akdiver

Can you tell me a little about the U.S. evaluation service? I've got my wife's transcripts (with translations) and was wondering how to get them evaluated. I haven't done a search on the 'net yet. I appreciate any info you can toss my way.

Sure.

Well, the university had a list of approved services and we used one of those. I believe my wife did some preliminary looking around and picked one that could provide timely service at a reasonable price. It's been a while, so my figures may be off, but I think she paid $200 at most for the evaluation. She used a service called ECE Inc. , Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc. We were pretty happy with the service they provided. They provided a course by course evaluation of her classes and the equivalent at a U.S. institution, and translated her foreign degrees into U.S. Equivalents. In her case, it came out to be:

M.S. Tourism Management

B.B.A. Management

B.A. Secondary Education (teaching emphasis in English and German)

So, score three for her. (:

Hope this helps!

AKDiver

I wonder what you guys are going to do in several years. Looks like you will accomplish EVERYTHING in two-three years. And what then?

Keel over and die I guess.

Cheers!

AKDiver

I am just beginning the process of applying for a k-1 visa and wondering whether I should get an immigration attorney who specializes in these types of visas. Is it worth it? Any good references?

Unless you have some complicated, non-standard situation, then it is a waste of money. You can easily spend $2K or more, and all the laywer does is make sure the forms are filled out correctly. Unless one is a complete moron, one can do this oneself. Also, no one is more interested in making sure your forms are correct than you. IMHO, it seems unwise to trust it to anyone else. Finally, there are some stories on here of lawyers screwing things up and costing their clients a lot of time.

In short, I'd it it yourself if I were you, unless you have a non-standard situation.

Cheers!

AKDiver

KarenCee - I took akdiver's comment seemed to me to be a not very subtle reminder to people that they do need to think ahead in the world of immigration. A much needed reminder, unfortunately, and lack of subtlety is often helpful in getting people's attention.

Well, at least someone "gets it".

Yes, this is exactly my point. I have read a LOT of posts on here and they tend to fall into several basic categories. One of these boils down to "What is the procedure we should follow for <whatever>?", where <whatever> is some basic, well-known, well-documented thing. This can also be thought of as "I didn't know we had to <whatever>".

The fact is, this stuff is typically very well documented thanks to the marvelous and wonderous generosity of a cadre of VJ posters. The quality and quantity of useful information on here is just astounding.

Unfortunately, it is also clear that a large number of people coming here to get information are just plain lazy. They don't seem to bother to read the how-to guides, long-standing threads that cover in detail the information they are looking for, or anything else. Instead, they will ask questions like, "My fianceé is overseas, how do I get permission for her to come to the U.S.?" They don't bother to research on their own at all and just want people to hold their hand every step of the way, feeding them answers as if they were a child. I could point out that this is largely a result of the American educational system, but that's a conversation for a different time.

Here's the fact - because of the long delay in the initial filing for whatever petition one is filing, there is very ample time for the USC to educate him/herself on every single facet and every aspect of bringing one's beloved to the U.S. In only takes a few hours to do the research and preparation, and be completely ready-to-go once he/she arrives in the U.S. - and one has MONTHS to do it! Any lack of knowledge of these basic things, and any lack of preparation can only be due to one of several things:

• one is too lazy to do the research
  
• one is too stupid to understand instructions written at the 8th grade level
  
• one is too irresponsible to take charge of one's own life
  

The first two can be handled by hiring a proxy to do it for you (typically a lawyer). The third - well - not much one can do about that one. Such people will always have problems and drama in their lives and odds are good that any problems they may be having with USCIS, DMV, and Social Security Office are just the tip of the iceburg.

As for where this little rant is coming from - well, you know, I've been home sick all week and bored, so I have been reading a lot of VJ. I see post after post such as I describe above. It's a lot like when I worked as a bill collector. You start out nice asking people for the money they owe, and try to be understanding and accomodating. However, over time, you just get tired of hearing the same old BS, the same old stories, how everything is someone else's fault, and so forth. Eventually, you just get to be like, "That's great, I don't really care what your problem is, you owe is $75.12 for this bad check you wrote - when will we have the money?".

