elya

With the new system, you have a lot more control over your interview date. It will take 1-4 weeks for the file to get from the NVC to the embassy (unless some unusual delay occurs, like administrative processing as mentioned above).
Once the embassy gets the file, they will send you (the petitioner) an e-mail with the request to forward the interview information to your fiancee and have her sign up for an interview. You can already access the interview information with the entire list of documents online:
http://moscow.usembassy.gov/root/pdfs/iv-packet4-eng.pdf
The process to sign up for an interview is for the beneficiary to go to VTB24 bank (in person, as stated above) with your international passport and pay the fee. Then, using the receipt number, your fiancee can create an account online at www.ustraveldocs.com/ru, complete her profile, and sign up for an available interview date and time.
A few tips:
1) Make sure you're getting your documents together NOW. The police certificate typically takes longest (1 month). And schedule the medical.
2) You don't have to wait for the e-mail from the embassy to schedule the interview date. You can go to the bank and pay the fee now, wait the 2 business days for the receipt number to get in the system, and then sign up for the next available convenient date at which you are confident you will have all the required documents ready (allowing enough time, realistically, for the embassy to receive your case). If something goes wrong and you are missing a document and/or you don't get the e-mail from the embassy, there is an option to reschedule your interview date online.
Good luck!
ETA: Just a heads up that they tell you you'll get your passport back 4-5 business days after your interview (if approved) but there have been a couple cases where it's taken 2-3 weeks instead.

I think you're reading into this a little too much. I was just curious. Geeze louise

Speaking as a linguist, I should say again that keeping some ties with your own culture helps a new immigrant to live through the stress of culture shock and that, once you're older than 12 (+/-2 years), total immersion is only helpful if accompanied by language classes, where you will learn language structure, grammar, phonetics and learn the difference between your native language and the language you're trying to study.

From my training at IRS I believe this has nothing to do with your husband's resident status for tax purposes. It means here that if you as a USC lived in Russia (=foreign country) and received salary there from a Russian company, you'd have to pay taxes in the U.S. even if you have already paid taxes on it in Russia as well ("tax treaty benefit" is essentially elimination of double taxation; it does not currently work for Americans employed abroad in many countries and receiving salaries locally). As far as I understand, yours is not this case. If your non-USC husband had no income in the U.S. last year, there's nothing for him to pay taxes on, and thus it does not preclude him from declaring his income as zero on a joint/married tax return.
Now, you can of course file as married but separately. Just the fact of getting married (doesn't matter to whom) gives you the right of filing as married, no matter whether jointly or separately. The choice is really yours - usually spouses prefer to do it jointly because the tax refund gets higher compared to separate filing. But in order to do that you need to calculate your returns on both scenarios and pick the best one.
If you file as married filing separately, your husband will need to file form 1040NR-EZ even if he had zero taxable income. The form is very easy, so I'm sure you guys won't have any problems doing two forms if you choose to.

Pushbrk is knowledgeable, and to his credit states facts not guesses. When I first started researching on VJ everyone had opinions and I found out the information was not accurate on some and simply an assumption on the posters part. IMO Pushbrk not only has a right, but a duty to discourage false information being provided.
Kelly

Once again, Tim, you're making it up as you go along.
What is needed is a definitely a PHOTOCOPY of a "Certified Copy" of a Final Divorce Decree. In some States (Commonwealths usually) they are called "Decree Absolute". They can vary from a one page synopsis to a 40 page or more extensive legal document including the custody agreement and property settlement. Other than the names of the parties and the date the divorce was final, what is critical is NOT what IS IN IT, but HOW and WHEN it was obtained.
A certified copy of a final divorce decree is something you request from the court AFTER AFTER AFTER the divorce is finalized and has ALREADY ALREADY ALREADY become a matter of public record.
Obtain a certified copy of the correct document, then photocopy it. It won't hurt to send it along separately now with a letter and the case number. It also, probably won't help, so make another copy and have it ready to respond to an RFE.
The process of approving a petition, getting an interview and visa delivery are NOT NOT NOT something the petitioner and foreign visa applicant can control. Neither USCIS or the Dept. of State care one little bit how much of a hurry you are in unless you have a legitimate justification for an expedite.

We had notice of approval on jan 26. The card arrived on feb 4th. The card states valid from 1/26/2012 until 1/25/2013. So the date of your first card production notification is the day you can theoretically work. It just takes a bit longer to actually get the card.

A lot of you seem to think that he should just do it and not even think about it.
Ironically, the forums are also full of people discovering they're still legally bound to their ex-spouse after divorce and come here to say "what was I thinking!"
I don't think taking a moment to assess the situation can hurt.
I am the foreign spouse, so I didn't have to do that, but I would've totally understood if my husband took a little while to think about it. And of course I would also understand if his mom had declined being a joint sponsor. It's not "just a signature".
Of course thinking about it before starting the whole immigration process would be a lot better. But some of us were not really aware of what was coming in the next steps.

