ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusShould I fly to Moscow for interview?

Should I fly to Moscow for interview?

If your fiancee is from a "deep village" in Russia I'd strongly recommend it. Many Russians from those villages have never been outside their home town, let alone to a big city like Moscow. So you guiding her along in Moscow and accompanying her to the US if all goes well might be worth the trip. But otherwise, it is not that important, because there is little you can do except incur a big expense for yourself trying to live like a westerner in Moscow.
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-07-29 09:46:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarusco-sponsor for Moscow interviews?
I've had good luck, but I don't think the system is based on luck. That would make it too unreliable, unpredictable and too many people would be upset with the inconsistent result. A proper co-sponsor who meets all the requirements of the sponsor should not be rejected as part of meeting the financial support burden.
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-08-07 11:18:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusAny Sci-Fi fans?
You can also download the sequel through:
http://www.sharereac...nfo.cgi?id=3936
Which will require you to have a P2P network like:
http://www.shareaza.com/

Edited by Satellite, 30 July 2006 - 10:40 PM.

SatelliteMaleRussia2006-07-30 22:39:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusAny Sci-Fi fans?
I'm not a big fan of Sci-Fi, but ?????? ????? was actually shown in the movie theaters a few months ago in San Francisco. It had English subtitles. We went simply because I had never seen a Russian movie in an American movie theater.
http://imdb.com/title/tt0409904/
http://imdb.com/title/tt0403358/
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-07-26 15:05:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusIs Relationship a Secret in RUS?
The only explanations I can think of is her age and immaturity. Also perhaps there is a huge age difference between you two and she is ashamed of it. And finally perhaps she is just concerned about general criticism of her relationship with you.
But otherwise as Chris Rock said, "If you've been dating a guy for 4 months and haven't met any of his friends, you are not his girlfriend."
Applies reciprocally.
http://www.quehubo.c...ex.php?&page=92
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-08-01 16:30:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusGoing rate for a U.S. tourist visa in Moscow

To be fair, the questions are all very benign and are all ones required on the form to get a visa for Russia, so in itself, is nothing to get uptight about.

Well not exactly.
Here is what the Russian Consulate site says concerning their form and former supplemental form.
"Why a special form for US citizens? Effective April 1, 2004, US citizens applying for Russians visas should submit to the Consulate a new application form. The new form is implemented on the basis of reciprocity with the US side and replaces the previous standard application form and the supplemental form."
http://www.consulrus.....20US citizens?
By the way, they also charge $100 based on reciprocity.

Edited by Satellite, 03 August 2006 - 09:05 AM.

SatelliteMaleRussia2006-08-03 09:05:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusGoing rate for a U.S. tourist visa in Moscow

Usually they give 1 year B2 Multy-visa.

I disagree, usually they give nothing!
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-07-19 15:05:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusPassport problem

...if the girls here don't like you, they won't like you over there either.

I got to disagree with you on this one. It's the whole reason mail order brides from Russia is so successful in the eyes of American men. Or at least the girls there will pretend to like you until they receive a financial or immigration benefit from you :P
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-08-15 18:55:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusPassport problem
Slim,
You are too harsh on Cam. For all you know he could be picked up by a nice sincere girl who speaks decent English and will be with him 100% of the time and not expose him to the men in track suits.
But I doubt it :P
So am I the only one who did just fine in Russia without that book? But I'm almost a local so that doesn't count.
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-08-15 12:03:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusHow long for the police certificates?
We got our police certificate in under two weeks from the Tomsk regional office. My fiancee at the time only resided in one place since the age of 16.
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-08-01 16:22:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belaruspolice certificate
I believe you request a police certificate from where ever place you are currently residing at in compliance with Russian registration laws. From there, it is up to the police services to issue a proper police certificate stating or not stating her unregistrered time during her university studies. I don't know what the actual application that your wife will fill out at the police station looks like, but you will list your addresses there. At the very worst she might have to pay a fine for not being registered, but don't lie on the G325A concerning those 5 years.
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-08-18 14:40:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusWhen do you receive the Visa?
In terms of what they say, my wife was told she would receive the visa in a few days and it was available for pick up in two days, although we got it on the third day.
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-08-11 19:03:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusRecent Moscow Interview Questions?

He smiled and said "well it is, but it isn't." So I guess we can think of it as a non-immigrant visa that usually is intended to lead to immigration.