VJ is a great place and a good resource for a lot of people, and yes, there are people with unique situations that may need discussing, and I've even happy to provide useful info and insights to people (rare, but it does happen). However, no, I don't have much sympathy for the lazy people who can't seem to take charge of their own lives and want to blame someone else for their own mistakes and problems. We have too much of that in America as it is.

Cheers!

AKDiver

I guess you're not aware that a SSN is needed to get a driver's license and it does take that long to get it...

Well, yes I am. My wife went to the DMV the day after she arrived and got a state ID card. She would have gone the same day, except that she arrived on a Sunday. After that, she went to the social security office about a week after she arrived and got a SSN assigned, getting the card in the mail maybe two weeks later. Then she went back to the DMV about a month after she arrived and got her driver's license. She had her driver's license inside of 30 days, well before the 90 day deadline. The point here is that she didn't delay and fool around about it - she was on top of things.

Now granted, many people are lazy morons (especially ones working in government offices such as DMV and Social Security Office) and typically don't care about doing their job well, and it is certainly possible to have some delay in getting a SSN. Even so, I'm willing to bet that delay being an extra 60 days is probably uber-rare and happens in only a very small number of situations.

This being the case, I'd be willing to bet a sizable number of pennies that the overwhelming majority of people who complain about missing one deadline or another missed it not because of the lameness of most government employees, but because they either procrastinated getting something done, or because they couldn't be bothered to inform themselves of the rules, regulations, policies, etc. involved in whatever it was they were trying to do. In these cases, their anger toward any government employees involved is misplaced.

Cheers!

AKDiver

we dont have health insurance and we just found out we are excecting..

Condoms are cheaper than babies.

Cheers!

AKDiver

I guess because not everyone is as perfect as you appear to be.

Oh, I am hardly perfect. But I'm not dumb enough to wait until 2 days after a deadline to apply for something and then complain that I didn't get it.

Cheers!

AKDiver

I have a really good job right now but I got offered another job off the books, I'm pretty excited about that but my husband thinks that that could affect the process that we will start next year (Rem. Cond), you think something could happen???????????????????????

I hope you get caught, get fined, thrown in jail for some period of time, and then deported with a permanent ban on re-entry.

Good luck!

AKDiver

I'm sad for him, that he is so willing to dismiss his own child in this way... that he would expect you to terminate this pregnancy without any regard for your feelings. That's it in a nutshell really. If he doesn't give a rat's a$$ about your feelings, then there's clearly more going on here than just him rejecting his child

WHILE that may be true (and probably is), one could just as easily say, "I'm sad for him, that you are so willing to dismiss your own husband this way...that you would expect him to be a father to a child he doesn't want, without any regard for his feelings. That's it in a nutshell really. If you don't give a rat's as about his feelings, then there is clearly more going on here than you just rejecting him."

Both views are equally valid - it's just a matter of perspective.

Cheers!

AKDiver

Her I-94 expired on Sep 6 and DMV says she's illegal and cannot get a drivers licence until she gets her status adjusted, which we all know can take a LONG time. They said if we came two days earlier she could have gotten her permit and then her license. We're so angry.

The only thing you have to be angry about is waiting until the last minute to do really important things.

Why, oh, WHY do people wait until the last moment to do this kind of stuff? Why is this?

Cheers!

AKDiver

Hey Everyone, My interview is in about 6 weeks, I don't have a ID and I did not get my EAD card so we did not get any bills or bank account in both of our names, what eles can we take to show at our interview?

Please advice

We were not asked for any evidence of any kind. The only thing we showed them at the interview was our driver's licenses and her passport. We were there for a total of MAYBE 20 minutes - and got a compliment for having the paperwork we sent them in such good order (which also didn't include anything in the way of "evidence" - just what was asked for on the forms).

