISERY LOVES COMPANY.
AAAAAAUUUGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH
I think it is very evident that the machine has slowed down considerably and all of our anticipated dates are becoming protracted. We just received our Packet 3, which I had computed to arrive 18 days after the Petition left the NVC. My 18 days turned into 33 days. That’s 183% longer than expected. From our timeline, you’ll see it took our Petition 29 days from the NOA2 date to be received by the NVC. Just playing with some numbers: Your NOA2 date is 19 September 2007 and if I add 29 day times 183% (for machine slowing) = 53 days – this may be your NVC receipt date: 11 November 2007, a Sunday, so say may be 12 November? You’ve sent an e-mail inquiry to the NVC I hope.
Mike & Svetik
Thanks for the tip Mike & Svetik. I sent off email and fax inquiries today. We will see if anything comes of it. My fiancee is a strong and loving woman but it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep her and her family's spirits up when the anticipated dates are becoming longer and longer. CSC is making the Russian bureaucracy look speedy by comparison.
Buck
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HOW LONG IS IT CURRENTLY TAKING FOR AN APPROVED K1 FIANCEE PETITION TO BE SENT FROM THE CALIFORNIA SERVICE CENTER (CSC) TO THE NATIONAL VISA CENTER (NVC)?
OUR NOA2 WAS ISSUED SEPTEMBER 19. IT STILL HAS NOT ARRIVED TO THE NVC.
WE HAVE BEEN WAITING 6 WEEKS AND COUNTING.
TELL ME YOUR HORROR STORIES.
MISERY LOVES COMPANY.
AAAAAAUUUGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH
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As far as Russian women looking feminine, dignified and classy..... I thought the group of girls in the pink shorts was pretty nice. The way they all wore their socks up like that, now that's classy!
Oh...were they wearing socks? Sorry, I didn't quite make it that far down the picture...
Ditto
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My favorite's got to be the "Russian bride" riding side-saddle on the motorcycle. Just proves my theory that there's nowhere a Russian woman can't look dignified and classy.
I like the 3 female russian soldiers showing "leg" in their winter coats and combat boots. It goes to what you say and shows my theory that there's nowhere a Russian woman can't look feminine. It is in their attitude.
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I think the grand finale was a "tooie, tooie, tooie" spitting imitation.
LOL! I completely forgot that. And now I remember why. Because when I pointed out that spitting was probably just as unsanitary......you know what, I don't think that's a memory I particularly want to remember. Forget I said anything.
hahaha........ I love the "tooie, tooie, tooie" spitting imitation. Want a laugh? Ask them what noise a pig makes. From my fiancee I get this very cute "haarrrruuuu haarrruuu haaruuuuu" sound.
Yeah....ask them what sound a frog makes too....I have another story on that one later....oh yeah and a horse...and many other animals too...
LOL...... you were right. I asked her to make the frog sound.......... absolutely hilarious...... "kvaaaaaaaaaaaaa...aaaa...aaaaa." She was a real good sport about it too. I totally adore her. Now tell us your frog story.........
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I think the grand finale was a "tooie, tooie, tooie" spitting imitation.
LOL! I completely forgot that. And now I remember why. Because when I pointed out that spitting was probably just as unsanitary......you know what, I don't think that's a memory I particularly want to remember. Forget I said anything.
hahaha........ I love the "tooie, tooie, tooie" spitting imitation. Want a laugh? Ask them what noise a pig makes. From my fiancee I get this very cute "haarrrruuuu haarrruuu haaruuuuu" sound.
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haha...... are you and Slim willing to share what your Sweeties said..... or how they looked? I have not made this mistake yet but now I am little bit apprehensive about it.
We were getting ready to go out to dinner or something, and while she was combing her hair and doing some last minute make-upping, I sat down on the bed to put my shoes on. Not sure why I did it this way, usually I just slipped them on by the door. So I sat the shoes on the bed, and I remember her watching this through the mirror. She stopped what she was doing, her eyes grew wide, and she spun around and walked over to me. I got the pointer-finger of death aimed right at me and then the shoes. It's a little hazy after that...she yelled a bunch of stuff in Russian. I picked 'em up real quick, and she calmed down enough to finish chewing my ### in English. Something about how everything that was on the street now being on the bed, do I know how filthy the bottoms of my shoes are, and just generally being incredulous about how I could possibly have thought putting my shoes on the bed was a good idea. You'd have thought I'd just taken a dump right in the middle of the bed, which I suppose was the next worse thing as far as she was concerned. 30 seconds later it was over. She stopped and just went back to getting ready, leaving me completely bewildered. I spent a long time waiting for the (no pun intended) other shoe to drop, but she was back to sweet little Nadya. We had housekeeping replace the bedspread while we were out.
The only other time I've seen her explode like that was when an inebriated ex-patient of hers (she's a nurse) recognized her, and started yelling her name and stumbling towards her, arms outstretched. She verbally unloaded on him, and the dude just tucked tail and slunk away. Hell, I wasn't even on the receiving end of it and I felt my testicles shrivel up into my throat. She later said he's a meth addict and he'd promised her that he would stop using. Clearly he'd broken his promise, thus incurring her wrath. That one only lasted about 10 seconds, and then she was fine. It's pretty surreal.
Yeah...gonna be good times ahead...
Well......... we like them that way........ exactly because they have that sort of potential. RRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrr
....... 
6 WKS FROM CSC TO NVC?
in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus
Posted
hahaha.... yes...... she is the one. Since Mox and I have been talking about that female Russian anger thing.... maybe I should have her storm the Moscow Consulate or something if they delay too long. Their grandmas were killing Nazi SS troopers in the snows around Stalingrad. How long would it take a group of enraged Russian women to dispatch some American bureaucrats? Hmmmm..... just a thought.