I think what hes saying is that he had a visa and was already in the us, planning to marry and adjust status (thus, the set wedding plans) however his previous visa was cut short (the big change of plans) which resulted in them forcing to do the K1 rather than the earlier plan of marrying and adjusting status. So it doesn't seem like it was his fault for making plans because the change of plans was unforseeable. Thats what I'm getting from it anyway lol

i don't believe you'll meet with success with that thinking. this isn't work - you can't fire your relatives.

Darren Gretchen drama. Las Vegas bookies are saying it's 3:1 that the thread is eventually closed. The smart money is calling it a moderator KO sometime before the sixth (page).
Can he do twelve rounds? Hard to say. Darren comes out early in the first swinging hard but in the middle rounds it is all about bobbing and weaving, counterpunching, and not getting hit. Ultimately in the late rounds it comes down to stamina. OK, so he comes out with a haymaker: going to spring the hot new babe on the family.
But he took a solid body shot, straight up the middle with calling his wife a friend. He has to come back off the canvas from that one folks, or he's done for. I'd say this one is going to be over early. The refs will have to stop this one. Another shot like that and someone's got to throw the towel in for him.

Do NOT even go near the grocery stores here on the 1st of the month! The amount of groceries they are packing into 2-3 carts is truly....
But I will say this, I do not care so much if they buy junk food or whatever, that is not the problem, the problem is too much handed out and nothing required in return. If you say they cannot buy potato chips, for example, they will buy deodorant with food stamps and buy the chips with cash they saved buying the deodorant with food stamps. Food stams, are, pure and simple a form of income. It is like saying "I will use the income from my second job ONLY for food" Makes no difference really.
I think we need to require people to help theselves if they want help form us...
1. Anyone receiving ANY welfare MUST have...
1. A high school diploma or be enrolled in a GED program
IF they already have a HS diploma or GED then they MUST either
1. Be enrolled in an educational institution OR
2. Employed
YES the government (us) should pay for the education
Education is the key to ending welfare. Will it end ALL welfare? No. But how many college grads are collecting welfare? How many HS grads as opposed to non HS grads?
The fact os that most of these people do not possess the knowledge and eduication to make more money than they can suck up from government...you and I. As long as the BEST they can do is welfare, that is what they will do. When you give people the tools to do better themselves, they will.

I feel pretty confident that there is enough Internet left for you to fill the RUB forum with other topics containing valuable lessons...
I just decided to fill in the final details for those who did follow my story. Thanks to all those who offered their congratulations :-) We are happy to have our lives together at last and this 2.5 year saga has certainly left us with a journey we will never forget!

Working illegally isn't a big issue when AOSing based on marriage to a US Citizen. If you lie about working illegally then you will always have to worry that they will find out and revoke your immigration benefits (even Citizenship).
What is the problem for you is that you probably marked that you're a US Citizen on the I-9 and that is a serious crime (actually the worst in USCIS's eyes) which carries a lifetime entry ban and makes you deport-able. No real chance of overcoming this with a waiver either, there are high profile cases where adults claimed a child was a US citizen and that child is now banned for life and every attempt to overcome it has been shot down.
Don't waste your money filing AOS if you marked US Citizen...

I feel pretty confident that there is enough Internet left for you to fill the RUB forum with other topics containing valuable lessons...
I just decided to fill in the final details for those who did follow my story. Thanks to all those who offered their congratulations :-) We are happy to have our lives together at last and this 2.5 year saga has certainly left us with a journey we will never forget!

Because that would empower her?

What would be wrong with Gretchen getting a little part time job to earn enough money to send back home? That wouldn't hurt your future family and it would give her some pride.
I don't think you should be calling yourself an expert on how to run household finances. You clearly aren't very good at it yourself or you wouldn't be broke for three weeks after coming home. That really is no kind of "lesson" for her.
I don't think you realize what a double standard you are exhibiting to her. It's OK for you to blow the bankroll, but not her family back home.
Gotta walk the talk or you look foolish, you know.

pure bs!!

these seem to be contradictory statements.

Don't speak about 90% of the world, as this is so not true. It might be true in some 3rd world countries, but not 90% of the world.

She is mine now?
I control you?
Who wears the pants and dresses?
Purpose of your post? You have a fiancee not property.

More moralizing. I did not see where the OP asked your opinion on this. She asked if she can leave, and she is free to do so.

I say get on a plane this weekend, file for divorce in Spain on Monday.
Good Luck to You !

Food and cooking are major adjustments. It is never easy and takes some effort.
When my wife came to the USA from Russia, she had learned much english. However, she knew very very few food words. So I cooked the first few days 100%. She was very upset, not with my cooking, but with not being able to do it. After a few weeks she could do it all. I picked up a few cookbooks on Russian foods. With those we were able to create food that tasted like her home.
There were few problems with food. The hardest was the onions. The type she was use to were very mild. Here they were much stronger.
I had spent a total of about a month in Russia before she moved here. I had eaten the main dishes of she was use to and told her my favorites. Even doing that we had adjustment. One year here, we are able to match the taste of Russian food from her home town. We cook a mix of foods. Some meals are all Russian, some all USA.
Hang in there, it is a learning experience for both people. It really does get better.

Please don't just randomly list every horrible immigration outcome you have ever heard of.