7+ months...

[jj8951]

You travel to Ukraine/Russia, you find your girl, you file for K1/K2 visa and now you have to wait 7+ months. Long time and now you are in the US, so far away!

How often do you call her? Do you always call her at a certain time?

What if you decide to call her at a certain time everyday. lets say 8pm Ukraine time, the first 2-3 months all is okay, no problem! Then every 4-5 days she fails to answer the phone, because she says her phone is off, or she says she was at her grandmothers home and forgot to take her phone,... and this keeps happening every 4-5 days even though she knows around what time you will call her! She misses your call but she calls 2 hours later

If you are married now, what did you do during these 7 months??

I think 7+ months is a long time but its good, it gives you more time to get to know her before you get married!

[Turboguy]

Hopefully you used that 7 months to make some follow up visits.  During the 9 months or so we waited for a K-1 we spent about 3 -1/2 to 4 of those months together.  I don't think we ever went more than a few months without seeing each other.

I don't think I would lose too much sleep over her not being there every 4 or 5 times I called.  She does have a life too and every day is hard to always be available at a given time.

[KenC]

jj8951,
I hate to be the one to tell you this, but that never happened during the time we were apart.  As it was prior to the time when cell phones were readily available in Russia, it meant that my now wife not only had to be available, but at home to answer her phone there.  On the very rare occassion that she was not going to be available for our scheduled call time, she informed me in advance with a logical reason offered up.
KenC

[I/O]

Playing the devils advocate here. During the last months mine and I were apart before she arrived here permanently, we spoke on the phone .............hmmmmm maybe 5 times in total. IIRC, over a 2 + year period, that added up to a total of 7 or 8 phone calls. LOL

I/O

[MaxxumUSA]

We filed our K-1 last march and her visa was issued late Aug.  So...  only like 5 1/2 months.

Like T/G I also visited my wife (fiancee at the time).  We spent about two months of the waiting period together in Russia with a total of 4 different visits.

As for the calls...  Yes....  sometimes she was busy with family and/or friends doing things or in an area where cell coverage was not great.  Cell coverage especially sucks in some stores (basically basements) and of course the gym/sauna.  I wouldn't worry too much about her not sitting by the phone waiting for your call every moment.  If there is something else that leads you to believe something is not quite right then I would ask her about it.

My wife was fairly popular with her girlfriends so they would call unexpectedly and make last minute plans to hang out for dinner/drinks/haircuts/sauna/gym/etc.  90% of the time I was notified in some way but occasionally I was waiting for her call and wondering what she was doing.  No biggy.

The time waiting for the K-1 SEEMS to take forever while in process.  If you can visit again then that will help.

- Maxxum

I/O - wow...  only a few times on the phone?  Wow.  Me and mine talked every single day.  Most days we talked on skype webcams for 45 minutes or so.  Quite a difference.

[groovlstk]

During and before the K1 period (which for us was thankfully only 3 1/2 mos.), my wife and I talked on the phone at least three times per day, no matter if she was visiting relatives, at work, or with friends. If I happened to be held up during my commute or or at work and was unable to phone her during our usual times, she would panic and think something happened to me.

I'm sure every couple has their own routines and will do whatever is comfortable for them. However, what you need to take notice of is your girl's attitude. If you don't phone her during the agreed upon time, does she get upset or is she indifferent? If you don't call her for a few days or whatever timeframe is beyond your usual pattern, does she hold your hand to the fire with worry/jealousy/sadness?

Indifference is fairly easy to spot, don't kid yourself that if she jumps through a few hoops, it's proof that she loves you. If she loves you, she'll leave no doubt in your mind about it.

[Gator]

Keep phoning and do meet her again. 

Visits are important - I recall 2-3 reports of no visits during the K-1 waiting period and then the RW bailing just before the interview.

How many days had you spent together before filing the K-1?

[HiTech]

Alyona and I have spoken on the phone every day since the day we met in the beginning of October. We are also on the k1 and most days is 3 or 4 times on phone for a brief hello or good morning, and about 1 - 2 hours on Skype video conference.

8 Days remaining until I see her again in Punta Cana.

Dale

[Turboguy]

I have to agree with Gator.  A very high percentage of the K-1 without follow up visits during the wait that I know of ended up being a failure.   I think a relationship needs to be fed once in a while and phone calls often just are not enough.  jj has not talked about follow up visits one way or the other so hopefully he is not relying solely on the phone.

I always enjoyed my phone calls with VWRW but with the poor connections and difficulties that made for understanding each other our calls were not as frequent as some of you.   

[Fashionista]

You know what, i don't even remember how it was, but i am pretty sure that we chatted on Internet, because calling was too expensive. It sure wasn't pleasent - all this long-distance thing.

[Voyageur]

^{groovlstk wrote:}

Indifference is fairly easy to spot, don't kid yourself that if she jumps through a few hoops, it's proof that she loves you. If she loves you, she'll leave no doubt in your mind about it.

This is so very true, every newbie should remember these words. I used SMS and email to communicate with my future wife at least three times a day. There was alwasy an email waiting for me when I arrived at work, just as there was always one I wrote before I went to sleep. Most times we wrote several times a day.  Our waiting period was only (!) about five months back then, in 2005. We spoke on weekends mostly but we always knew where we were. If I called and she was not there, she always answered my SMS immediately.

It is very easy to know when a FSU woman really cares.  This makes all the difference. 

[UTRO]

Lana lives in Kirov Russia. I work 12 hour shifts. When I work at night we SMS back and forth a minimum 10 times through her working day. I'll Text her "Good Morning" when she wakes up at 7:15 for work. If I don't, she'll Text me When I'm on days she'll Text me at 5:30am to wake me up. We are each other's будильник! (alarm clock)
We MSN a minimum of every other day for 2 or 3 hours. I call her at least 3 times per week for $1.99 per call, unlimited length. Of course the Russian phone system 'drops' calls after an hour, so I have to call her again for another $1.99. We have just purchased Panasonic Joip IP phones that will allow us to call for free without logging onto our computers. Done via a Router. We email oneanother many times per day.
I just returned from visiting her in St.Petersburg and Kirov two weeks ago. I've booked another flight for April 13th. We met in December in Punta Cana. Luckily, I only have to take 4 shifts off to get away from work for 12 days.
She doesn't have a Home Phone. Her Mobile is always on her. She is fluent in English and leaves me very clever Texts!