Rich and Lenochka

Submitted the whole AOS packet late last July to Chicago lockbox; packet was initially rejected for missing signature. Corrected and re-submitted, we received our I-797C. The applications (EAD, AP, AOS) were accepted and Olena went down to the local USCIS (Oxnard) for biometrics and was signed off for biometrics and tenprints on August 23, 2012. She received her EAD card and AP sheets a few weeks later, and has used AP twice for a couple of visits home to Kiev.

We were told that the process for AOS could be a few months to "many months", but I am noticing quite a few people have received their AOS in the past couple months who came into the system well after we did.

Furthermore, when checking status at the USCIS website our I-485 still shows up in the lowly "accepted" circle; it apparently hasn't advanced to initial review.

I have submitted an e-request (a few days ago) and am now to wait another month before I call, according to the instructions on the USCIS website.

We aren't in a huge rush, Olena has 4 months remaining on her initial AP forms. But I am becoming concerned over the apparent lack of activity.

Is there anything I should be doing now to move it along?

Thank you!

Rich and Olena

The love of my life is going to be attending her K-1 interview in Kiev on May 22. Great! But I will be unable to attend; I work in a hospital and we are moving all hospital operations into a new building on the very same day.

I tried to no avail to get the time off so I could attend the interview. I know that my Lenochka would appreciate my presence as a show of support and it might even help our chances of sailing through the interview and getting the visa.

Lenochka has come across all kinds of advice online regarding the interview process, including one gem where it is recommended for the absentee petitioner to phone the embassy prior to the interview date and explain to the consulate the situation as to why the petitioner will be unable to attend. It was also mentioned that it might be helpful for the absentee petitioner to email the consulate and make him/her self available by phone at the time of the interview.

These ideas were news to me. I know I am not the first who was unable to attend the interview, but I have provided a ton of evidence of our relationship which will be presented at the interview.

Anybody out there heard of anything I might consider doing as a show of support to the consulate on my beneficiaries behalf?

Thanks for you help!

Rich

RIch, Lenochka, and Roma

I was wondering if anybody here knows of any problems with the K-2 "aging out" issue since last summer's landmark decision by the DOJ BIA in the Le case, where it was decided that the derivative child of a nonimmigrant fiancee visa holder is NOT ineligible for adjustment of status simply by virtue of having turned 21 after admission to the U.S. on a K-2 non immigrant visa. In other words, if he is granted is K-2 and makes it through the U.S. port of entry before turning 21, he doesn't have to sweat being deported due to his AOS not being completed before turning 21.

This decision is wonderful for those of us who have an incoming K-2 beneficiary who is granted a K-2 visa and arrives in the U.S. prior to turning 21, but cannot complete the AOS process before the 21st birthday. I

But I was telling an acquaintance of mine (he happens to be an attorney) about this decision, and he wondered out loud if this decision has been accepted and implemented in all cases since last June when it was rendered by the BIA. He asked me if the decision has resulted in a change in the law, and if not has it at least resulted in a change in policy across the board in all USCIS offices. I didn't know the answers, so here I am again.

Of course, I have a personal stake in this since it appears that my future stepson will arrive in the U.S. before his 21st birthday in August, but his AOS won't be adjudicated until after he turns 21. From everything I have read here it looks like he will be alright and will be eligible for his green card.

I have received so much good information here on VJ. Thanks to all who weigh in on this.

Thanks!

Rich, Elena, and Roma

Gary and Alla, Darnell...

Thank you all for the great information and great advice. It helps, alot!

Rich, Elena, and Roma

Congratulations, Gary and Alla!

I get a lift from hearing about your success.

Thank you both for showing us how it is done.

Rich, Elena, and Roma

Update and another question...

Just returned from Ukraine; I was there with my Lenochka for almost 2 weeks and between the re-acclimatization and the experience my head is spinning. It was a phenomenal experience.

Upon return there was very good news in the mailbox; the NVC (in a letter dated April 2) informed me that they had forwarded my approved I-129f to Kiev and it should arrive there in about a week.

I returned home on April 9 (exactly one week later) and yesterday, April 11, Elena called the embassy and was told there is nothing in their system yet.

She remarked that the young man with whom she spoke was very forthright and friendly and helpful, and he offered that with Euro cup coming up she will want to stay on top of this, because there will

be a big increase in interviews and other activity at the consulate as spring progresses, and getting a quick interview date will become increasingly difficult as time goes by. He told her that if our application had shown up in the computer today her interview could have been scheduled as soon as May 3 (about 3 weeks from now), but the lag time can be expected to grow longer as we get closer to summer.

