Salsa Shark

We just got back from our Moscow/Chelyabinsk trip and I'll post some more details shortly, including the K-1 interview details.

For what it's worth, Olga and I both survived Anna's driving

Olga's passport and visa was just delivered--one week, almost to the hour, from her interview.

The DHL office in Moscow actually had it Friday evening, so it took four days, including interview day.

We're heading back to the States on the 18th, much relieved and ready to get back to real pizza.

We're doing Ekat->Helsinki->Frankfurt->Chicago for the trip back. Ugh.

Glad she's finally set to make the trip "home". Hopefully she doesn't kick my #### and Olga's at bowling tomorrow :/

One thing I am a little panicked about tho' ....... I was under the impression that once her interview was over the officer would pack all of the papers in the big " DO NOT OPEN " envelope and give it to her ........ PLEASE tell me this " AIN'T " the case !!!!

I talk to her this morning and was in the process of telling her how important it was NOT to open the envelope ..... when she asked " WHAT ENVELOPE ? " The officer told her Congratulations, the K-1 is good for 90 days, ... and have a nice day !

The envelope will be sent to her address along with the passport .... right ????? anybody ... right ????????

The envelope will be sent in the DHL package along with the passport and visa. According to our tracking info, the package is .5kg.

I'll confirm when we have it in our hands (hopefully Tuesday).

Can you advise me about the interval between the Interview, and when you received the DHL envelope with the visa?

Interview was on Tuesday, 8 Jun 2010. The first tracking entry on the DHL web site was around 8pm on Friday, 11 Jun 2010. We were thinking the visa+passport would be delivered to Chelyabinsk on Tuesday, but then we realized there is yet another Russian holiday (Independence Day) and that may push things out to Wednesday instead.

Here's what the DHL web site currently shows for our envelope:

Saturday, June 12, 2010 Location Time

7 Departed Facility in South of Moscow - Russian Federation, The South of Moscow - Russian Federation, The 08:17

6 Processed at South of Moscow - Russian Federation, The South of Moscow - Russian Federation, The 08:09

Friday, June 11, 2010 Location Time

5 Shipment on hold South of Moscow - Russian Federation, The 22:43

4 Arrived at Sort Facility South of Moscow - Russian Federation, The South of Moscow - Russian Federation, The 22:41

3 Departed Facility in North of Moscow - Russian Federation, The North of Moscow - Russian Federation, The 22:16

2 Processed at North of Moscow - Russian Federation, The North of Moscow - Russian Federation, The 22:16

1 Shipment picked up North of Moscow - Russian Federation, The 19:51

When's she flying to the US?

Hello,

I just posted our experience with MOM/IOM here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/259945-moscow-trip-report/page__view__findpost__p__3998781

I think it pretty much echoes what Tim & Olga posted.

Okay,

So we arrived late Saturday night and spent Sunday scouting out locations relating to the interview. Olga's medical exam was scheduled for 8:30am Monday morning at IOM/MOM. The rest of this post is probably going to be boring, but I thought it was worth posting as much detail as I could in case it helps out someone else later on. I also add the disclaimer that I'm probably not transcribing all the Cyrillic-to-Latin stuff correctly, so pardon any mistakes I made there.

The building you go to first is on Zvenigorodskaya St. The closest Metro stop is "Ulitsa 1905 Goda" a couple of blocks away. The entrance is marked by a small blue flag hanging over the door. There's also a sign that says it doesn't open until 9am >shrug<.

When you walk in, you go through a metal detector that no one was monitoring on our arrival and it didn't look like anyone would have been required to empty their pockets or anything like that. You then go upstairs to a reception/administrator and give them your name and reason for being there. They then gave Olga a one-page form that is used by everyone planning to immigrate to the USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand, regardless of visa type.

After filling out the form, we got sent to another waiting area where they had two windows open. There were about five people ahead of us and we ended up waiting about a half hour. We only saw two other women there for K-1 reasons, but there were about 20 people there total for immigration-related exams. When you go to the window, they take your form, passport and pictures, give you another form, then send you to the cashier to pay. They take US or Russian currency, but most of these places seem to use their own currency conversion rates. In our case, it was $160 USD or 5,040 rubles.

After the cashier, you go back to the window and they hand you a pass (for the next building), a large white envelope (big enough to hold an x-ray) and then give you directions on where you need to go next. For a woman going through this alone, particularly if she's never been to Moscow before, this has to be incredibly exhausting and frustrating. While our original "appointment" was 8:30am, they actually set the real appointment at the window--they give you an hour to get to the second location. In our case, that was 10:20am, but they said you could get there as late as noon.

