Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Actual "man hours" in processing K1 or K3 Visa	20 minutes allows for coffee breaks, web surfing, IMing each other and basic office grab@ss. Arguable, I have to learn the standard adjudicator procedures.. Weird was in a sense it’s a big disconnect how they do and how it’s described in the Manual, i.e. spend hrs to determine possible fraud, double hrs to realize no terrorism involvement, plenty of time to mine if all supporting docs are authentic and unaltered , no mess with name translations [example: one was born in FSU with name1, died in Ukraine with name2 ]), etc.. NO coffee breaks. External IMs & Web are blocked.	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-04-17 12:01:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Actual "man hours" in processing K1 or K3 Visa	All those background checks are included in the instant check system. they enter your names and ID numbers and have an answer in 30 seconds. If it is clear you are good to go. If not, you get tossed for someone else to check. They go down a checklist as they go through your file, if what they need is there, you are approved. the vasy majority of files get handled ONCE for about 20 minutes, then get approved or tossed for RFEs. That's it. You are free to dwell on what "could" happen or you can be informed of what "does" happen. Your choice. One of Alla's friends IS an adjudicator, I am not guessing. Sounds they only care about doc presence, clear background, and nothing else..? Weird. Than20 min is too much	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-04-17 10:48:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Actual "man hours" in processing K1 or K3 Visa	Yeah, right..Maybe for the NOA2, it's 20 min to approve. I suspect that manager and the friends in VSC have never read the Adjudicator's Field Manual. According to CSC friends, a petition can be reviewed by a group of adjudicators splitted into logical views, sharing inspections, providing assessments, acquiring a supervisor sigh-off. Speaking about machine hrs, the '<30 sec' is a false stms. I suppose, to run a local police clearance report, it might take <30 sec, almost the same when hitting a merchant product database for shoes . The USCIS queries NCIC, IBIS and NIIS w/ a batch job(could not be w/ my name only, but w/ yours, too , as a set ), ~10-15days. The NVC does perform additional check against a separate instance of NCIC with DS-230 data (I-130 case), ~24hr, and it's an approximate time, if clear.. Edited by Ellie-n-Vladimir, 15 April 2011 - 12:53 AM.	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-04-15 00:48:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	NOA-2 Today!	Congrats! Congrats!	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-04-18 19:17:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Happy Mother's Day!	Thank you, Guys! Today morning, I screamed from the window...like hell, 'Where are my flowers?', seeing my boys, Mark (21) & Arthur (26), at the driveway. 'Mama, it's in acar', they showed me all their teeth. I said, 'Oh.., ok.' 'When she's going to change her attitude?', they looked at each other... I jumped in the car with one thought - I have 365 days to change it, i promised to myself.	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-05-09 01:52:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Happy Victory Day!	??, ? ???? ??????, ??????. ??????? ?????? ????????..	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-05-09 16:30:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	I-129F question 16	Elle, Thanks for the information! I have never really seen a Ukrainian foreign passport -- will her name will be in english/latin alphabet on it? Question 1 does not indicate it should be other than english. Or am I over thinking? Ack! Thanks for this information ... yet another reason to not expect a marriage before next summer The name, DOB, and place of birth are listed in both languages, Ukrainian & Russian, in the internal passport. The external (aka foreign) passport is in English, but only the Ukrainian info from the internal passport is translated in English/Latin. That's where all complications come from. I can imagine how many variations on Zhenya’s first name.. Eugenia, Eugeniya, Evgenia, Evgeniya, Yevgenia, Yevgeniya. Stop me, plz, but continue w/ her last name.	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-06-15 01:44:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	I-129F question 16	Misha, I just read your post where you mentioned Zhenya does not have her foreign passport yet. The beneficiary name (question# 1) has to be spelled exactly as written in her foreign passport. Regarding question# 16, either way. Iwrote (handwriting) all in Russian as it's his native language.	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-06-14 18:01:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Happy Father's Day	All RUB and the other VJ's Papas, Happy Father's Day!! Please, share how your fathers influenced who you are and how you influence your children? In memory of Papas, who we lost, who we love and miss dearly. Remembering them is a time of reflection, bringing tears to our eyes and laughter to our hearts: http://www.youtube.c...feature=related And the last.., some scary Census stats: http://www.census.go...f/cb10-ff11.pdf Edited by Ellie-n-Vladimir, 18 June 2011 - 06:43 PM.	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-06-18 18:38:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Approved in Kiev!	Ha ha ha! Thank you Ellie and Vadimir! I just posted Lena's interview review on our Timeline page in her exact words. I better get back to cleaning up the house and assembling the shoe organizer I bought today. Igor, just assemble what you bought. When Lena comes, it'll be another serious cleaning full-house renovations!	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-06-18 18:52:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Approved in Kiev!	