biggish data

More Interview Evidence questions

You have some time yet to work with. The big thing is the mood of the C/O and your credibitily as a couple.

This is my second K-1. On the first she went in with Dozens of photos from my 4 trips, print outs and a listing that showed 2000 SMS messages with print outs of maybe 150. Reciepts for flowers I had sent for Valentines and Woman's day and with me standing out front waiting. She got what she described as a nasty C/O and came out with a 221-G instead of the visa. I was so sure of our relationship that I was shocked that they did not believe it. I furnished some phone records and more photos and we were able to get the visa 3 weeks later.

For this one our interview is next Tuesday. She will be gettng on a plane for Moscow in 4 hours. We have spend 4 months together in the year we have known each other. We have lots of photos and are going in with about 100 e-mails and an engagement ring receipt. I am a little worried that we have no phone records. We can talk endlessly in person and never run out of things to say but neither of us likes talking on the phone very much and the few times I did call which for some reason did not seem to show up on my phone bill it was a struggle to understand each other through all the static. There are some things they could question about the e-mails which concerns me.

I had planned to make some phone calls just for the interview but we were on A/R at NVC for 5 months and spent the summer together in the Caribbean and found out about the interview while there. When we returned to our homes we only had 3 weeks to get ready for the interview and there was not enough time to make calls and get a phone bill.

For us, we have a pretty large age difference and that always makes them look closer for fraud. If you have nothing that will make them look harder and she does not miss any of the questions you will likely be ok. If it were me I would send each other a few dozen romantic e-mails and print them out and I would pick a month or two and make some phone calls.

Personally I am rating our chances at about 70% when they should be 95% or better. I will say that doing this the second time does let you know more of what to expect.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-08 13:31:00

Best of Luck with interview Novotul

Good Luck Novotul! I am sure it will go well and we are all pulling for you.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-11 06:54:00

Address Questions

Since it was not asked for I did not put the postal code but I worried about that for a long time after. It did not seem to be a problem. If I had it to do over I think I would have put it in since I think that is what they use to send the packet 3/4

I remember having the same problem with the middle name. Russians do have some long names don't they. I don't recall exactly how I did it. I typed my applicaton on a manual typewriter and don't recall if I moved it up a space to squeze it in above or hand wrote that with narrow letters. I did get it in without a suplimental sheet. Maybe someone else has some answers on that.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-11 15:11:00

Address Questions

That is what I remember too. For the initial filing you need a copy of your birth certificate and any divorce decress. For the interview she needs her birth certificate. A translated copy of it and needs to have an original of your birth certificate with her in case they ask to see it. They usually don't but once in a while they do. Anyway, you have time on that.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-11 06:58:00

I spent the better part of a night in the train station in Kiev in the winter and will say it was one of the more miserable nights of my life. SVO though is quite comfortable and safe. Lots of police, lots of fellow travelers, restaurants and stores open all night and benches that are fairly comfortable. The lights get a little bright but otherwise it is not a bad place to spend the night.

The other thing too is the the railway stations are in town and there are somewhat affordable hotels nearby. The airport is out in the sticks with few affordable hotels in the area. I would not like to see my fiancee staying in the train station but the airport does not bother me as long as she is content and willing.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-12 17:26:00

I don't think it is a matter of caring. We all care. I also don't think it is a matter of affording her. My fiancee has camped out a few nights at SVO and I believe one night at Charles DeGaule. I have camped out at SVO myself and in the airport at Bangkok waiting for her.

My fiancee is smart enough to know if she stayed at an airport hotel at a cost of a months income for her (even though I would be paying) that she is not spending my money, she is spending our money. I offered to have her stay in a hotel she did not want to waste the money and refused. I admire that she cares about not wasting our money.

