Nate & Dina

Nate did Dana recieve her I-185 NOA1? Bio?

We are in somewhat the same boat. Irina recieved her I-184 NOA1 2011-12-28. She did her Bio. Appt 2012-01-20. Feb. 27 2012 they sent a NOA transfer notice stating "This is to advise you that in order to speed up processing we have transfered the above case to the following USCIS office for processing: Califorina Service Center. That was the last we heard from them. We had our congressmans office contact them a month ago and they told us USCIS said 30 days and to call back if if Irina had not recieved anything which we did today.

Yes she received her BIO about a month after the first NOA. The last thing we got was the transfer notice in February. Nothing since. It seems as though they will continue telling you to call back in 30 days even though nothing really gets done when you call back. It's the same procedure over and over again, with no results. Dealing with this is extremely difficult because you don't have any way of knowing if your case is on someones desk, or collecting dust somewhere. I'm all out of answers.

Hello,

Our I-485 has been in initial review for 12 months with no timetable for anything being done. We have called the customer service center numerous times to put in service requests, have spoken to immigration officers (who guaranteed us that our case was on someones desk, but still haven't heard anything 45 days later) have had the congresswoman get involved, but still nothing. The last call to the service center ended with the officer providing me with two emails. One for CSC (csc-ncsc-followup@dhs.gov) and the other for their headquarters (SCOPSSCATA@dhs.gov). My question to you all is, how should i format the emails in order to get a response on our case? And, what is the timeframe for a response and what typically happens once they respond? Thank you in advance for your answers.

Contact your Senator...

I will do just that, thank you.

Thank you all for the replies. I called USCIS again yesterday to put in a service request. This rep told me that the normal processing times are 6 1/2 months whereas the last rep i spoke with said there is no processing timeframe for family based green cards. Confusing to say the least. Anyway, i asked her about putting in another service request, but she said my wife had already done that 13 days ago (my wife didn't realize she did) so we have to wait 2 more days for a response before putting in another request. This whole process to me, is quite ridiculous. I thought getting the fiance visa was bad, but this is much worse. USCIS is so hard to deal with.

Are we the only ones who have been waiting 10 months for a green card approval? We applied December 2011. No RFEs, no nothing. I tried calling to put in a service request, but they said we cannot put in a service request for family based green cards. Is this true? I sent a letter to the local congresswoman, but so far still nothing. Any other advice? Anybody else in the same situation?

We also filed in December. Hopefully we can hear something soon.

My question is, does she only have to take documentation with her to the interview, or is there anything at all which she will have to forward to the embassy ahead of time? Also, will she be needing the NVC letter from me which contains the MOSxxxxxx case number? If so, would she be needing the original or a copy? I just want to be absolutely sure that we have all of our bases covered, and are not missing any steps/information.

Thanks in advance for all answers.

Yes it does help, thank you! Thank you both for the helpful info!

Hello,

I recently e-mailed the embassy in regards to when my fiance should receive packet 3 in the mail. I was given this response:

"The package was sent on February 11, 2011. If you do not receive it, do not worry. It contains only a letter of invitation, application forms and an interview instruction.

You may find all this information and forms on our web-page http://moscow.usembassy.gov

As for a letter of invitation, it is not necessary. Your name will be in our access list for the scheduled date. "

Is this a correct assessment of what the packet 3 typically contains? Thanks for all responses.

Cool!

I'll just do what you did. I imagine she'll be receiving her packet any day now. Where does she live? Mail is ridiculously slow in Russia so any city that is not called Moscow will require an additional week at least.

She lives in Izhevsk. I totally agree that mail appears to be very slow there. Whenever i send her anything at all, it usually takes 4 weeks to arrive at her doorstep. Izhevsk is a lot smaller than Moscow, but i've definitely learned how to give the Russian postman an extra week or two cushion for delivering packages lol.

What city does your fiance live in?

Quick question, Nate: Did you wait for packet three to find out your interview date, call or email?

(thanks everyone for the congratulations)

Nope. After i received the letter from NVC with our case number, i waited about a week then e-mailed the embassy to see if they received it. I received a response (an e-mailed response) 2 days later from a rep saying they did not, and i should try again in 2 weeks. After the 2 weeks went by, i e-mailed them again, but this time the rep replied that they have received our package, and he gave us the interview time and date. She hasn't received her packet three yet to my knowledge. Now that you mention it, i do wonder when she will receive that.