Super! Congrats!!!! Dont forget to post a review before Jun 30th. After that, you'll forget.	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-06-18 10:23:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Ukraine Passport Photo	If her international passport expired 'soon' and the Consulate saw that, she would not get her visa. http://travelogue.tr...equirements.pdf Just noticed, I included incorrect link. Please, ignore it. Here is the right one http://ukraine.usemb...rant-visas.html	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-06-27 00:29:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Ukraine Passport Photo	I dont know what internal passport is, but the international passport, is expiring in July, then I would say she should get it renewed in Ukraine itself before starting her travel. At POE when you have passport that is expiring pretty soon after arrival is not liked by the officers. If her international passport expired 'soon' and the Consulate saw that, she would not get her visa. http://travelogue.tr...equirements.pdf	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-06-26 23:52:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Ukraine Passport Photo	Unfortunately, the UA Embassy & Consulates have nothing to do internal passports. According to the law, the internal passport is a government property, cannot be taken outside the country (it’s written on the last page, but 'sits in everybody's pocket' who leaves the country. I did it, too)	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-06-26 23:43:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Customs Declaration when Leaveing Ukraine	http://www.customs.g...&cat_id=1093808	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-06-30 22:18:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Shipping Personal Items from Ukraine	I have found an acceptable solution. Meest has an office in Kharkov and to ship personal items, it will cost 5.00 USD per kg port-to-port. At 50 and above kilos, the cost drops slightly to 4.40 USD per kg. To have the items picked up in Ukraine and delivered to the US residence, add an additional 85 USD. Thanks all! I would go for 'live life free from bikini' Tell her - move freely and be prepared for metamorphosis	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-07-04 18:17:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	5 Days Post-POE - GREAT!	I don't like having to dig; I like it when clothes are nicely displayed. Me too. Hate digging for something 'nice'.. Also, I feel withdrawal from garage sales. Soon after we arrived to the US, we were dragged through garage sales by a woman who was not a recent immigrant, but who was here in many generations, a professor in UC Berkeley, teaching us English. The cheap finds was her obsession. She spent most of her free time at Goodwill and other thrift stores, and certainly weekends were devoted to endless driving through garage sales. Her house was filled with $1 stuff wall to wall and floor to ceiling. By engaging us in her 'search', she tried to set an example how to live here. It was hard for me in general to adapt to this way of living. Although I understand that woman likely had hoarding problem, garage sales left a bothersome imprint on me. I simply distaste them	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-07-24 20:19:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	5 Days Post-POE - GREAT!	Don't forget that the standard for RUB women is that they are supposed to look better than their men At least look in synch. My mom used to say - your man is your face. Then where is mine?, I asked her. Later I discovered this - show me your wife and I would tell who you are. Edited by Ellie-n-Vladimir, 20 July 2011 - 11:42 PM.	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-07-20 23:41:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	5 Days Post-POE - GREAT!	My wife started there. Now she has graduated to the Escada and Maxmara stores. We all started there, no exception. And change our stores by degrees. When the time comes, the girls will move to Escada & Maxmara (good stuff, yes) and replace it for something better.	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-07-17 22:53:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	5 Days Post-POE - GREAT!	Just sayin' that her first impression of clothes in the big box and those that women were wearing on the street were "not modern". You know, we know that RUB women dress well with or without food on the table. Gotta take her to Macy's and DSW pretty soon. Be ready that 80% of Macy's stuff will be rejected. & 99% of JP.	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-07-17 22:16:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	5 Days Post-POE - GREAT!	Well, my former bachelor pad no longer resembles one. Everything now has "its place." From cleaning supplies to a warm and cuddly bedroom (with stuffed mishkas) :-) wow, great zupa each day! My daughter who's in town from Maui has been enjoying Lena's company while I'm at work. We did stop-by the local big box store (Meijer) and...ugh, not so thrilled, especially the clothes, shoes. Everything is great however! She'll be in her comfort zone later today when we make the 30 min trip to the Russian market and the small Russian church on Sunday morning. Next week: marriage license app and SSN. Then AOS. Happy times! Igor You're not watching Bachelor Pad anymore? Happy for you!	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-07-16 20:51:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	My wife just left Odessa for Kiev and 8am interview at embassy.	3:46am my time. 10:46am Ukraine time. I just got the SMS I got!!!!!!!!! I got!!!!!!!!! Congratulations!! Can you, plz, update your timeline? Thanks	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-07-25 15:43:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	OK...She's met my two teenage sons - Culture Clash!	