I don't see anything wrong with feeling your man should take care of you and make sure you are comfortable. My philosophy is a little different. I think you have x amount of money to work with. If you use it wisely you can do much more with it. My fiancee and I have spent about 25% of the time we have known each other together. We have been places like Thailand, Egypt and Sochi and we spent the biggest part of the summer together in the Caribbean. If she were the type who felt she needed to stay at expensive airport hotels, to fly first class to our meetings to stay in 5 star hotels everywhere we went, to eat only at the finest restaurants and drink the most expensive wines then we would have been able to spend far less time together. We had wonderful trips that would have been impossible if she thought not going first class was not affording her.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-12 17:04:00

I would hate to see my fiancee camping at the train station (she has needed to camp out at SVO a few times) but using MOM can save a lot of time. Our interview was Tuesay. With AOM she would have had to have the physical on Saturday at the latest which means she would have had to come in on Friday, exam on Saturday, pick up results Monday, Interview Tue, go home tue night. As it was she came in on Sunday, exam on Monday, start home on Tusday night. She had two nights in the apartment vs. 4 nights.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-12 14:12:00

Congratulations on the successful interview and best wishes for the future. When I was there two years ago with my first fiancee the interviews were done at what sounds like the same place as now. To the far right where there is a metal picket fence and a small guard house. The gals came out the doors to the left of that that looked like the exit for a restaurant to me. That was I believe July 27th 05

Anyway, congratulations and best wishes for a happy life together.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-12 10:40:00

Sounds like confirmation to me. Someone in the Embassy should get off their fanny and update the website.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-15 15:27:00

1. Nothing was said Tuesday about the police report needing to be translated.

2. The website still says nothing about the police report needing to be translated.

My guess is they are changing to process and not enforcing it yet. Are you sure the packet said "police report and it's translation into English" and not just that all documents must be translated? Are you sure it did not say if it was in a language other than Russian or English it needed to be translated? I am not doubting you but will feel more sure when someone confirms it. Sometimes people can misread things and many have misread the police report part in the past.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-15 13:58:00

QUOTE (Blues Fairy @ Sep 14 2007, 07:57 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've just received my Packet 3/4 and the pink instruction page does state the translation for police report is necessary.

Perhaps they are starting to change the procedure but not enforcing the rules too much yet.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-14 07:11:00

Here are the instructions on the US Embassy in Moscow's website as of this minute.

Original birth certificate, photocopy and translation into English.

Police certificates in all names as well as all dates of birth ever used. Police certificate must contain references to each place (subject to the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation) in which the applicant lives or has lived for more than six months since attaining the age of 16. This includes localities where applicants have lived during university studies. If the applicant was on military service, he/she should bring the certificate from the local draft board. If an applicant has lived abroad for more than one year, a police certificate must also be submitted from the country in which he/she lived. Police certificate validity is one year since the date of issuance.

Evidence of termination of prior marriage(s) (if applicable), original, photocopy and translation into English.
Please note that there is no mention of a translation of the police certificate.

It does not need translated.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-13 23:03:00

If This is of any use as a starting point it is the Moscow (and Kiev) part of the K-1 guide I did for the other forum. Perhaps someone would like to use this as a starting point, we can talk about changes or addtions and repost it and get it as a sticky. Look it over and see what you think.

THE FOREIGN EMBASSY LEVEL

Once your file arrives in Moscow (or Kiev), You need to be making your final preparations. The Police report that is required sometimes takes a while to get. It is good for one year from the date it is issued so getting it early is a good idea.

The procedure is different for each Embassy. Many Embassies have a packet 3 and a packet 4. Kiev does it that way but Moscow combines them. Those using the Kiev embassy will receive a packet 3 and a check list. Once she returns the KEV-1 form notifying them she is ready they will set an interview date usually in 4-5 weeks. Moscow will send a packet with the date already assigned.

For Moscow the online K-1 Visa Schedule is at http://moscow.usemba...r/wwwhci10.html

Ukraine does not post he schedules online but more information can be obtained at
http://kiev.usembassy.gov

She will need to provide the following at the interview.

1. A valid International Passport with a photocopy of the first page. They will keep this and return it with the visa fixed inside.

2. An original birth certificate with along with a photocopy and an English translation.

3. A police report in all names as well as all dates of birth ever used. Police certificate must contain references to each place in which the applicant lives or has lived for more than six months since attaining the age of 16.

4. Evidence of termination of prior marriage (if applicable), original, photocopy and translation into English.

5. Accompanying child requires a valid passport (or may be included in the parent's passport), a birth certificate and a medical examination. If a child is 16 years of age or over, police certificates are required. Translations of the indicated documents are required as well.

6. (3) black-and-white or color photos taken against a white or off - white background (5 x 5 sm) for visa which are basically passport style photos.

7. (3) photos of passport size for medical exam.