I was just being techincal really. I've also heard K visas called dual intent visas, implies both a guest and immigrant status I suppose. Which in my opinion implies choice. Mention choice and a K visa and the majority of VJ members will pounce on you for visa fraud which I think is uncalled for. Simply because a letter of intent to marry treated as a contract to marry is unenforceable as against public policy.
And if we want to get really techinical we are paying only $100 for the "non-immigrant" visa instead of $330 for the "immigrant" visa.
And correcting the CO at the interview is probably not the best apporach anyway :P
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-08-19 21:35:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusRecent Moscow Interview Questions?

Do you understand that this is not a guest but an immigrant visa? ?? ?????????, ??? ??? ?? ????????, ? ?????????????? ?????

Somewho I doubt a CO would falsely misrepresent the K1 or K3, because both visas are classified as non-immigrant visas.
http://www.uscis.gov.../life081401.htm
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-08-19 16:08:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusRecent Moscow Interview Questions?

I actually work for USCIS. What do you think?

You actually work for the USCIS and you have questions concerning the process? That makes it a little disheartening. What area do you work for if it is not a secret?
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-08-18 14:44:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusRecent Moscow Interview Questions?

Does anyone have any interview questions from recent that they can share?

My fiancee was asked two years ago:
Has he met your parents and do they approve?
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-07-03 23:16:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusRecent Moscow Interview Questions?
If you don't get the temporary EAD, good until you are married or K1 expires which ever happens first, then it can be a pretty long time. We didn't go through JFK which is my understanding as the last POE that "sometimes or "upon request" will issue a temporary EAD. Without the temporary EAD you have to actually get married and apply for AOS along with your I-765 EAD. Then the processes could take anywhere from a few weeks to the maximum length which is 90+ days beyond the NOA1 for the I-765. Back when we did this we got our EAD the same day because our local office still did walkin appointments. But this was still after marriage and honeymoon. This is not the case anymore.
Even if you do pull of the temporary EAD through JFK you still need to wait about 2-4 weeks before the social security number arrives before she can start working. And at best you are looking at 2 months of "legal" work. Which beyond flipping burgers is a hard find. But then again any job still pays! After you get married and your temporary EAD expires you can no longer work and your employer "should" get in trouble for employing you. But don't forget that overstays and illegal work are both forgiven when marrying as US citizen and applying for AOS through that citizen. Just some things to keep in mind when you are making your final decisions.
Since the end of walkin appointments at local USCIS offices back in April of 2005 it has become nearly impossible to have a smooth transition from a JFK issued temporary EAD to a properly filed 1 year EAD. The gap in processing time is always greater than 1 day.
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-06-25 23:00:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusRecent Moscow Interview Questions?

We want to do it now, but it's probably better to wait about a month or two. The visa is good for six months for a reason. Sure it sucks to have to wait a few more months, but I would hate to bring her here and say "hi honey, welcome to America... now go to work."

Perhaps it would be better to bring her now and go through JFK and have her working within a few weeks? Together and working hard is still better than being apart. My wife was working side by side with me and literally got hired the day after her EAD came. Otherwise there is no way to survive on the income I have. Plus working in America sure helps improve conversational English which most Russians could use some help in.
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-06-24 11:39:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusRecent Moscow Interview Questions?

Talked to Elena a few hours ago..... interview passed!!!

Congratulations...It's about time :P
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-06-19 10:28:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusMedial facilities

Slim, can you get me the information on this? Olga has to go to Vladivostok to get her police certificates and this would be great for her to have the medical done there!

The information concerning the acceptable medical clinics is public and not hidden.
Check out
http://www.usembassy...record_id=ivmed
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-08-25 17:55:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusMedial facilities
We also went through MOM. No complaints. It was great having the results that same day. At the time I believe the cost was $85. Less days in Moscow, means less money wasted.
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-08-22 18:36:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusHotels
Before moving to her uncle's flat for two weeks we spent two nights at the cheapest hostel I could find called G&R Asia. It was $50 a night.
https://www.hostels.ru/asia/rates/
And their slogan was "Moscow memories last forever". They couldn't have been more right. In terms of how horrible the place was. But $100 is still big money for me. So we did the best we could.
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-08-26 10:23:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarustraveling to and from Russia with AP documents

Satellite, can we get this done in Moscow? an amendment to her external passport indicating that she also used my surname.?