My step-children, girl 20 and boy 24, want to have a step mother as they lost their mom 3 yrs ago. I feel, hear, and see it every moment we're together. My boys (21, 26) respect my X's woman, she is close to my children - they call/sms/email each other, have some trips together. I do the same to her children, boy 21 and girl 25. I have no negative thoughts and feelings. 0 jealousy. My boys know I'm irreplaceable. I'm also fortunate that we (parents) don't have to deal with radically different parenting styles. However, I know few families where children did not accept step parents. Those children, though, did not have strong feelings with their bio parents. A girl would cross the street seeing her mother and demonstrate resentment to her life. That girl was resenting her step father regardless of the material support he provided. What is happening has nothing to do with RUB or FSU. Maybe you did not expect it, or you do not find it normal, but that is because 1) you have 35+ years more behind you than your boys, 2) Lena is '5min before an hr' in the country and her new family. It cannot be any other way. Your boys will understand your needs and feelings to have a 'significant other.' They will appreciate the benefit of having a step mother, give them a time. I can only suggest that you relax and stop worrying about it. Moreover, adjust your expectations. The sooner you do so the easier it will be for you in the long term. Do the uncomfortable. Undoubtedly, you will be spending time with Lena. Always invite your children to join but never force. Welcome them but do not expect to follow. Don't do anything that puts boys over Lena. Go ahead and enjoy your life.	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-07-25 02:37:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Parents' visas approval!	Yay! My parents' visas were approved today! And I didn't even have my own interview yet! My fiancé sent the invitations for them, saying how important it is for us to have them over for the wedding and I filled out the forms for them. The CO asked about my age and my fiance's age, asked whether my parents have more kids (and I have a brother) and then he asked a couple of questions about my brother and that's it! Didn't even look at any of the paperwork proving their ties to Russia I haven't heard this.. Parents got approved for B2s ahead of the K-1 visa interview. Awesome! Glad for you! Times are changing. Seems to me you're almost done. Just need to show up and re-do your bio digital 'identifiers' for US-VISIT. Have a wonderful fingerscans tomorrow! S Bogom..	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-07-27 13:34:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Alla Graduates, Finally!	Congratulations! Molodets, Alla! Linguistics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics in SL acquisition, other related fields - it's all super difficult for me. My brain does not work in this direction.	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-07-29 12:49:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	One year married to the most amazing woman!	Happy Paper Anniversary! Make each moment a happy one until your Golden/Diamond	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-07-31 13:32:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Ready, Set, Go !!!!	Skoro vsyo budet, narod !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A kto somnevalsya?! I'm glad for you! I would suggest this - let her get only necessary stuff (memories in a head, love in a heart - ready, set, go!) and leave everything behind. She'll realize soon that 'that everything=50kg was baraxlo'. Did you tell her how many Russian book stores in LA? She would not loose/change her identity w/o that 'part' We're a week behind. But I'm happy, too!	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-07-27 21:02:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	I'm no longer married to a Ukrainian!	Congratulations!! Ukraine lost another beautiful Ukrainian woman!	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-07-08 09:03:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	ONA is in the States!	?? in the USA! Congratulations & best wishes! Take advantage of everything America offers. There's nothing you can’t accomplish.	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-08-11 14:22:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Sympathy Gifts	I'm telling you, you can't go wrong giving RUBbers money on any occasion. (Ellie-n-Vladimir, RUBbers is who we are here in the RUB forum. Russia, Ukraine, Belarus forum. Play on words = RUBbers. That's us!)	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-09-13 23:30:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Sympathy Gifts	RUBbers love money! RUBbers.. What was about? Like having no like or equal. They need money.. if they don't sit/eat/../sleep next to "yanukovich".. Even $100-200 would make a change. I couldn't imagine in my nightmares a friend of mine(!) sent me a card + a fruit basket + flowers ( too early, btw) , when my mom was dying.	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-09-12 16:15:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Sympathy Gifts	Hi All, Sadly, a Ukrainian friend of mine is about to lose a close relative. Normally I would send a fruit basket and a sympathy card send money	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-09-12 09:36:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Alive and Well	Hey everyone. I haven't been here since my baby came so I just wanted to say, for those who are interested, we are doing well. She is adjusting. I am adjusting. We are both adjusting but we are really, really happy and its almost been a month already =) Looking forward to continuing our journey..... Green Card, Work Permit, etc...... The worst is behind and that's all that matters =) Have a wonderful week !!! WELCOME HOME again! We're done w/ POE today. Everything is great. The rest you already know. Take care!	