8. Visa application fee of $100 (or the ruble equivalent) per person, payable at the Embassy on the day of interview. Must be in cash.

9. A new letter of intent to marry from both addressed to the Embassy.

10. Documents confirming relationship: photos of Petitioner and Beneficiary together, letters to each other, phone bills, airplane tickets, emails, etc.

11. Results of Medical Examination in a sealed envelope. (clinic info following)

12. A prepaid DHL mailer. (There is a DHL office on the lower level of the building to the right of the north entrance of the US Embassy in Moscow. Ukraine applicants need a FedEx mailer and it can be purchased at the Embassy at the time of the interview.

There is information that she will need from you at the time of the interview. They include:

1. A letter from your employer stating position, salary, likelihood of your continued employment.
2. A letter from your bank stating your balance, your average balance, how long you have had your account (or the last 12 months bank statements)
3. A copy of the last year’s tax return if you are an employee or the last three years returns if you are self employed.
4. W-2’s for the last year.
5. Three consecutive recent pay stubs.
6. I-134 Affidavit of Support, signed and notarized.
7. A new letter of intent to marry addressed to the Moscow embassy.

American Embassy Moscow
Consular Section
21 Novinskiy Bulvar
123242 Moscow
Russia

U.S. Embassy Consular Section
Immigrant Visa Section
6 Pimonenko Street
01901 Kiev
Ukraine

AFTER THE INTERVIEW

She should receive her visa in about one week following the interview. The embassy always will tell you not to buy any airline tickets until after the visa is in hand. That is very good advice. Problems and delays can happen.

POSSIBLE PROBLEMS.

1. Visa denial! With K-1 visa applications denials are not common. It can happen but usually only when they believe visa fraud is probable.

2. 221-G (also called intent to deny) This is a blue slip when something is lacking in the interview. It may be a form that is missing or that they are not convinced you have proven a continuing relationship. Usually the 221-G will spell out what they want or what they want more proof of. You have 60 days to produce the evidence and it can be dropped of at the 221-G box at the north gate of the Moscow embassy from 2-4 pm any working day or mailed to the embassy. If you fail to provide proof it becomes a denial and the file is returned to NVC where you may appeal. Instructions for Kiev are printed on the 221-G

3. Administrative processing / Administrative Review. Something that has been happening more frequently since the IMBRA laws have been passed has been a long delay between the interview and mailing the visa which is caused by FBI security checks not being completed. This delay can be weeks or months. It can also occur at the NVC level if either name gets a hit on any of the data bases the check. Delays at the NVC level can be much longer. Currently there are 235,000 cases in A/R with 65 % lasting more than 90 days and 38% taking more than one year.

MEDICAL EXAMS

The clinics approved for K-1 visa applications from Russia are

International Organization for Migration, telephone (7-095) 797-8723,
AO Meditsina, telephone (7-095) 250-9186 or 250-8899.
Children's Hospital no. 1, Vladivostok. Tel. (4232) 40-13-35 or (4232) 45-24-26.

IOM has results the same day and is $ 90.00. AOM has results the following morning and is $ 100.00. The reports are that people are treated much better at AOM

The clinic approved for K-1 visa applications from Ukraine are:

Clinic for Oil-Refining Industry of Ukraine
9, Spusk Protassov Yar
Kyiv, Ukraine
Telephone: 044-244-8941, 044-277-4181

Per-person fee for a medical exam is no more then $75 for adults and children. The Clinic performs medical examinations any

Working day (Monday through Friday), between 8.00am and 12.00pm.

TIP, Have her ask for a copy of her vaccination records. It will save you time and money in the USA later.
ONCE THE VISA IS APPROVED.

Once the visa is approved she has 180 days to come to the United States and 90 days to either get married or return to her country. She can not leave the country during this time. Do not plan a marriage or honeymoon in the Bahamas or Mexico or make any plans to leave the country.

About 2-3 weeks after she arrives you should apply for a social security number for her. Once you are married you must apply for AOS (adjustment of Status)

IMBRA - HOW IT AFFECTS THE K-1 VISA

As part of the Violence against women act the International Marriage Broker Act of 2005 (IMBRA) went into effect on March 6th of 2006

The parts of the law that affect the K-1 visa include new disclosure regulations that require K-1 visa petitions to provide information on his criminal convictions for specified crimes, including violent offenses, domestic abuse and sexual assault.

