neva

Hi everyone, it's been a long time since I checked in, wanted to say our AOS went perfect and we are doing great!!

I am happy to see this forum keeps up with the lively debate but it's too bad that some people have to be so negative towards Russia. Yes it has its problems and my wife will be the first to say this and maybe even Russia is more "dangerous" than our good old US of A. But every country has its problems and I see that it's so unfair to pick on the obvious problems but never agree with the positive parts.

I wanted to say about this,

As to bad things happening, I think it goes without saying that Russia is far more lawless then the USA. We area nation of laws. Russia is a nation of corruption down to the lowest levels. Once you hit the airport and are accosted by taxi scammers you know you're in Russia. I don't like to live my life constantly om guard for rip-offs and dangerous elements.

As far as America is concerned with courtesy, I think it depends on where you are. Small town America is a place where people still wave to passing strangers and will stop to help someone with a car problem. AS for me, I'd rather offer or receive a passing "how ya doing?" than to walk past someone with cold stares and awkward silence.

Finally, as I told another poster, if we have a RUB forum we ought to contain the conversation to those three countries. We are not the "USA Forum." To always deflect negative comments of Russia by default attacks on the USA is a diversion, not a counter to the initial argument.

No offense but if your rule says that it's not allowed to invoke the USA in a negative way, then it is also not fair to use the USA in positive ways. So my solution would be just no rules.

Peace everyone!

Hi all,

We are scheduled for our AOS interview soon. One of the requirements listed on our invitation letter is that I provide a "letter from each current employer, verifying current rate of pay and average weekly hours." Do I need to get a whole new letter, or can I just provide the same letter I sent with the K1 packet? I wanted to get a new letter just to be safe, but the only person who will sign such a letter won't be available until after our interview. Will this be a problem?

Congratulations K1!! April 10 for us!

As I said in another post they didn't ask a lot of questions but they would not let her do the interview in Russian because she translated her own papers. Her English is good so it was not a problem, but she was nervous and would rather have done Russian. She also said they were rude and that was a surprise also.

Thank you everyone!

Maybe everyone knows this already, but I was surprised to learn that because she translated her own documents, they did not allow her to have the interview in Russian. She was required to speak English. This wasn't a problem because her English is good, but she said she would have rather paid somebody to translate her documents if she would have known, because she was so nervous and would have rather spoken Russian. But she did fine anyway. She also said that all of the embassy staff were very rude, and even making jokes about Russian women scamming American men. Not to her face, she could hear them talking amongst themselves. I was really surprised about this, because I have never heard anyone complain about this for the Moscow embassy. I'm just glad it's over and we can move on.

Also special thank you to Danno, for providing this link: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...p;#entry1527772 . I called Natasha and she is able to get tickets for about $300 less than anything else I have seen on Travelocity, Expedia, or any of the other sites. Once we have the visas I will be buying from her.

Hi everyone, I don't post very much but I read a lot and I just want to say THANK YOU to everybody here who has helped by answering the questions that I and many other people have asked. My fiancee had her interview a couple days ago and she passed with flying colors, and I could not have done it without the guys and ladies in the Russia forum. So thanks again, I learned a lot, and very soon we will finally be reunited. Based on the suggestions here we plan to wait on buying tickets until DHL delivers the visa but I think that she will be here in less than 3 weeks. Maybe even 2. I hope I'm ready!! You guys rock!!!

Cost for physical for adult now is $160, $120 for child.

When my wife had her interview it was $100 each. SAVE THE RECEIPT!! When my wife (then fiancee) and I went to pick up the package with the passports and manila envelopes there was just my wife's documents. They did not send her daughter's passport and package. We made the trip to the embassy to find out why, and they claimed we had not paid the visa fee for her daughter. Fortunately my wife had the receipt in her purse so we had to make a copy, pay another DHL delivery fee, and submit it to the embassy for review before her daughter could get her documents. Fortunately her daughter was going to travel to the US two months later than us.

Good advice, thanx!

You're going to pay more than twice..... $262 is just the tip of the iceberg!

If I remember correctly, this is actually one thing my wife did pay for. I remember saying something like, "if she really wants to come here, she'll find a way to get to Moscow and her interview." I, of course, paid for almost every single thing since then, but at least she did make the effort to get the ball rolling. Got me good, huh?

Thanx!! Oh I misread the fees, it is $131, not $141. So bad news is I have to pay twice but the good news is I save $20. :)

The Moscow Embassy page says it is $141 for the visa. If she has a child, does she pay this fee twice, or does this cover the cost of both visas?