On the other hand - I can't imagine why you would not have acquired an ID card or driver's license and SSN. Why delay? You'll need them if you expect to be any kind of 'real person' in the U.S. My fianceé got her state ID card the day after she arrived and applied for the SSN a week later (got the card maybe 2 weeks after she arrived). By the time we actually got married about 6 weeks after she arrived, she already had a driver's license too. There is no advantage to delaying these things. Pick up the pace.

Cheers!

AKDiver

Heard it all before... but we do not count ICE as land down here

Only because you don't have any.

Now, the trivia that some get.. but most miss... What are the states that are the farthest North, fartherst South, farthest West and finally, farthest East???

Well, Alaska is the furthest north, east, and west. Hawaii is the obvious choice for furthest south.

Cheers!

AKDiver

I'm home sick from work today, and bored - so here I am just for some general chit chat. (:

So, as of this past weekend, we have been married for one year. I think the year went by pretty fast myself. It's still hard to think of myself as married - I'm not sure why. Well anyway, I thought it might be useful to people to see some of the practical things we did this year. Maybe it can give some people a checklist as to things to do once their babes arrive. It's purely FYI, YMMV, IYDCTPI. (:

PAPERWORK

She has accumulated the following paperwork accomplishments during this year:

• State ID Card (married name)
  
• State Driver's license w/motorcycle endorsement (married name)
  
• Social Security Card (married name)
  
• Marriage Certificate (showing name change)
  
• Advance Parole document (married name, unused)
  
• EAD (married name, used to secure employment)
  
• Permanent Resident card (2-year conditional)
  
• Passport - Renew, name change, and registration. In progress at Russian consulate in Seattle (expect completion Sept '06).
  
• Certificate of completion - MSF Basic Rider's Course
  

All of that went pretty smoothly, except getting the name on her driver's license changed after we got married. They didn't want to take the official fully-certified marriage certificate as proof of name change, despite that's what their own regulations said they needed. After she got her PR card, she went back to the DMV and ended up getting it - after asking to see a supervisor. ###### morons.

FINANCIAL

She has accumulated the following financial accomplishments during this year:

• Opened individual checking & savings accounts in her married name
  
• Opened Roth IRA in her married name (and auto-depositing the yearly max $)
  
• Opened Home Depot credit card account (individual) in her married name
  
• Opened joint credit card account with me (married name)
  
• Opened joint checking & savings accouints with me (married name)
  
• Applied for and was approved for a new car loan (joint account)
  
• Completed a joint 2005 tax return (getting married shaved some $2K off my tax bill! Marriage penalty my ###!!)
  

All of that went pretty smoothly. The Roth IRA was easy, we did that right away. The bank wanted the marriage certificate first, so we delayed on that until it arrived. As for the car loan - now we're just waiting on the new 4-door Wrangler Rubicon we ordered to get a VIN so we can close the loan (:

EMPLOYMENT

She has accumulated the following employment accomplishments during this year:

• Got a full-time, full-benefits position at the local university making $30K/yr + benefits
  
• Got hired by the U.S. Post Office, but quit to take the university job
  
• Got several other job offers
  
• Got lots of interview opportunities
  

She had the univeristy job in place and started her first day of work only about 1 month after receiving her EAD card. It doesn't get much better than that. All in all, she arrived on July 17th and started working at the university on December 19th, almost six months to the day, and about three months after we got married. Her medical benefits are actually better and cheaper than mine, so we dropped mine for hers, saving some $2K/year in the process. In short, we made a lot more progress on this front than I had expected - which is way cool.

EDUCATIONAL

She has accumulated the following educational accomplishments during this year:

• Received (Russian-language) transcripts from both her universities
  
• Translated original transcripts and had them evaluated by U.S. evaluation service
  
• Completed two courses (six credits) of undergraduate work at local university
  
• Been admitted to a graduate program (M.S.) in global supply chain management (starts Fall '06)
  

It was slow getting the original transcripts, but other than that, things went OK, for the most part.