Hi, thank you for update ! 2 months sounds ok, though i ve seen earlier dates on other russian web. Well, at least now its almost over. Best of luck !

p.s. I so dont wanna May , cause in May we have the longest holidays in Russia, tht May esily will be transferred to June .. lol.. gezzz ths journey, still waiting for NOA2 from VSC.

Congratulations to August filers, may your rest of journey be smooth and easy!

Yeah, 2 months isn't great, but it's not so bad either in the grand scheme of things i guess. After it makes it out of the service center, things are much more comforting because you know exactly where your case is and what's happening to it. Oh and, you're welcome! Hopefully your NOA2 comes soon!

Thanks Nate! We just received NOA2 today so I guess we're looking at May. A little far off but at least the past 5 months are over.

Yahooo! Congrats Dogspot on the approval!!!

Awesome news Nate!

Please let us know when you receive your interview date. You will be able to check using the MOSxxxxxx number that you will receive from NVC in a few days here: http://moscow.usemba...r/wwwhci10.html

I'm curious to know what the time frame is for Moscow right now.

NVC sent our package Feb 1st....it took 3 weeks for the embassy to receive and process the documents, and now have an interview date of April 22 @ 12:30 pm. The timeframe for the Moscow embassy appears to be around 2 months. Just thought i'd give an update

I recommend Pimsleur. For me, it's been the best and easiest way to learn the language. When I went to Moscow I didn't speak a lot of Russian, but the Russian I spoke was easily understood and one young lady (not my fiancee....) said, "You have NO accent. Can you speak to me some more?" If that's not an endorsement, I don't know what is!

The Lonely Planet Russian Phrasebook is a great buy. Good for little nuances in addition to the language. Fits nicely into a cargo pocket. Good hard copy compliment to your Pimsleur discs.

Also, my other language tip is buy some childrens books (in Russian) and make little post-it notes all around your house for things like the door, light switch, forks, etc. It'll give you practice writing in Russian (do it in English too that way she can use them when she arrives) and it'll force you to memorize some basic words. "First Thousand Words in Russian" is one of the better picture books I bought.

Thank you for these recommendations! I am going to look into all of these things that you mentioned. Thanks again!

That's probably more about people being curious, because actually staring is quite an impolite thing in Russia. Even if a Russian person can't help staring they would turn away if they realize that you noticed them staring at you. That's considered to be the polite thing to do. Even if 2 people make eye contact in the street they don't smile like Americans do, they turn their heads and look in another direction... which makes foreigners think that we never smile

When i was being stared at, i turned and looked back, but they didn't look away. I agree that they were most likely very curious though. I've had quite a few people approach me and ask for pictures lol.

In Russia when you have somebody over for dinner and you see that they have finished their plate, you have to ask them if they want more, again - if you want to be polite. It's OK to say "no, thank you", even if you're asked 7 more times after that. It's not like the host is trying to make you eat everything, it's just that they are trying to be nice. It's a cultural thing also. In fact a Russian person would rarely say "yes" right away, even if they are hungry, so Russians keep offering some more food. It's not bad having some leftovers. Actually, having nothing left on your plate is like a signal that you're still hungry and you probably want more.

Ahh, i see. Thank you for explaining that. And what about the dessert? Only a few short minutes after having the meal, i was being brought cakes with tea lol. I guess most people do have their dessert shortly after a meal, but i usually have to wait a few hours before i'm ready for that.

Hey Nate, my package was also mailed off on the 28th of january and I had yana email the embassy a week ago and they sent her a message saying our interview is scheduled for April 15th so i'm sure yours will be around that time frame. Was also told that they only do interviews for K-1 on fridays.

Thanks for the great info Mckay! The most difficult part about the entire K-1 process is not knowing when you will see your significant other again. April doesn't sound too bad! Just have to get through the rest of Feb and March and that's it! Did Yana receive her packet from the embassy yet?

We got married at the court house, my mom took pictures of us in the park, and then her and I had dinner at a nice restaraunt - just the two of us. Total cost for the whole affair was under $200.

Wow....that is amazing. She didn't want the big wedding?

Probably another best would be the hospitality of the people I met. Usually you were met with much food that had been prepared all day long and was incredibly delicious. Then the men were sure to make a few toasts and shots of Vodka for your welcome.