Elena's son (Roma) will finish his studies at USC and will be in Ukraine between May 26 and June 15 before returning to California for summer school. He potentially "ages out" on August 12.

In a perfectly customized world she would interview in Kiev between now and June 15, by herself or with her 20 year old son in tow. He needs to interview with (or after) Elena and fly back to L.A. by June 15.

I know we are only at about the 10 day mark since the date the NVC says it processed and sent the application to Kiev.

Are we jumping the gun a little here by expecting the application to be in Kiev and awaiting our call for an interview date?

Should I wait awhile before calling the embassy myself?

Thank you in advance for your advice....

Rich, Elena, and Roman

Epilogue...

The NVC called me! When I called earlier today to speak with a supervisor at NVC, I was told that none were available; the operator forwarded my request that a supervisor call me back regarding my request to expedite the petition.

The good news is that the supervisor called! I was really surprised at that, and took it as a sign that there really is a human element to the other side of this process.

The not so good news is that she could tell me nothing, only that the petition is in "additional processing" and that there is no timeline. There is only waiting.

She was polite, she even asked if there was anything else she could do for me. All I could think of were a couple of sarcastic comments which I kept to myself. Probably best to not crack wise with the State Dept.

So now I am off to Ukraine, and I have done all I can do for now.

Thanks again everybody; it sure is great to have the help and support of the VJ community.

Rich, Elena and Roman

Well, I guess I am now officially in limboland. I called NVC and asked the operator (Erin) if I could speak with a supervisor, and was told that "unfortunately, they are all busy". I asked if there was some way I could communicate with a supervisor to request that my petition be expedited, and Erin said that she recommended e-mailing my request. I asked again if I could speak with a supervisor, and she said she would put in a request for a supervisor to call me on my cell phone, which they had (correctly) on record. I will be really surprised if I hear back.

For the heck of it I asked if she might give me an idea of how long AP takes...yes, I knew the answer. There is no way of knowing.

I did send off an email. It kind of felt like attaching my request to a helium balloon and releasing it outside. Hey, it might get results.

On a positive note, I fly from LA to Kiev tomorrow morning. I am just going to relax and enjoy for 10 days, then start worrying again when I get back home.

Thanks again for everything, everybody!

Rich, Elena, and Roman

Leaving tomorrow a.m. for Kiev; this is my first time to visit her on her home turf; I will be there for 2 weeks. Just enough time to get acclimated to the time difference, then I come back to California.

I will attempt to call the NVC to request expedition when I am in Ukraine. I will also go and check out the new embassy, just to have a look. I won't be able to attend the interview, but I do want to get a lay of the land.

Thanks, Darnell, for your very helpful guidance. I especially appreciate the suggestion to hang up and call back if I get an a-hole when I call NVC. Really, all of your advice is very calming. It sure makes all of this easier to take.

Rich, Elena, and Roman

Kiev is pretty prom[t about making appointments and as I recall the time line was for August.AP at NVC can take 1-8 weeks or so. Rarely more. If you want to request an expedite you should request that of NVC at this point. Kiev can do nothing with it yet. You CAN get the medicals done now with the KEV number.

Okay, great! I will request an expedite. Is it possible to do this by email? Given the rather abrupt nature of the customer service provided by the operator at NVC today, I can't imagine that this would be the person I would want to ask to expedite the process. He was extremely grumpy very unpleasant and not at all forthcoming with information unless I was very specific with my questions. Is there somebody else I should ask to speak with?

I am leaving for Kiev on March 28; I will be there and also in Zaporozhye for 10 days. I would like to at least try to tie up this loose end before I go.

I can't tell you how wonderful this forum has been for me. The support and good information has been amazing and I am very appreciative.

Thank you!

Rich, Elena, and Roman

Update, and question (help!!!)

I just called NVC regarding our case; I received the NOA-2 a couple weeks ago (notice date 3/7/12). I asked the operator for our case (KEV) number and it was given to me; then was told that the case has not been sent to the embassy as it is being held for "additional processing", and that I will be notified if any additional information is needed from me.

The operator was an impatient young man with a typical government "service" attitude. He was annoyed when I asked him to repeat the KEV case number. But at least I know I have the right number (or at least I think I do).

Now what? Should I email the embassy and give them the KEV number and a "heads up" that a potential age-out K2 visa application is in limbo, but will need attention fairly quickly after it is finally released? Or should I just wait it out awhile? I dunno...