From IOM administrative area, you need to walk to the "Ulitsa 1905 Goda" Purple Line Metro stop to the "Kuznetsky Most" station. You then transfer to the Red Line "Lubyanka" track and take that to "Biblioteka" (which is also one of the Metro stops that takes you right to the entrance bridge to Red Square). Then you walk down Vozdvizhenka St., take a right on Romanov Lane to Building 2. I don't recall any obvious signs/flags indicating what the building was, so we relied on the address and a small sign that pointed to another door.

Once you get inside, you take the first right and there's a gentleman sitting by a turnstile. He takes the passes, looks at your passports, writes you into a logbook, then escorts you through the turnstile. However, he doesn't take you into a waiting area. He takes you back outside and points to yet a different building altogether that you cross a courtyard to get to. This was the nicest guy we met during the entire process--he took great pleasure at me saying "spacibo, da svidanya" in what was apparently a very strong American accent >sigh<.

In the third building, you go up the stairs to the second floor, take a right and enter what appears to be the actual doctor's office. You turn in your envelope and wait to be called. When it's your turn, you go into the office and a nurse hands you a form that explains what needs to be done next and in what order, and they ask you to verify the accuracy of some personal information (name, passport number, MOS number).

After that, you go a couple of doors down in the same office and have blood drawn (arm/vein, not fingertip). From there, you go to yet another building to have a chest x-ray done. Once the film is developed, they stick everything in your giant envelope and you wander back to the office you had the blood drawn at. After some waiting, you actually get to meet with the doctor. The doctor asks for weight, height, bad habits (smoking, for example), previous operations/severe sicknesses and listens to your chest--it takes maybe 10 minutes. When all that's done, you follow the maze back out of the building and come back around 4pm to pick up the exam results.

Since we had some time to kill, we went over to the mall next to the US Embassy ("Novinsky Passage", I think) and took care of the DHL label (which you also need your MOS number for, since that's used in the Shipper's Reference field). That cost 1,517 rubles (to Chelyabinsk). We had lunch at Il Patio again because it was decent and cheap, though the service wasn't particularly friendly or English-savvy.

We went back to the second IOM building (2 Romanov Lane), through the turnstile, into the courtyard and into the third building. We got there at 3:20pm, but the results were ready anyway. We got to take the giant envelope with the chest x-ray (I'm not sure what we're going to do with it--Olga won't let me hang it in the living room for some reason) and a "normal size" sealed white envelope with the exam results.

Some closing thoughts on medical exam day:

For the exam, you only need the money, international passport, two 3x4cm pictures, and MOS number. If you have your vaccination records, bring them with and they'll review/notate them on the record--but they aren't required.

At any one time during the whole process, we were waiting with maybe 10 other people. A bit of comraderie forms as you run into the same people at each building. One elderly woman came over and talked to Olga when she heard I was from Chicago. Apparently, her daughter was already in the US, lived in Illinois and petitioned for her parents to come join her. Very nice woman and I hope everything went well for her. The "K-1 Crew" also chatted at each office--one of the women had her daughter with, though they didn't really do anything with the child except make sure the paperwork was filled out.

So--apologies if this was dull. While the exam process itself was convoluted, everything went off pretty smoothly.

Will post about the actual interview next. Sorry this post was so dry.

Stating that Moscow's metro is every bit as efficient as New York's is a bit like saying that a steak is every bit as good as a hot dog. Moscow's metro has better coverage of the city, trains that come many times more frequently, a much easier to understand system (that doesn't include 6 different types of trains running on the same track), a ticket price less than 1/3 of NYC, and stations that don't look like a sewer. The several times I have been in NYC have left me summarily unimpressed.

I suppose it's all relative, then. Moscow Metro's coverage is fine if you're in "the circle", but it gets pretty sparse beyond that. With NY Metro, you have the entire island of Manhattan covered, plus easy access to several other cities. I do agree with the comment on frequency except that the NY trains start earlier in the day and run later at night. I don't think either system wins any points on "understandability"--it took me a couple of times on New York's system as well. What I think is important is that it doesn't take long to master either system and (assuming you speak the language) asking locals (Moscovites or New Yorkers) for guidance works more often than one would think.

Coming from Chicago, I would trade our public transportation for either system in a heartbeat.

Our interview was on 8 June and the passport+visa was picked up by DHL the evening of the 11th. We should have it in hand by Tuesday and will come back to the US on the 18th--for good!