I have no idea. I know the amendment was done at the consulate level here in the US. But we only did the amendment after she got her green card, I am not sure, but I think the green card is needed to show the other name.
In Moscow, I'd suspect they'd tell her to go through the long processes of changing the internal passport. Just a guess.

Edited by Satellite, 28 July 2006 - 01:02 AM.

SatelliteMaleRussia2006-07-28 01:02:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarustraveling to and from Russia with AP documents
I think you'll be the first on the Russian forum and you'll be able to tell us how it went. My wife for example traveled last winter but she had a green card and an amendment to her external passport indicating that she also used my surname. Tickets and passport in maiden name and green card in married name. She returned without any problems.
Good luck.
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-07-18 22:39:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusOverseas Cash Flow

I fear for anyone who would enter a relationship with anyone that is based on money.

This has been done for centuries. I guess we as a society have done alright. The whole marry for love concept is actually a modern trend.
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-08-24 18:16:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusOverseas Cash Flow

The website is outdated. The numbers come from the package sent by the embassy.

Is the state's department website also outdated?
http://travel.state....types_1263.html
I think you might be confusing the cost of the K1 non-immigrant visa with the CR1/IR1 immigrant visa which is $335 + $45 security surcharge.

Edited by Satellite, 23 August 2006 - 09:37 PM.

SatelliteMaleRussia2006-08-23 21:36:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusOverseas Cash Flow

Did you know that visa's now cost 360 bucks a pop? In my case I need 2 of them for my fiancee and her daughter. That's 720 dollars right there.

Where you getting these numbers from? Last time I checked you were doing a K1. Which is a non-immigrant visa and according to the US Embassy in Moscow the price is still $100.
"Please pay the application fee ($100 dollars for each applicant) ON THE DAY OF THE INTERVIEW only after an Embassy employee instructs you to do so."
http://moscow.usemba...cord_id=fiancee
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-08-23 14:30:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusOverseas Cash Flow

What has everyone done to get money over to their SO for visa, physical exam, plane fair etc?

I was there personally for this process and paid for it with cash on hand. I just combined my second visit with the end of the visa process and departure to America.
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-08-14 14:19:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusMoving personal effects from Russia to the US?
No experience with this. My wife came here with just one bag. Besides a few keep sakes items there was really nothing worth taking from Russia.
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-06-22 09:23:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusAnyone have experience with ESL schooling ?
I came to the US when I was 6. My parents dumped me off at the local public school. I spoke three words but in a few months had caught on. They had me attend some built in ESL 1 hour session everyday, but I quit that in a year or so because it was so boring.
How old is the child in question?
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-08-27 19:57:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusAny russian(american)- russian couples here?

quick question to those who left motherland: anybody ever got a visa to Russia with american passport without oficially surrendering russian citizenship (which is a lengthly, nasty, and expensive procedure)?
... probably not anyways... but doesn't hurt to ask

I was born in Latvia and stripped of Soviet Citizenship in 1988 for leaving as a refugee. But when I applied for my Russian visa with my US passport, because my birth place was the former USSR I had to bring in the old exit visa which allowed me to exist the country over 18 years ago! Because otherwise I didn't have any proof of absence of Russian citizenship, let alone surrendering it. So they can get pretty strict on this.
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-08-30 14:21:00
Russia, Ukraine and BelarusAny russian(american)- russian couples here?
I think it is me and one more fellow, Eva Malahova, but I came to the US when I was 6, so I am just as Americanized as everyone else except that I can speak fluent Russian with 1st grade abilities on reading and writing.
The process and processing times are exactly the same as for everyone else. Perhaps we get it easier at the interview, because langauge and cultural issues are not a concern to the interviewer.

Edited by Satellite, 24 August 2006 - 09:13 AM.

SatelliteMaleRussia2006-08-24 09:12:00
IMBRA Special TopicsMail-order brides in an Internet age

Actually IMBRA was not easily passed. It failed at least once to pass on it's own merits, and only passed because they attached it to the VAWA legislation which was guaranteed to pass.

I was giving my opinion on what a court would do in terms of evaluating IMBRA on a rational basis scrutiny. I was not commenting about the committee notes or legislative history of IMBRA itself. Sorry for the confusion.