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Rich, Elena, and Roman

Hi all,

I received the hard copy of the NOA-2 yesterday, so now I wait a couple weeks then will contact the NVC to see what's up... coincidentally, I will be calling them from Kyiv as I will be visiting Elena on her turf for the first time (to celebrate her birthday).

Now it seems like all hell is breaking loose; she was pretty relaxed about all of this until I told her that USCIS has approved the application and now it is going to be moved to NVC, then to the embassy. She must begin to deal with trying to prepare for what she will do with her small business. She doesn't quite know how to proceed as there are some complicated tax regulations regarding closure of a business, etc. She doesn't know if she will close her doors and rent out the building, or keep it open and find a manager to handle the operation, or what. She will keep her home (real estate market crashed there, too). Needs to find someone to look after it. A million things.

I checked out the forums to see what she should be gathering for her and her son. She needs the police documents, of course. And she will try to locate vaccination documents.

She has plenty of passport photos.

When I visit her in a couple weeks I will take print outs of our Skype logs and email records, SMS records, etc.

Is there anything else I can take that would help her with what she will need at the embassy?

Thank you all.

Rich

Rich, Elena, and Roman

I am in a state of shock, I think. I just arrived home from work and checked my e-mail. This is what I found....

"The last processing action taken on your case

Application Type: I129F , PETITION FOR FIANCE(E)

Your Case Status: Post Decision Activity

On March 7, 2012, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E). Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service at 1-800-375-5283.

For approved applications/petitions, post-decision activity may include USCIS sending notification of the approved application/petition to the National Visa Center or the Department of State. For denied applications/petitions, post-decision activity may include the processing of an appeal and/or motions to reopen or reconsider and revocations.

If you have questions or concerns about your application or the case status results

listed above, or if you have not received a decision from USCIS within the current

processing time listed*, please contact USCIS Customer Service at (800) 375-5283.

*Current processing times can be found on the USCIS website at www.uscis.gov under Check Processing Times.

*** Please do not respond to this e-mail message.

Judging from what I have read here and elsewhere, this is something of a miracle. I mean, I only talked to the customer service person two days ago.

I know it isn't yet a done deal, but I feel like I have won the lottery. Or rather, we (the three of us) have won the lottery. Me, my fiancee, and her 20.7 year old son.

Thank you everybody for your help. Obviously, I would not have received this notification without your assistance. Especially Gary and Alla, Enigma11561, and Darnell.

Thank you all. I will certainly keep you posted.

Rich (Elena and Roman, too!)

Phone call to USCIS...age out issue

I called the USCIS customer service number, made it through the phone tree to an operator, and requested an ISO.

The operator inquired as to the nature of my call, and I replied I would like to request expedition of a K-1/K-2 visa request.

She then said she would ask me a few questions (maybe she WAS the ISO?) and then my responses would be submitted to

an official who would decide the merit of my request, and I would be granted (or denied) my request within 5 days.

The guidelines for expedition of my case (now in NOA-1 status) are as follows. She asked me to listen carefully and pick

the case that most closely reflects my own:

1) Severe financial loss to individual

2) Extreme, emergent situation

3) Humanitarian

4) Non profit organization requesting for the cultural and social interests of U.S.

5) Dept. of Defense

6) USCIS error

7) medical

8) military deployment

9) Age out cases not covered under child status protection act

10) Loss of social security

I picked #9... and then the operator asked me why this is important. I hadn't really prepared myself to deliver a subjective essay, but I said that my future step-son is an excellent student, already in the U.S., and loves this country. He has been here three years and it is his dream to stay and be a productive member of our society. He would like to be able to work during the summer between school years, but cannot do that under the guidelines of his student visa. It is also important to keep the family intact, and that his mom (my future wife) and he are very close.

At this point the operator confirmed my contact information (email, phone number) and said the information would be reviewed soon, most likely within 5 days, and the request would be granted (or not). She said it is not necessary for me to call back in the event I have not heard back in 5 days, because sometimes it takes a few more days.

In retrospect I wish I would have been a little more polished when it came to the "essay", but overall I felt like I was making a solid request.

We shall see...

Thank you, one and all, for the very helpful replies. I will call the California CSC, speak with an ISO, and see if this can be expedited.

Thanks again!

Rich

Hi everyone,

I am the petitioner for my Ukrainian fiancee as well as her 20 year old son; her son is a student at USC (Los Angeles) and will turn 21 on August 12th.