The "eventful" parts are still coming Am still getting settled in Chelyabinsk--our sleep schedules are screwed up and we're having some challenges connecting my laptop to Olga's internet provider (Chelcom). More coming soon--thank you for the kind and encouraging words. To comment on a couple of replies:

1. Going to Moscow would have been >much< more difficult for me without having Olga with. I could read the Moscow Metro signs enough to understand which stop to take, but as was already said, it was a challenge finding the right platform the first couple of times, especially during rush hour. It's not too hard to become a grizzled Metro veteran, though.

2. When I was reading up on Moscow Metro (this was Olga's first time there as well), it mentioned that the ticket fare was 26 rubles per person, but 52 rubles with baggage. We did not want to make any assumptions, so we did ask the cashiers a couple of times when we were rolling our suitcases around. They all basically said that they never actually sell "baggage fares" and no one else brought it up to us once we were past the gates.

Despite all that, I really liked using the Metro. It seemed to be every bit as efficient as New York's and it's significantly better than Chicago's. We didn't have trouble finding the stations and, even during rush hour, we were able to get around once we learned that pushing and shoving is accepted and not taken personally

Will post details on the medical exam next, though it was very similar to what was recently posted on that dedicated thread by...Tim & Olga, maybe? Navigating that whole process, though, gives me the utmost respect for every Russian who goes through it. If a Russian woman can successfully run that gauntlet, the Embassy should be rubber-stamping the K-1 visa approvals

Have some pictures I'll post, too, from while I was waiting outside for her interview...

Olga had been in the US since 1 Apr 2010 on a B-2 tourist visa. During that time, we got the NOA-2, the interview date and arranged for the police certificate. We decided to travel together to Moscow for the medical examination and K-1 interview, then to Chelyabinsk so I could meet her family and help pack the rest of her belongings.

To save on airfare, we took a convoluted flight path under FinnAir that went from Chicago to Manchester to Helsinki to Moscow (Sheremetyevo). We arrived at around 9:30pm on Saturday. We found out that a prearranged cab from the airport to our hotel would have cost over $100 and we did not want to take a chance with a private driver at that time of night. Fortunately, we discovered Aeroexpress, which is awesome. For 300 rubles (~$10) each, we took a rather nice train for a half-hour ride to the Belorussky Railway Station. From there, we got on the Moscow Metro and, two stops later, ended up at Kievskaya Station, right across from our hotel.

Side Note #1: Moscow Metro runs 26 rubles per person per ride. The web site states that it's another 26 rubles on top of that if you are hauling baggage, but every cashier we talked to said they never charged the fee and no one else brought it up either.

Side Note #2: Moscow Metro is >very< efficient, but also very difficult to navigate. There is no signage in English and we did not find a single worker there who spoke English either. Figuring out how to get to a particular train line was a bit of a challenge, as was identifying which track was going in which direction. The good news is that it only takes a ride or two to work out the quirks and then you're practically an expert.

In order to get a reasonable airfare, we also had to fly in a day earlier than we originally planned. This ended up being a good thing as it gave us a chance to scout out the locations of the US Embassy, DHL office and IOM ahead of time.

On Sunday, we made a circuit from the hotel to the US Embassy to the DHL office to IOM and, ultimately, back to the hotel. A long walk, but it gave us a lot more peace of mind knowing that we knew how to get where we needed to go.

Side Note #3: There are ATM machines all over Moscow. The vast majority of them do not work and/or are out of cash.

Side Note #4: A couple of buildings down from the US Embassy is a small mall ("Novinsky Passage", I think). In that mall is the DHL office and a reasonably-priced Italian place called "Il Patio" (which is a chain, apparently).

Okay, gotta finish this later. We're at Domodedovo now waiting for our Chelyabinsk flight and they just announced a gate change. Will add more lovely details shortly.

We had our interview earlier today and after hours of waiting and a one minute-long interview, were approved for the K-1 visa. Now we're just waiting for the passport+visa before returning to the US on the 18th.

Will post more details and a trip report on the RUB forum...

As a senior member of Visa Journey you should know better, but let me remind you what you agreed to when posting here:

You agree that you are responsible for any Content and communications that you Post and for any consequences thereof.

you agree that when using the Service, you will not:

Make comments in a Post either direct or implied toward another member that are purposely designed to upset, antagonize, make fun of, belittle, or otherwise instigate an argument that takes away from the personal enjoyment of the Service by other users.

I cannot count how many times you have purposely instigated me with direct insults.

Quoting you:

A true test of your "intelligence."