Edited by Satellite, 03 November 2006 - 03:00 PM.

SatelliteMaleRussia2006-11-03 14:58:00
IMBRA Special TopicsMail-order brides in an Internet age

I don’t think you have any reason to challenge my right to do so.

Last time I checked, an immigration benefit is a privilege and not a right. Therefore, taking it to its logical extreme, you cannot have a right to marry if that means your right to marry will abridge US sovereignty in terms of letting someone in that the US government feels should not be here. Similarily a corporation does not have the right to sponsor any immigrant worker it needs. (Corporations are deemed persons under the 5th and 14th Amendments).
We can argue day and night about how we will determine who is eligible to come and who is not. That is not the issue. But once that determination is made, your right to marry cannot trump US sovereignty. Thus, if one of the criteria for not letting someone in is done for the benefit of the foreigner, i.e. to make sure they don't enter a relationship with a US citizens who has "abused" the immigration "privileges" with too many K visas or has a criminal background, then so be it. Not happy with that, you can vote your congressmen out of office.
Thus the US government must distinguish between your rights as USC and immigration benefits which is purely under congressional discretion. In case you wanted to challenge the law on equal protection grounds it will be looked under a rational basis which the government easily passed with IMBRA. Immigrants are not a suspect class or insular / distinct minorities. And by disconnecting your rights from the immigrant's rights you have no fundamental right to marry claim. Because technically the government isn't telling you, you can't marry this foreigner. It simply says "that this type of foreigner" cannot enter the US.

Famous Quote on this issue:
"Whatever the procedure authorized by Congress is, it is the due process as far as the alien denied entry is concerned.”
Shaughnessy v. United States Ex Rel. Mezei (1953).
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-11-03 13:37:00
USCIS Service CentersPremium Processing Expanded

I am sure every person here would pay whatever is needed for 'expediated processing'.

Think again, I wouldn't. To me this seems like a bribe to speed up the process. Too many years of that BS in Russia for every little thing in life. The less of that we have here, the better.
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-08-25 14:28:00
USCIS Service CentersFees for I 94 expired

No, they do not need to pay an extra $1000.00. There is an I-485 supplement that people need to file (fee is $1000.00) if they have overstayed, but spouses of USC's are exempt from that.

This is only partially true. An I-485A is only needed for people adjusting under the life act codified under 245i in the INA. This basically concerns people who entered without inspection but had a pending I-130 filed by a certain day and were physically present in the US by a certain date. As a result they are able to avoid the usual penalty of not being able to adjust in country because they entered without inspection. So if you are such a spouse who qualifies under 245i, you are still NOT exempt from the $1,000.00 fee.
SatelliteMaleRussia2007-02-22 20:20:00
USCIS Service CentersFees for I 94 expired

now a lawyer that they were thinking to hire told them that there is a fee of a 1000 dollars, because now they are applying with an expired I-94!!!

Confirm with the lawyer that he is charging $1000 for "extra immigration fees" rather than attorney's fees related with more work because you'll need an I-130 if you didn't apply for AOS within 90 days. If he is indeed charging "extra immigration fees" get it in writing and report him to your local state bar. They have ways of dealing with such unethical attorneys.
SatelliteMaleRussia2007-02-21 11:25:00
Waivers (I-601 and I-212) and Administrative Processes (221g)Leave or stay
Muy solo,
I'll play devil's advocate. I like your style. It's a good change of opinion and plans. The site is otherwise boring with people always taking about doing things the correct and proper way. While you mention practical solutions to real problems, although scary and troublesome.
I don't blame you one bit for what you are doing. Instead I point my finger at the US government. I'd much rather see some of those war dollars spent on securing our borders and enforcing immigration law. Call me crazy, but I've noticed that the only place anyone checks immigration status in this country is at the USCIS building, social security office, official employment, and at the border. Be at any place else and it is almost impossible to be detected.
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-04-02 13:02:00
Waivers (I-601 and I-212) and Administrative Processes (221g)RE: Muy Solo

But please tell me why your are stirring the pot?

Point well taken, I should get back to my studies. :)
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-04-02 18:29:00
Waivers (I-601 and I-212) and Administrative Processes (221g)RE: Muy Solo

:lol: YOU!

Since I have never made any analogies to myself in that name, I am curious as to the origin of your reference?
SatelliteMaleRussia2006-04-02 18:11:00