TRAVEL

She has accumulated the following travel accomplishments during this year:

• Arrived in Anchorage, Alaska as her POE (from Germany). This was nice.
  
• Spent about two weeks in Hawaii (getting married + honeymoon).
  
• Road trip through CA, AZ, UT, NV (Disneyland, Meteor Crater, Las Vegas, etc.)
  
• 7-day rafting trip on Grand Canyon
  
• 5-day trip to Washington D.C. area (tours of White House, Capitol Bldg, museums, etc.)
  
• Washington D.C. trip included visit with my parents, plus play at Kennedy Center
  
• 4-hour layover in Texas (DFW)
  

I think it's kind of cool that the first two states she went to were Alaska and Hawaii (: She had a great trip to D.C. for our anniversary, and I think she has already seen more of the U.S. than most Americans have. Overall, not bad for her first year - especially considering she lives in Alaska.

Besides all of that, we have remodeled the bedroom and built a deck in the backyard. He parents are coming for 2-week visit later this month, and things seem to be going well in general. No real nightmares here so far, with any kind of paperwork/logistics or relationship issues. All signs are positive and we hope to have another good year.

Best advice for forms of all kinds is to just do what they tell you to do, make sure you take the time to be complete and thorough with everything you do, and don't give anyone an easy excuse to deny you whatever it is you're asking from them. Good luck.

Cheers!

AKDiver

Is it true what they say? If you were about to respond with the "Yep, everything is bigger in..." I'll cut you off and let you know that I was going with the "Only steers and...." Anyway, just kidding. (I've got a few buddies from Texas, so I've heard all that stuff before... as I'm sure you have too!)

They talk about big things in Texas - but the fact is, Texas is so small that even if you cut Alaska in half, Texas would be only the third largest state. (;

Cheers!

AKDiver

'm very interested in anything I can listen to, I just don't have the discipline to wade through books of grammar

Highly unlikely you will learn anything by osmosis. If you want something, you'll have to put some effort into it.

Cheers!

AKDiver

Much better to do this kind of stuff BEFORE leaving the country of origin.

Cheers!

AKDiver

This question seems to be on the very fringe of the material discussed here. It is highly unlikely that you will get any kind of definitive, knowledgeable response from someone on here. Your best bet is for your wife to discuss the matter with a local lawyeer in her town and/or the authorities involved.

Good luck!

AKDiver

For K1 fiancee visa...in moscow embassy

What is really needed to prove that?

My attorney told me you need a letter from bank stating, how much i have, how much on average a month i have depoisted past 12 months OR my past 12 months of statements. Also my W2 stuff and 1040.

I thought they also need a letter about my employment and pay stubs?

My attorney doesn't want that.... what's up with that...

Why are you dealing with a lawyer?

Anyway - the requirements for the AOS are pretty clear. Read the instructions for the form. Missed it? Read it again.

Good luck!

AKdiver

I was wondering:

How do your Russian spouses here, in the USA, typically keep up with Russia's current news and events (other than through friends and family)?

There is this little thing called, "the internet". Maybe you've heard of it? There are all kinds of news sources on the internet. You should check it out.

Cheers!

AKDiver

For what it's worth, I'm taking Russia through the local university. I got an "A" in 101 last semester (: This semester, I am taking 102 (first year, second semester), which meets 7-8:40pm on Monday & Wednesdays. Supplemented by practice with my wife, it's a good way to go.

The problem with self-study of all kinds is that you have to have the discipline to do it, and more often than not, you don't feel like it and it never gets done. When you have a schedule to stick to (such as going to class and doing homework for turn-in), most people tend to do better.

Good luck.

Cheers!

AKDiver

Wow! Alaska. I brought my wife out to live in Phoenix. Talk about climate shock! Shouldn't be much of an issue for you.