At the interview the fiancée is given a pamphlet on domestic abuse and any criminal background in your record is discussed with her. Her being unaware of episodes in your life is grounds for denial of the visa application.

For the first time there are now limitations placed on the filing of K Visa petitions. There are two types of limits.

You are allowed only two K-1 visas in your lifetime.

You can not apply for a K-1 visa for a different fiancée within two years of the filing of a previously approved K-1 visa.

The option to apply for a third visa or for a visa within 2 years of the previous application is to petition homeland security for a visa waver. This is done with the K-1 visa application and is basically a letter giving all the statistical information and providing a reason you should be granted a waver. The examples provided by the USCIS are rather harsh.

Until spring 2007 visa wavers seemed to be automatic. Now there are starting to be denials of K-1 visa applications with wavers included. Obtaining an approval with a waver may become much more difficult as time passes and the guidelines for the new laws are implemented. It is far better to be sure when doing a K-1 visa.

Here are some links with more information:

Here is a blog with a lot of good information about IMBRA

http://usaimmigratio...cleus/index.php

Here is a link to the actual law.

http://usaimmigratio...s/IMBRA2005.pdf

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-07-26 08:06:00

I think you would find to be really complete it takes a lot of work. I did one for another forum and it was not easy. The forum I did it for is a general forum for men in relationships with Russian Women and I did thier offical guide to the k-1 visa. After I finished I kept thinking of so many things I missed that I could have spent a few more hours on it but it is pretty complete.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-07-25 20:58:00

I think we are all a bunch of nearvous ninnys sometimes and I agree the wording on the embassy website is not clear. I do agree with city. The police report does not need to be translated. For the record on my first K-1 the police report was not translated and I had no problems with it. When we have our interview in Sept her police report also will not be translated. I have read a lot of posts here and never heard of anyone in the Russia section (or any other) getting a 221-G over a police report translation.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-07-25 05:29:00

Thanks Slim, We are working on the details of her comming her now and I am sure we will have a wonderful life together. I am going to post some of her actual words and advice about the interview in case it helps someone. Here she is.

**************************************

Today, finally DHL delivered me my visa!!! So all my worries got out of my head and I became able to analyze the past event – the interview.
I have some conclusions which (I hope) may help somebody.
1. It would be better if woman thinks of the C/O as of a wizard who may give her authorization to get beside her beloved, not as of an enemy who wants to refuse her request of visa. The more positive attitude about the C/O your fiancee has, the more chance she will make a good impression on the C/O and the more serene she will feel during the interview. The C/Os are professional psychologists, so if your relationship is build on love or at least a sincere bond they will easy understand and see that fact.

2. It could be good thing if you send to your fiancee the possible questions the C/O may ask her. It will help her to understand what she should talk with the C/O about to help him/her to make a positive decision. I could advise all women to formulate answers to the all possible questions and speak out loud to herself, the day before the interview.

3. When C/O asks your fiancee questions about your relationship and you, she should look for the opportunity to tell him more than the C/O asks her. I was at the embassy two times; I was a witness of more than 10 interviews. I have impression that in most cases, the more brief answer a woman gives to, the more questions she has to answer. The more questions C/O asks, the bigger chance one of the question will be difficult.
When the C/O asked me – has Turbo been in Russia? I did not answer the brief “Yes, he had been.” I added how many times he visited me in Russia; how many meeting we had; how much time we have spent face to face; why we have had pleasure of spending time together; what we have in common; what qualities I like best about Turbo, etc…it was very easy for me to formulate and speak out the information so as all these questions are in the list of the possible questions.

A little bragging… I passed the interview in English! After question “Do you speak English?” there were NOT more Russian words in our conversation.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-17 16:28:00

QUOTE (IrinaNMike @ Sep 15 2007, 02:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Our late congratulations also. I remember well the struggles you went through two years ago, because we were four months behind you and getting prepared ourselves. Whatever happened to a certain Consul? (I'm sure you remember who). He seems to have vanished ...

Yes, even though I never met him I will never forget him. I don't think he is there anymore. The one she had this week was very pleasant and smily and only asked 4 questions and did not even ask to see photos or e-mails.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-15 14:02:00

Of course Sid and Nancy, Thank you very much.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-12 22:00:00

QUOTE (Neonred @ Sep 12 2007, 12:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Turboguy and congrats.