I submitted my petition for K-1/K-2 on January 23 (NOA-1 dated January 25). Admittedly, the chance of an interview in Kiev happening before August 12th

is slim (but maybe not impossible).

I have heard it both ways on the "age out" question for my fiancee's son. If the interview is before August 12th and the visa(s) is/are granted, then will he

be denied based on the fact that his AOS will not be processed before he turns 21? Or will he get in under the wire, and the AOS processing may occur after

he turns 21?

Does anyone out there have any recent experience or knowledge about this?

Thanks for your help.

Rich

Once again I received some great advice here on VJ; e-mailing the embassy resulted in a quick reply which "kind of" answered my question about the rather lengthy delay in receiving our visa after the embassy interview.

We are being held up by "name check and final review". Not quite sure what that means, but it has been 15 days since a slam dunk interview and DHL still hasn't picked up our passport/visa packet from the embassy to deliver to my fiancee.

Due to a family medical emergency our interview was "expedited" and moved up by about 6 weeks. Great, we thought. The extra time would allow my fiancee to spend those six weeks with her ailing daughter, who is married to a USC in New York. But of course it didn't quite turn out that way. While we were expecting Beata to have her visa by now, we didn't know that the consulate was just shuffling the timeline around. Instead of name check, review of documents, interview, visa, it looks like Beata had her interview moved up but the rest of the process just got tacked on behind the interview. Could it be that we may end up waiting until the middle of October anyways?

Don't know what else to do. Her daughter is quite ill, and I had letters from physicians and hospital administrators stating that her daughter's recovery would be greatly aided by Beata's presence. I was happy that this seemed to get a compassionate response from the consular officials. Maybe their intent was good, but this sure feels like we are being screwed with.

Oh well...

My fiancee had her interview with the consulate at the American embassy on Wednesday, August 25th, and had the impression that the interview went well and that her visa was approved. As requested by the interviewer, she submitted follow up documents (English translations of her Russian police documents; she has no criminal record) by post and by e-mail upon her return home on August 26th. Prior to leaving the embassy on August 25th, she submitted her passport and DHL waybill to the consular official then returned home to Novosibirsk.

As of today (Tuesday, September 7th) DHL still has not received the passport/visa from the embassy. My fiancee called the DHL office in Novosibirsk with the tracking number and DHL shows that the waybill was sold to her, but is not in their system. Since that is the case, her visa has not been sent and her passport is still at our embassy.

I have been looking at other timelines for couples dealing with the embassy in Moscow, and the waiting time for visa delivery is usually less than a week. Our wait is now sitting at two weeks, and DHL doesn't even have the packet in their possession yet.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what may be going on here?

Thank you.

Not quite sure how to handle this; my fiancee will soon be leaving Novosibirsk and flying to California, maybe as soon as the end of this week. Her K-1 visa has been approved, but not yet received. She is ready to leave Russia as soon as the visa arrives.

I have looked into the one-way flights from Novosibirsk to Los Angeles (via Moscow) on Aeroflot. As of today, the Aeroflot website has seats available on Friday, September 10 for "value economy" price of $878. When my fiancee went to the Aeroflot office in Novosibirsk, she was told the fare for the same route is $1700 (give or take a few bucks). Quite a difference!

I should mention that my fiancee is bringing her cat, but the Aeroflot website states they allow animals to be transported in portable kennels as long as the kennel will stow beneath the seat (it will). They treat this as "carry on" luggage.

Is it possible for me to buy her ticket for her online, you know, an e-ticket? Without her facing any kind of hassle at the airports over there?

I just cannot imagine why there is such a disparity in the ticket pricing for the same flight, unless it is an obvious attempt by the airline to take advantage of a "one time, one-way" customer.

Any thoughts on this, anyone? Thank you....

My fiancee informs me of certain hurdles in getting her cat out of the country in Russia; there don't seem to be any obstacles for bringing "Unix" into the U.S., only a rabies shot is necessary and an inspection by the verterinarian at LAX. My fiancee is being informed by an official at the government office for veterinary affairs that the cat needs all available vaccinations, needs to have implanted microchip with history of vaccinations, and needs to adhere to a timeline over the next month. The document processing takes a minimum of one month. Now, the kicker...she can only leave with the cat EXACTLY 30 days after the documents have been processed. Not 29 days, not 31 days. So, she must be a psychic and be able to guess exactly when she will be leaving. And this is before the embassy interview, so it is impossible for a mortal to know exactly when she is leaving.

Now I think I know why she wants to leave.