I can't imagine any circumstances that would convince me to move to Phoenix. Say what you want about Alaska - but you know, if it is cold, you can always put more clothes on. But when it's hot, you can only take off so much before people call the police on you. (:

I found a ticket for $1,370.73 from Moscow to Anchorage. www.opodo.com

Thanks, but that's no bargain. I just got two tickets from Moscow to Anchorage and back for $1050 each. (:

Cheers!

AKDiver

You all are trying to hard. Travelocity .com, tickets on Delta from Moscow $800 -1000 depending on where you are going. Atlanta is non-stop. 12 hour flight. She just takes her passport to the delta counter at the airport and checks in, even brought her cat over last trip, no problems. Have a fun life.

If you can show me a Delta flight from Moscow to Anchorage for $1000, i'll buy you dinner.

I could flight flights from Moscow to places like ATL, JFK, LAX, MIA, but nowhere better.

Aeroflot used to go direct from Moscow to Seattle, which was nice. I used that one a couple of times, but they stopped it a year or so ago.

Cheers!

-AKDiver

On my last trip back from visiting my (then) fiancee, i brought back two big suitcases of her stuff (I didn't have any checked luggage of my own). She was able to bring the rest of her stuff with her when she came in her own luggage.

She didn't have much, just clothes, books, photos, a few small nicknacks, etc. She sold off all her furniture, computer, electronics, and so forth.

Cheers!

AKDiver

Well, I have completed my mission. You know, last week, I found fares from Moscow to Anchorage (non-direct) that totaled some $1900. Expensive, but reasonable.

Last night, I was ready to buy and I went looking, and the damned fares had gone up by $200 to $2100! Dammit! I spent ALL EVENING last night trying to get back to my original price, trying alternate routes, desperately trying to find a way to use airline miles, and so forth. Finally, by midnight, I gave up and went to bed.

Tonight, I played around for a few minutes looking around and I said screw it, I'll just buy what I found last night. Well, wouldn't you know the prices had gone up by $200, just since last night!! What the hell is that? Sorry bastards. Well, after another long evening of playing games with the travel sites, trying every route and possibility known to mankind, I FINALLY found something reasonable. I got two round-trip tickets from Moscow to Anchorage (via some other places) for a total of $2050 ($1466 Swiss Air + $582 Alaska Air). Not as good as what I originally found, but not too awful all things considered. It was only possible because I had a $50 companion fare ticket to reduce the Alaska Air portion from $982 to $582.

These arrangements use only e-tickets, no paper tickets required. FYI, the flight info is as follows:

OUTBOUND TRIP:

Moscow to Chicago (via Zurich) Swiss Air 1325/8

LV DME 9/21/06 @ 7:15AM AR ORD 9/21/06 @ 3:15PM

Chicago to Anchorage (non-stop) Alaska Air 131

LV ORD 9/21/06 @ 7:30PM AR ANC 9/21/06 @ 11:25PM

RETURN TRIP:

Anchorage to Seattle (non-stop) Alaska Air 142

LV ANC 10/4/06 @ 2:20AM AR SEA 10/4/06 @ 6:39AM

Seattle to Chicago (non-stop) Alaska Air 20

LV SEA 10/4/06 @ 8:45AM AR ORD 10/4/06 @ 2:40PM

Chigaco to Moscow (via Zurich) Swiss Air 9/1326

LV ORD 10/4/06 @ 7:15PM AR DME 10/5/06 @ 5:45PM

Hope this info helps someone.

Cheers!

-sw

I'm sorry to hear about your troubles.

I have...$40,000... invested in her.

That seems rather excessive. It's worth noting that money doesn't buy everything.

She speaks very little English and I speak very little Russian

How was this supposed to actually work? Two years into things and neither one of you speaks much of the others' language? Well, duh. That's quite a complication.

she just says do not speak to her

Inability or unwillingness to communicate does not bode well for you.

Nothing positive to say, your choices are to respect her wishes or pry to try to get something out of her. Neither option is attractive. Alternatively, you could just try to coax it out of her somehow, but I've got no advice on how to get her to volunteer the info you are seeking.

Good luck.

Cheers!

AKDiver