A little late with the congrats for you two as we have been very busy with preparing for our return to Russia. My wife arrived here 18 months ago and is excited to return to see her daughter and friends. We were waiting (6 months) for the Russian embassy to renew her passport and add her new family name to the passport. Got word last week that it is on the way and when we were able to confirm that with a FedEx tracking number we immediately worked on getting tickets.

She leaves next Wednesday for just over a month and I will follow to join her in October. A lot of shopping needs to be done now.....gifts for everyone!

Oh, and if you make it down to Florida this winter give us a shout.

I am sure she will be happy going back for a while and I am sure you will both have a wonderful trip. I am happy to hear it is all working out. We will be down in Florida the tail end of January and back in Mid Febuary. If you have time and are around we would be happy to try to meet up with you. I am sure we would both enjoy that a lot. Looking forward to hearing about your trip back to Russia.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-12 17:31:00

I agree Slim, People waste a lot of time and money getting the police report translated and it is not neccessary. I did not get mine done for either of the K-1's I have done.

The things I worried about in advance of our interview was first we do have a lot of age difference and sometimes that makes them do a tougher interview. Second, Our e-mail's could have looked a little suspicious. They were legit but she had her e-mail host loose all my e-mail to her but had copied everything to a word file but something like that could be faked. In her e-mails to me, I had printed about 50 for them but she had trial software on her computer and kept resetting her computer for October 06 to keep it active and all her e-mails to me were dated October 06 which worried me. We had no phone records. I had spent a lot of time making a nice but compact photo album. I did the cover page in Photo Shop and it was a collage of photos from our meetings with a list of our meetings in large type right in the middle. Inside were photos, boarding passes for both. Hotel reservations in both names, all very well organized and easy to follow. Even with all the work I put into that I am just as happy that they did not even look at the photos or e-mails.

Here is a copy of my fiancee's letter to me about the interview.
*****************
I leave my things at the apt. and went to look for the clinic where next day I should had medical. There was very heavy rain and wind and cold. I was walking there and thought I am lucky I took
with me warm cloth and umbrella despite in my city the weather is sill good.

Next day, I went medical. I met in the clinic two women from Sant-Petersburg I got friendly with. One was 42y.o but very good looking. She was fiancee a Russian man who has lived in America 11 years and has American citizenship. Other was 70 y.o. and was a mother of a scientist who was invited in America to work 14 years ago. The mother was in America 3 times and now did a visa to stay there. Both of the women said me my interview should go smoothly so as I am communicative, always smiling and in general I did very good impression on them. I showed the women where the embassy
is and we paid for DHL. At evening I pretended that I am on the interview and I answered all the questions you send me to check if I remember everything. Especially well I knew answers foe such a questions like - what do you have with your fiancee in common? Which nature in him you love and why?

Oh, my darling now I know why some use the term - Smoking-hot-kova when they speak about RW. So many smoking women on street as I saw at Moscow during the three day I had not seen during the rest of my passed life. Almost all of the women went on street or staid on bus- stop places and smoking. you will never see something similar in my city.

Embassy. There were a lot of people in line to embassy but there were about 17 numbers who like me were gonna stay in America. There were 5 fiancees, one Russian family with daughter born in America, a man, and about 10 old people. A half of the people passed interview before me. Some of them (mostly old people or couple) 3-4 numbers did not meet approval but they were not rejected either. They will have to come to the embassy again with documents they did not bring this time.

I very quickly got it friendly with two fiancée at embassy. One was a slim 36 y.o. woman and she was going to marry Russian- American man who she met at a restaurant four years ago. Other was a pretty, well-shaped, 38y.o. Moscow woman (English knowledge was zero). She was going to marry a 15 years older American man. She was so much lovely, nice, that I looked at her and thought why many men want young women when there are such lovely women as she was.

The consol who interviewed me was a man. I was happy with it. He, as a man did not see anything suspicious about our age gap. He asked me in VERY amicable way and with a charming smile four questions; 1-Do you speak English? 2-How are you? 3-Why your first relationship with American man
did not work out? 4- Have your fiancée ever been in Russian? When he listened to my answer # 4 he looked like he was sorry he asked me the question. So as instead of saying simply - yes, I told him a half of our history. I just decided I better tell him as much as possible in order to he did not ask any
more question. It did work out. He did not ask any more questions. He even did not fine it needed to see the photo album you made or our letters or other evidence of our relationship. After I stopped answering the question # 4 he said you will received your visa during one week. And I happily
went home.