Forgot about this part. The amount of food that was prepared was strange. My fiance cooked me dinner....i mean enough food that could feed an entire family, but for some reason she was expecting me to eat it all myself? All of the families we visited did the same thing. They cooked a bunch of food, and expected all of it to be eaten. They think it's very bad to waste food in Russia. It's an offensive act.

I was also surprised at how beautiful and classy ALL of the women were in Russia. They all wore high heels, even in brutal weather.

I was shocked at how cold it was. I knew it would be cold, but i wasn't really prepared for -20 degree weather.

The trains look like they are from the 1800's.

The motorists drive like maniacs.

The apartment complexes don't look great from the outside, but i agree with Gary on the fact that, on the inside, the places look amazing.

Lots and lots of stares, and i'm not talking brief stares. I'm talking 2 straight minutes of staring without looking in another direction. Has to be expected though, seeing as though i was one of only a handful of black guys in town, and they were most likely very curious.

The slippers. I wasn't used to having warm slippers waiting for me when i walk into someone's door. This was strange at first, but i thought it was pretty cool.

Besides the language barrier (which i'm still working on now), and the cold weather, i loved Russia. I will consider moving there one day when my Russian language is up to par.

That's about right.

It arrives in Moscow and spends a week or two in the mail room downstairs. Then after an American holiday, a Russian holiday, a sick day to recover from the holiday and then another Russian holiday (and sick day to recover) the mail clerk walks it up the steps. Then, it goes through the same process on someone's desk. Because they're all drunk, it'll be "forwarded" to the bottom of the stack and start all over and then finally, it'll be scheduled and entered into the system.

The tech guy that does the webpage updates also has holidays and sick days so it'll take another few weeks for that. Then, finally, someday around that time (about three weeks to a month after arrival) you'll finally see it on the website. It'll be scheduled for about six weeks after it first shows up. You're looking at a grand total of between two and three months from arrival at Moscow embassy.

Unfortunately if you want to see her, you'll have to use Skype or fly over there yourself.

However... the next two to three months are going to be your last as a single dude. Use them to the fullest! Go out and drink some beer. Eat some chicken wings. Watch some games on TV and enjoy not having to sit through romantic comedies and sift through 38 feminine products just to use your own shower. Be glad to be a man!

Yikes. It reminds me of the first time i arrived at Domodedovo and the guys at the ticket counter were sleeping lol. Okay, 2-3 months is a pretty long time, as we've last seen each other in October, but at least that gives me a few more months to save money for the wedding. I'm covering all of the wedding and immigration costs myself, so those extra few months will definitely give us a little more financial flexibility. Have to always try and look on the bright side of things. you're definitely right about the fact that i should probably enjoy my sports games now before it's too late lol.

Singapore was rated #1 in customer satisfaction. (Also hottest attendants, but that's neither here nor there.)

It goes down for a few days at a time. Try again tomorrow.

Unfortunately there's really no other site to check. You guys should be getting pretty close now, right?

ETA - just noticed you've only recently received the NOA2. It'll take a few weeks to clear NVC (you'll get another notice) then be received by Moscow. A few weeks after that till the date is scheduled. You're probably looking more like March 1st before you see the date on the website.

Thanks for the reply slim. Yep, we're getting pretty close i believe. I received a letter in the mail dated Feb 1 from NVC, which says that our petition will be forwarded to the embassy within a week. However, i called NVC a little while ago and the rep said our package was mailed off already on the 28th of Jan. I e-mailed the embassy and a rep there did inform me that our case was not yet in their records, and to check back in 1-2 weeks time. Is it true that the interviews are about 1-2 months after the embassy receives the case from NVC? I'm really hoping to see Dinara a lot sooner than that.

All of the links i've clicked concerning the interview schedules are no longer working. Anyone have a link that works?

I don't know if there's a way to create a topic directly in the portal, but if you click Forums at the top, then scroll down to the blue bar category "General Discussion Area", then the topic category "Regional Discussion", click on the specific country or region you want. For example, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus

Then you can "Start New Topic" from there.

Good luck in your journey!

Yes, that's it, thank you!

Okay, maybe i'm not looking in the right place, but i can't figure out how to create a new topic in the Russian country portal. I just wanted to know how long it usually takes for the Russian embassy to schedule the interview after they've received the package from NVC. What are the average wait times? A month? Two months for Moscow embassy? Thx for all replies.