Anyone know a good alternative to have flowers sent to St. Pete? Every place I checked on the web wants to gouge me for at least $70-$100 for very simple arrangements.

Hey guys!!

anybody from St.Pterburg got approved January 13th??do you guys already have your interview scheduled??

only 7 days to transit NVC and get to Moscow is a bit optimistic...

I was approved 1/7, arrived NVC 1/12 left NVC 1/14. Took 8 days to get from NVC to Moscow, and one of those days was refused DHL delivery because of mlk holiday.

Approved Jan 6, it got to Moscow today Jan 20. No interview scheduled yet I think it will be another week probably.

Thanks for the congrats on the approval everyone. I feel bad that it seems as if CSC have skipped a lot of people that filed before me. I hope everyone gets their approvals VERY soon!!!

Hey everyone I didn't even know there was a November CSC thread! Anyway I just wanted to say we got noa1 on Nov 6, and were approved Jan 7. Exactly 2 months to the day. I have no idea why we were approved so quick. We did not expedite. Anyway I hope everyone else's is just around the corner!!

Looks like I spoke too soon guys...

We are approved!

Even though the sub-title says "Vermont Service Center" I hope there are some CSC filers hanging out here too. I didn't see a November CSC thread.

Anyway, for November CSC filers, possibly some good news: I noticed on the new Igor's List that a couple who got their NOA1 on 10/14 got an RFE on 12/19. (heh, that's not the good news, obviously ) But if their file was pulled on 12/19, maybe it means that November CSC filers are only a couple weeks away from seeing some approvals! Keeping my fingers crossed anyway!!

She not he, and it wasn't Igor's List I saw it on, it was one of the time line graphs. However, thinking back, it might not have been an accurate one as it was being shown as a "what do you think of this idea" kind of things. I just remember seeing what appeared to be around 5 or so October approvals on the graph. I apologize for the confusion.

Sorry about the gender mixup. And no problem thanks for clarifying.

EXACTLY

skparker is talking about somebody's timeline, and myperfectflaw is talking about Igor's list. So you are saying they are both looking at incorrect dates?

No, I understand that skparker was accidentally looking at 2006 dates. But then myperfectflaw said "On the plus side, there have been a few October filers that have been approved now based on the timeline info from Igor." He is talking about October 2008 it seems, but I don't see any Oct 2008 approvals on Igor's list.

On the plus side, there have been a few October filers that have been approved now based on the timeline info from Igor. Looks like some of us are slipping in early

Hmm, I just checked Igor's list and I didn't see anybody with NOA2 that had an NOA1 date of later than 9/8. Are you sure about October approvals?

Thanks everyone for the info and thanks Satellite for the links I will check them out.

We are thinking switching our K1 to K3 or IR1. I know about the downsides to this and we are taking it into account but we also have her family to make happy also. Anyway I keep reading conflicting information about how to go about marrying in Russia. Some places I read that for a Westerner, I have to register, then leave the country, then I can come back to marry. Other places I read said I can just go to marry. Can anyone explain what the real process is? If it matters it would be in St. Petersburg, and my divorce has been final 2 years.

Another question, if we marry in the states can we or should we register in Russia also? The "registering" in Russia seems to be important to the family.

Wow, thanks for all the information, I had almost given up!

I am in California, she will want to sit the CA exam, and I was looking at this page and I didn't see where a 5th year was required.

Maybe I should start a new topic, but I was wondering if anyone had any good resources on getting her degree from the University of St. Petersburg evaluated. I think it would be better to do this while she is still over there, so if she needs to get transcripts or whatever it will be easier.

Thanks!!

Hello everybody,

My fiancee is an accountant. She hasn't arrived yet, but when she is able to work here she wants to hit the ground running. So she asked me if I could give her a book that would help her learn US accounting practices. She has a degree in accounting from Russia, but knows that practices will differ here. She eventually wants to become a CPA in California. If anyone could recommend a book, or some books, that would help her make the transition it would be appreciated. I know there is not a "US Accounting for Russian Accountants" book out there, but that would be the holy grail we are looking for, so anything in that direction would be most appreciated. Thank you!!

took me two sleepless nights to work up the courage to tell her but I finally did. She says she can understand, but wants to see all the documentation. Now I'm frantically looking for my greenbook. Where can I get a replacement if I need one?

What you did took courage and shows a strength of character that puts you head and shoulders above many others. To have risked everything in order to do the honorable thing...you have my deepest respect. Well done sir!