*************************

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-12 10:30:00

Thanks Agpk, Kotenochek & Groov,

Agpk, We did NOT have the police report translated despite my translators instance that it was required. To the best of my knowlege it did not cause a bit of problem and I am quite sure it does not need to be translated.

Groov, I don't have any firm plans yet and have not discussed this with her yet but I think we would both enjoy a couple of long weekend excursions before winter sets in. My thoughts are one to the DC area and one to the NYC area. I appreciate your offer and when our plans are a little more firm I will pm you here or at RWD and if you two are available and still willing we would like that. I have been to NYC enough times to know a few things but it is a complex enough city that there is far more that I do not know than do. I have never been to Brighton Beach myself and would enjoy that and of course she has never seen any of it and should really enjoy it.

Once winter hits I will likely limit the travels to my business trips which will let us spend some of the colder parts of winter in Florida, Vegas and California which does help pass the long winter days.

Thanks again to everyone for the nice comments.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-11 22:16:00

Thanks Slim, Satelite, CountCet, Rus, GoGal, Wissooner, Malinka and everyone. I am still walking on air.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-11 15:05:00

QUOTE (Blues Fairy @ Sep 11 2007, 04:39 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Turbo, great news! Congratulations and best wishes for a long and happy life together!

My turn is coming in six weeks.

Thanks Blues Fairy. I am sure it will go well and we both wish you the best. I will be watching for your results here too and I am sure yours will go well. I think you and Irina share the quality that you both are good communicators and that is a big help.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-11 04:06:00

QUOTE (novotul @ Sep 11 2007, 04:15 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Congratulations, Turboguy, on your fiance's successful interview. I hope we have a similar experience tomorrow!

I will be looking for your report and hoping it goes as well for you. I guess there are a lot of night owls. It is nearly 4:30 AM and I am wide awake and too excited to sleep. I stayed up until 2:30 and then laid down with the phone next to me watching constantly for the message. I got back up a few minutes ago since I am too excited to even think about sleep. Novotul, I am sure yours will go fine too and I am looking for you to the next in line for congratualations.

I won't have any details on the interview until she gets home and since she will be flying all night she may be too tired to update me immediately but when I know more about how it went and what they asked her I will post it.

John. Thanks for the good wishes and for the interest you took. I really appreciate it. It has been a long wait and a bit of a struggle at times but I think I agree with the saying all's well that ends well and I think we are going to have a very happy life together. Sometimes when you have to go through difficulties it helps you appreciate what you have and I think the long wait we had in A/R makes us apprecaite everything even more if that is possible.

Edited by Turboguy, 11 September 2007 - 03:29 AM.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-11 03:26:00

YAHOOOOOOOOOOO. I got the word at 3:03 AM. The visa was approved. I guess I can go to bed now but I don't think sleeping will be very easy.

Groov, We have not worked out the details. We decided not to make any plans or arrangements until the visa is in hand. Since she is way out in Barnaul I would expect that to be about a week. I would think she would need some time to wrap up things there. My guess is she will fly here in about 2-3 weeks.

We will likely do some sight seeing up in the big apple in the next few months and we would be happy to buy you and your wife some lunch if you happen to be free.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-11 02:34:00

QUOTE (Kotenochek @ Sep 10 2007, 07:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

so what are the news did you get approved?

Not yet, She should be standing in front of the Embassy right now waiting to go in. I am looking for a message in another 3 hours and will stay up and wait for it.

Thanks John! Thanks Sid!

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-10 22:22:00

Thanks Slim, BluesFairy and CountCet. 8 hours and counting till the doors open at the embassy for them.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-10 15:23:00

Thanks everyone. We are at 15 hours and counting for her interveiw. By the time I am able to uncross my fingers I may be perminantly crippled.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-10 08:02:00

Thanks John,

Yes, about 31 hours to go. This is my second K-1. The first time I was totally confident that we had a good relationship and lots of evidence. We were joking the night before and if she seemed nervous I would say "Piece of Cake", It was a new expression in English for her and we were laughing about it. I stood outside the Embassy. One of the other guys fiancee's from here SpaDude who I have not seen on here for ages also had her interview and they came out together but only SpaDudes fiancee got the visa. We got a 221-G instead but did get the visa a few weeks later.

