cdecarolis

Gonna have to chime in on this one as far as the Netflix goes... yeah, Little Vera was ok (with sarcastic inflection lol) I actually enjoyed "4" and as for the actual DVDs check out "1612" and Diamond Arm. Happy Birthday, Lola is a good, campy comedy. House of Fools was watchable, but not my favorite. And The Ark was kinda cute. Anyway, just a few thoughts and recommendations for those with Netflix.

Disclosing that you met through an agency will not hurt you at all. Given what you said in your OP, I would say you should disclose the whole story, just to ensure no one says the wrong thing at the visa interview or later at AOS. Not wanting the government too far in your business is completely understandable, but that argument won't help if there is ever a problem. Usually they don't ask about that at the visa interview because how you met has limited relevance - they just want to verify that you have in fact met personally. Mapt, from the RUB forum just had an interview the other day though, and his SO WAS asked this question. And at the AOS interview stateside it is usually asked. Again, no problem if you met through an agency, but BIG problems if you lie and get caught somehow. I probably wouldn't risk it.

I was leaning towards disclosing anyway, for exactly the reasons you mentioned, but was wondering if the fact that we went around the agency would make a difference. Doesn't sound like it though. Thanks for the help so far guys.

Doesn't sound like a problem. Things could get complicated if you marry while she is on that type of visa though. I am always a little surprised when a Ukrainian woman agrees to live with a guy she hasn't actually met yet too. Not a problem, but my wife's family must be really old school. No way was she going to even spend an entire night until we were engaged, and I had the Ward Cleaver sitdown with her dad and uncle.

Yeah, we've talked about marriage, and but we did decide not on THIS trip.. lol I've skyped with the family. I speak a little bit of Russian, plus her whole family speaks pretty good English as her stepdad is a Brit. So her folks did check me out a little and I got a mini version of the talk that way. Sounds like we're good, so thanks again.

Ok, so my GF, soon to be fiance, and I did meet through an IMB, however we very quickly, like before requesting contact info through said IMB, found each other on vKontakte.ru (Russian version of Facebook) and exchanged full info there. So, IMB has no record of the exchange and she never got the background check or whatever. Would it be safer to go ahead and admit we met through the IMB then circumvented it, or just pretend it never happened? No the issue isn't that I have a criminal background or previous marriages I'm trying to hide, the issue is the fundamental invasion of privacy and interference of the gov't. So without making this a discussion of whether IMBRA is right or not, which would be safest?

Haven't met yet in person, but I'm planning on going back to Ukraine with her when she leaves, to meet her family and everything. And yeah, she's actually going to be staying with me while she's here this summer, so we'll obviously see each other, lol. I'll be proposing likely while she's out here, if things are as good in person as through phone/skype/etc, and will probably start the petition process either while she's still here or right when I get back from Ukraine. Thanks for the quick response though, and for putting my mind at ease, I pretty much know the laws in and out, just not sure how things might go in practice.

Doesn't sound like a red-flag situation to me - you've met in person before I'm assuming - I'm also assuming you'll be able to see each other when she comes this summer - a second/subsequent in-person visit (also a good thing usually).

When were you planning of filing a petition (either fiancé or spouse)?

Ok, maybe a tricky situation, maybe not, don't know. My Ukrainian GF is coming to stay with me this summer as part of a Work/Travel program. My question is this; will it raise any red flags with CIS for her to have been here on the work visa before we are engaged since we did meet through a dating site? Or am I just being a bit paranoid? Sorry if it's a repeat question, didn't find anything with the search.