Has anybody out there on VJ had any experiences like this? If so, what happened next?

Thank you for your input.

Just wondering if any VJ posters have been directly affected by the called off interviews in Moscow. If so, what kind of info are you being given regarding rescheduling? I would imagine the consulate wouldn't be able to give any definite time frame regarding the new interview date. What are the telling you?

In my nightly Skype call with my sweetie she informed me that due to the fires burning around Moscow, the U.S. Embassy is calling off and/or re-scheduling interviews for non-immigrant visa applicants. This doesn't affect us (yet), but sure adds to the uncertainty of the whole process.

I checked out the Embassy website and there is only a brief reference to the situation. "Pony Express" is calling people who are/were scheduled for Tuesday, August 10th and "offering" to re-schedule their interviews at a later date. It is not clear whether the applicant has a choice in the matter, and it doesn't say when the interviews will be re-scheduled. And the only date listed is Tuesday, August 10th. But with the fires still burning on, and the smog worsening, it appears likely that this may be an ongoing problem.

Anybody else have any news on this?

This is complicated and I know a long shot at best. I have applied and am in process to bring my fiancee from Russia to the U.S. on a K-1 visa; I submitted the application two months ago and we are in the slow grinding approval process now.

Meanwhile, my fiancee's daughter, who lives in New York and is not a U.S. citizen (she is a permanent resident now), has become very ill and is presently hospitalized with a poor prognosis.

Is anyone familiar with the process for applying for a temporary visa for the mother (my fiancee)? Is there anything I can do to help?

Any help or guidance would be appreciated, thank you.

Hi-

I've been a member on VisaJourney since Feb.'10 but just found this thread and thought I would say hello.

I live in California, been here most of my life. I recently went through a divorce, but the marriage was over long before it was ended legally. When I was separated I decided to look around on foreign dating sites as I figured I would be able to find women to write to, and receive letters from, with little risk of real attachment.

After making penpal friends with a few women over several months I met Beata in early June '09. She lives in Novosibirsk, Russia, but fortunately her English is very good so we had no trouble communicating. She was on a website that features mostly Russian women and it didn't take long to know that this was a seriously different relationship. We hit it off immediately in our e-mails and within a couple of months of writing to each other daily, then speaking on the phone, we decided we wanted to meet. We started "seeing" each other on skype a few times a week, and discussed places where we might meet. I obtained a passport (I had never been off the north American continent) and we found that neither of us needed a visa to visit Hong Kong. We arranged to meet in late November '09 and then spent 8 wonderful days in Hong Kong. It was all very romantic, and the time seemed right, so I asked her to marry me. With no hesitation she said "yes", and coincidentally there were about a thousand jewelry stores in Hong Kong. I bought her engagement ring. This was putting the cart before the horse, because I knew very little about the visa process. All I knew for sure was that I have friends who are married to foreign brides, and that they had to wait for awhile to clear up some red tape.

After Hong Kong I began looking into the K-1 process, and shortly after the new year began I found VisaJourney. This website has been a real blessing, and helped me to navigate the process of submitting an I-129f.

Upon returning home from the orient we ramped up our correspondence, and made plans for me to visit her hometown. In April I made the 31 hour transit between Los Angeles and Novosibirsk, and we spent another 10 days together. It was even more wonderful than Hong Kong, and and now we began talking more about our long term relationship plans. The I-129f was sent to the CSC at the end of April, and as of today (May 30) I have an NOA-1 and am waiting for our NOA-2. We talk on skype daily, and we feel married in many different ways but being apart is very difficult. There is a simultaneous feeling of connection that is tempered by the incredible emptiness of being apart.

VisaJourney is a tremendous website, and it is incredibly useful to help me deal with the loneliness of not having my Beata with me. Every day when we talk on Skype we discuss the latest news from VisaJourney. We look to see how many more NOA-2's have been received, and watch as the lucky applicants ahead of us move one step closer to being together. It really helps to see that the other members of this "club" are having their dreams come true. It gives us hope.

Meanwhile, I am so grateful for skype and e-mail and SMS and decent phone connections (at reasonable prices). I don't know how this would be possible 15 years ago, corresponding via "snail mail" as the only source of communication would have been pure torture. Our daily communication using different media helps keep me sane.

Good luck to all of you in your romantic endeavors.

Glad to find all of you! And is good to finally jump into the pool. Mailed April 30th, but with weekend in between it was received May 3rd and received NOA1 May 5th.

Hope it goes smoothly for all of us, and udachi! (Russian for good luck!).