This time I am not confident at all. We have lots of evidence and my fiancee knows about as much about my life as my mother does so there is nothing they are going to ask that she won't have the answer for. After spending 5 months in A/R I got adjusted to the pesimistic side of things and I am usually a total optimist.

We started off with bad luck in the time we spent in A/R and then I am not sure if finding out on Friday the 13th that your interview is 9/11 is good or bad but one way or the other I will just keep my hopes up and believe it when the visa is in her hands.

Thanks for the good wishes. As soon as I know anything I will post it. She is going to send me an SMS as soon as she comes out of the Embassy. I do appreciate the good wishes and support. Thanks.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-09 19:42:00

Money transfer from Russia to USA

Wiring the money might be the easiest way. The other option you might look at is e-moneygram. It is just like western union except a fraction of the cost. I would guess they are about 1/3 or 1/4th the price. You could probably send a few thousand cheaper than a wire. They don't have quite as many locations as Western Union but there are more than enough that finding one should not be hard. In my gals hometown there are 3 moneygram places vs maybe 20 WU but fortunately one of the 3 is more conveniently located than any of the WU locations.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-09 12:52:00

Interview

I wish you the best of luck as well. Don't sweat it. If they will give a visa to us they will give one to anyone.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-13 16:29:00

QUOTE (novotul @ Sep 22 2007, 03:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Turbo,
That's if you can get a mortgage.

That is what I think too. I believe the dishonest people can afford nice housing but for the average working Russian he can not and the only thing that helps is when they have inherited an apartment.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-22 14:26:00

I agree but if an apartment is a million and the mortgage interest rate is around the 20% that I believe it is how do you make the payments on a salary of $ 1000 a month. Off the top of my head the mortgage payments would be about $ 5000 a month.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-22 09:24:00

I think you brought up a good point about the cost of housing in Russia. Yes, salaries have increased dramatically but so have expenses and particulalry the costs of apartments. It is nice to be making a thousand or so a month there but when a nice apartment can go for a million what good does it do you if you need a place to live?

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-21 21:36:00

QUOTE (Sid and Nancy @ Sep 20 2007, 11:49 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (Satellite @ Sep 20 2007, 06:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I might be wrong on this, but there seems to be a direct correlation between how many international marriage broker websites a country is associated with and how much fraud there is.

I for one don't understand the mentality of people who post their profiles on a marriage brokerage site. I mean, come on, if a woman (or a man) explicitly states that she/he wants to marry a foreigner, isn't it obvious that this has nothing (or very little) to do with looking for love?

(gee, hope I didn't start anything bad on here...)

I'd say there's a lot less fraud in Russia now than 10 years ago though. I think Sat just doesn't like Russia that much

Is there that much difference between someone putting thier profile on "A Pretty Woman" or "Bride.ru" and an American putting theirs on Match.com or joining eHarmony. Why is looking for love any different if you are have had trouble finding a person who lives close to you and are open to a good person from anywhere. Yes, some want out of Russia but there are women with lising all over South America, asia and other countries as well and spending much time at VJ you see romances from Canada and all over Europe as well. The first foreign romance catalog I ever saw in my life which was before many of you were born was mostly with people (mostly women) from Germany, England and other western European Countries.

I can agree with Satelite (who could disagree with such an amazing background and experiences anyway) There are reasons to want to get out of Russia but life there is not as bad as it was and can be very good for some. I think the days of desperate women are in the past.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-21 06:09:00

I would imagine you can go in the embassy but not the part where the interviews are conducted. I think to go in you probably would have to have some business there. I am sure if you lose your passport you could go in the other part and take care of that while she is having her interview. The oval office is american soil too but I don't think you will get in there either.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-19 07:16:00

QUOTE (dkrivosheyev @ Sep 19 2007, 12:06 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Did anyone try to attend the interview with your fiancee? I know it says on the Moscow website that no one is allowed to the interview, is it actually true? I know some other embassies allow USC to attend. Did anyone personally check this out for Moscow?

Thank you,

It is definately true. You have to wait outside. There is a decent cafe down the street while you wait. Usually they finish up between 10 and 12 depending on her order.

Turboguy

Male

Russia

2007-09-18 23:20:00