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-09-30 00:01:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	My Lady Has Been Approved	Congratulations! Soon you'll be able to re-unite and pursue happiness in the U.S.	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-10-26 16:25:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Here we go!	Alla has considered it but the process is so long and the pay is not impressive at all, she wonders why she should do all that for so little pay. I told her, "job security, benefits and retirement" She should consider. Isn't it a long-term contract? speaking about job security..	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-11-03 00:45:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Here we go!	The level of enthusiasm shown to a CO has absolutely nothing to do with the visa issuance. Anyone who's spent time around Russians ought to know enthusiasm is not a common trait, especially one shared with strangers. I would imagine COs are trained to look upon enthusiasm with suspicion as opposed to optimism. Russians shouldn't be excited to visit the US. Everyone knows Russia is so much better than America anyway! I know what you and Gary mean. When showing me enthusiasm, I'm a big sabotage	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-11-03 00:27:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Here we go!	The only requirements for a visitor visa are a valid reason to go and strong evidence to return. Neither of us are consular officers so our opinions mean exactly zero. However, an indifference and/or lack of interest in the USA would show no intent to immigrate and that's really what the visitor needs to display at the interview. Interest of any type - especially by the a young woman in a relationship with a LPR - could be construed as intent to immigrate and that's a big no no. I thought the only requirements for a visitor visa are an invitation & a valid international passport & strong ties with home country. No? This is no such a thing as 'a valid reason.' My sister-in-law, 33, got her 5-yr-visa 4 yrs ago. As for reasons, she said she wanted to see how I live , Pacific & Disney (a CO said, 'That's it?' Vera said, 'NO, also Yosemite, Monterey, Carmel, Stanford, Berkeley, and Muir Woods, and Tahoe, and.., and..', the CO raised her hand [stop!] and said, 'Go and see it'), while other hundred people left the consulate with refusals. Was it a valid reason? My ex's nephew, 26, born in the U.S., a student of JFK School of Government said that nothing shocked him so deeply during his substantive internship at the Moscow consulate last summer, but lack of interest & curiosity in people faces, who were interviewing for visitor visas. Edited by Ellie-n-Vladimir, 01 November 2011 - 11:49 PM.	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-11-01 23:48:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Here we go!	This would be good advice for a Fiance or IR/CR Visa, but not for a Visitor's visa. Remember that the all non-immigrant visa petioners are viewed as wanting to immigrate. It is up to petioner to prove otherwise. For the RUB's consulates, the good triple advice for a Fiance or IR/CR Visa is one and only - feelings & health & financial support. For B2s, please, dance. But don't show your 'no attitude_no-fish-no-meat_nothing'. IMO.	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-10-31 15:47:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Here we go!	Yeah, what's going on here? The only tip I would give her is for her during the interview to make it sound like, "ah, whatever. My boyfriend wants me to go with him< ......> Interested, but not too interested. She needs a reason to go back <....> Maybe even something like, "ha! The last thing I wanna do is go there to spend time with his mom!" If she gets interviewed by a chick, she'll get the visa for sure. "Girl, I know that's right. My man's momma is a biaatch." If it's a guy, she'll probably get it too. "I can't believe she's so indifferent about all this but boy is she hot!" I somehow skipped Slim's reply.. And read it just now. This is a big mistake.. If I were that chick and heard "whatever, he wants me to go", I would send her jump off Everest. Why the hell she needs a visa to the U.S..?? I would not issue people visas with 'ah, whatever' attitude. She does need to show her interest. - YES, I want to know more about my boyfriend's parents. - YES, YES, I want to go and see how they live. Dasha has already tons of evidences to return back (Sergey's leave is her main evidence) The only thing she needs is to make them open a file w/ the evidences by: - having a positive attitude - having a face like 'can't keep my eyes off' - having a voice like "can't stop listening to" - demonstrating an interest to Sergey's family!! - providing concrete and clear answers - NOOOO 1000+1 fables ..and the visa will be in her pocket!	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-10-31 14:38:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Here we go!	Here is what I asked my step daughter to prepare for the interview in Kiev. We also hope she'll visit us this winter. Invitation for 14 days , from mm/dd/yyyy to mm/dd/yyyy. Letter from a college that states duration of the winter break, mm/dd/yyyy to mm/dd/yyyy, in synch with the invitation. Evidence that she will promote higher education opportunities by visiting and pitching the college to 9 local high schools. Letters from schools that events are scheduled on March-April, 2012. Evidence that she will represent the college at various promotional events as 1 of 3 students on a student panel for the counselor luncheon, attending by 55 high school counselors. Her college sports & activities. Some competitions and tournaments scheduled on March, 2012. Enrollment for master’s program. Part-time job. Tutoring high school students on ZNO prep. Letters from parents. Ownership of property. Notice to the on-campus dorms she'll be leaving for 14 days.	Ellie-n-Vladimir	Female	Ukraine	2011-10-30 12:28:00