I find the hypocrisy of your posts hilarious.

By the way, I'm still waiting for you to get me suspended, Junior.

Two thumbs up for Gary here.

We just found out that we can get the police certificate in a week if we pay an "expedited service fee", so it looks like we'll be able to keep our June 8th interview date in Moscow! Now we get to play the airline booking game and find the most flexible options at the cheapest price in case we need to reschedule due to delays in actually getting the visa in hand. For a June 8th interview, we're thinking of initially getting the flight home on June 12th...gotta go back and read what others have done first, I guess.

So close.

Yes, I will have company, AND a clean house! I didn't say that.

Man, parts of my house have been cleaned in the last three weeks that haven't been touched in the last ten years...there's no stopping a Russian on a mission...

Salsa Shark.. I am just wondering how you got a June 8th interview date? Lucky dog!

You and me both, my friend. We were expecting an end of June/early July interview, based on others' timelines. We're now scrambling, trying to figure out how we're going to get the police clearance certificate in time. Due to Russian national holidays, the earliest Olya can go is May 17th. We're looking to see if the "under-the-table expedited service fee" approach might work out for us. Over two years of waiting and fretting and now things are actually moving >too< fast...ha!

Congrats--I hope we have the same success as you and AKGuy!

Sigh...we may actually have to reschedule our interview. All this waiting and now that we're at the proverbial pearly gates, we're not ready. It's going to take 3-4 weeks to get the police certificate, but the Chelyabinsk police station only accepts walk-ins on Mondays. May 3rd and May 10th are Russian national holidays, so the earliest we can do this is May 17th. If we can't pay the "expedited service fee", then we're probably cutting it too close for a June 8th interview.

Time to search the forums to see what others have done regarding reschedules. Poop.

We just got a response from Moscow that our interview is 8 Jun 2010 at 10am.

Woohoo!

I would be interested to hear from anyone else if the two weeks is an approximate time for them to affix and send out a K1 visa after successful interview. I was hoping that we could get the visa in hand within a week after interview..

Yeah, I'm interested in this as well. I think we were expecting around 3 days if we stay in Moscow and pick it up from the DHL office...

Congrats (again)...Olya and I were rooting for you guys. Hopefully ours turns out just as well (I have a bottle of Tums at the ready). And if you end up anywhere near Chicago in the future, let us know...Olya is very grateful for Anna's willingness to share her experiences.

Congrats--always happy to read a positive story.

On a more general note (and as a follow-up to Solnuwko's post...almost everyone we have talked to who has applied for a B-1/B-2 visa was approved. The rare cases where that wasn't the case was when the ties to Russia were clearly not sufficient (for example, one Russian had several family members already living in the US, and another did not have a job and was renting an apartment). So I think it's encouraging. I also think it's actually better to disclose the K-1 activities, even though it's not really required...in our case, we were able to state that, yes, we did have dual intent, but that we were following the proper procedures for addressing it. The only "warnings" we got were not to get married while here on the B-1/B-2 (duh) and not to get pregnant

I believe the cost ended up being just under $200, factoring in Pony Express' fees, plus the cost of getting to and from Ekaterinburg. We thought that was very reasonable for getting her acclimated to the US sooner, figuring out some of the wedding details and saving us from a significantly more expensive vacation in another country (because I'm not "spoiled rich" like a certain maroon asserts).

Anyway--the topic was started to share our experience with the B-2 and we were thrilled it's turned out as we hoped it would. Olya's been in the US for three weeks now and we're getting ready to head to Moscow in a couple of months for her K-1 interview (petition was just received by Moscow yesterday).

Good luck to everyone else who gives this a shot and just ignore the nobodies who try to discourage you--the statistics are clear: over 95% of B-1/B-2 visas from Russia are approved. Just be honest and fill everything out correctly and you don't have anything to worry about.

What was the issue with the Canadian Tourist VISA if you do not mind my asking? I am tired of going to Europe and thinking Canada might be an easier choice for me on my end. Share your experience and what you sent in on the tourist request if you do not mind, and reasons if any they denied the VISA.

Sorry for taking so long to respond...basically, she was denied the Canadian tourist visa because they did not feel she provided enough evidence to overcome their immigration concerns. We were really bummed by that because we thought we provided more than enough data--but it goes to show how subjective the process is. In fact, it was our experience with the Canadian tourist visa application that caused us to have a lot of doubt about our chances with the US B-1/B-2 visa...but the statistics show that most people are approved for it there. I would be very interested in seeing similar statistics for Canada.