Russian K-1 timing and process

[Turboguy]

I don't think you have to return the checklist in Russia.  You do in Ukraine and other places that have a packet 3 and a packet 4.   Moscow sort of combines them.  You get the list of what you need and the date to be there.   Other places send you the checklist.  You mark that you have everything, return it and they assign you a date.  

The dates are just luck of the draw.  One guy who's info was in the same shipment with mine had his interview 3 weeks after us.

[Goombah]

Can anybody set an expectation for how long we will wait between our NVC letter and finding out when our Moscow Interview date is?  e.g.  How long does it take for her to get her packet?

Kevin

[Turboguy]

You should get the packet in 4 to 5 weeks and should have an interview date about 60 days later.   There is nothing regular in what they do though

[Goombah]

UUGGGH!!!!!  Evia moved into her parents home a few weeks ago.  She is selling her house, which is empty, except for the guard dog.  Her Mom went over to feed Peppi (the dog) this morning (they do this twice a day, and play with it - no abuse here) and found a notice from the Post Office that Evia has a package from Moscow.

ITS SUNDAY!  She can't get it until tomorrow!!!!  I'm going to be eating my brains out for the next 32 hours or so!

60 days would be around the end of November... that would be great!  Maybe she will be here for my birthday?  (November 24th - Turkey Day here in the States (happens once every 7 years))

[Goombah]

DECEMBER 13th!!! 

Not as soon as I wished, but we have an Interview date after almost 8 months...

Kevin

[jb]

Congrats, Goombah...  At least you'll have something to celebrate at X-Mas.

[BC]

Goombah,

Nice to see things converging for ya!

Planning on spending Xmas/New Years in RU before the trip 'home'?

[catzenmouse]

DECEMBER 13th!!! 

Not as soon as I wished, but we have an Interview date after almost 8 months...

Kevin

Congradulations Kevin!

 It will be your best Christmas present ever. Elena's interview was in late Nov. and she arrived on Dec. 10 so I can relate to the timing of your holiday season. Don't forget to keep some of the presents for Jan. 7. That will be your real Christmas from not on.

Ken

[Turboguy]

Congratulations Kevin.   I am sure it will go great and you have the opportunity to spend the Christmas season together.   Super. 

[Son of Clyde]

Congratulations, Kevin.

My wife says her family in Ukraine celebrated Christmas on December 31st.

You can combine Christmas and New Years Eve.

 

[Goombah]

Well... now the real questions begin:

Her letter indicated 2-3 day DHL delivery.  I suspect that is so that DHL could delivery anywhere in Russia?  She has suggested having it delveried to her friend who lives in Moscow, I have suggested picking it up at the DHL office the next day.  Is it safe to assume it would be there on the 14th (Interview is on the 13th)?

They also stated she should not buy her airline tickets until after she has her Visa?  I've asked for clarification around "should" - was it "must not", "should not", "don't recommend"?  I can't see them refusing her Visa just because she already bought airline tickets...

The letter indicates they want:

The document about your salary
W-2 form
The letter from your work.

She has my 2001-2004 tax transcripts (had to explain to her that "last years" tax receipts was 2004 - I think she read that as "last 12 months" (not understanding the USA tax system).

Any comments?

Kevin

[catzenmouse]

Kevin,

 Is she going back to Omsk to pack and visit a bit before leaving or is she planning to leave ASAP from Moscow after the interview? If the former then there is no need to stay for the DHL delivery. Elena got her envelope in 3 or 4 days.

 To buy tickets or not is up to you but if they ask for additional documentation and you need time to get it together then you could get screwed for the ticket cost or at the least a charge to change it. Her approval is not dependant upon the ticket at all.

Best of luck,

 Ken

[Goombah]

She implied she would be leaving directly from Moscow.  Surely they wouldn't care if she already had tickets!  Yeah, if the worst happens, I'm out the airfare.  If some intermediate state occurs, I will have a change fee - but I suspect that would be small vs. the difference between an ticket bought now and one bought the day of the flight.

Kevin

[Turboguy]

Kevin,

A visa sent to the DHL office for pickup ususally is available about 10AM on the second day after the interview.   They will say 2-3 days but what I quoted has been ture in 100% of the cases I checked.

I agree with what Ken said.  There is a risk in buying the ticket.   I think if everything is proper the odds are about 80%+ you will be issued the visa the day of the interview without the horrible blue sheet of paper.   Just for the fun of it go to the travel site you use and punch in a ticket for a few days from now.   You might be surprised.    When I tried it I found very little difference in the fares.   In my case I was trying to fly back with her and wanted seats together.   I felt to accomplish that I needed to book ahead.   I took my gamble really thinking that I had the best documented case they could ask for and fully willing to loose the airfare if things went wrong.   Which as everyone knows did happen and I lost $ 1200.00   Good thing money grows on trees, isn't it.  It is your call and your money but you should be ok with a ticket in advance.

There are other things you might want such as your most recent pay stubs.  A letter from your bank   I tried to cover all the bases.   Like they ask for a letter from your bank or your last twelve statements.   I had both with Luda.   They usually want only your last years 1040.   I had that and for back up had the complete copy of my return which goes about 50 pages plus the previous couple of years 1040's and the w-2's.   There are a lot of things they won't pay much attention to.   Just be sure to go over every possible question with her and they seem to rate phone bills pretty highly.

[Goombah]

Turboguy -

Just to be clear, when you "the second day after the interview", do you mean the 14th or 15th given an interview on the 13th?

I should have the letter of employment with salary in a day or two.  I called the calling-card company and asked them to send the log (when you tell them its for Immigration purposes that goes easily.  Probably didn't hurt that "Natalia" answered the phone...).  That should be here within 24 hours, but I tried this before I went to Jamaica and never found it.

I did get a copy of my W2, and it was the best year of my life (quite possibly the peak of my career).  To counter that with a current paystub, which wouldn't show my bonus that comes in November (if I get one), I think would raise more questions than answers.

Here is hoping for a quick and easy interview.

Oh, just curious - I presume Nastya will be with her during the Interview (her 10 yo daughter)?

Kevin

[Turboguy]

10 am on the 15th. 

As long as your income is 125 percent of the poverty level it should not be an issue.  I would not worry about the bonus not being in the numbers they see.

I think they ask for your last 5 paychecks but they may not even use them.   I was sweating my 1040.  I never file ususally until October.   I always get two extensions.   We invested a lot of money in improving productivity and I really did not want to rely on my 2003 return which I belive showed a small loss.  Of course, my pay was going right on so it did not affect my spendable income.  

I got the stuff to my attorney and was hoping I liked the numbers when they came back.   Then I was starting to worry he would not have it done on time.  I was pretty happy when I got the return back and our investment in 2003 paid off in 2004 and it was a good year so my fears were a little groundless.

Kevin,

Just a small heads up for you. It is true many times you can change a ticket for a later flight given you pay a nominal fee, but that can sometimes be the easy part. For example; if you use Travelocity which is one of the few online companies who issue Aeroflot tickets you will be very disappointed when they tell you that you must first send the original ticket backet before they will issue a new one. Can you imagine the delay this would invoke? So just be careful how you go go about this purchase. Personally I'm just going to wait until after the interview and the visa is in hand to buy the ticket. I will buy directly from Aeroflot in L.A. and have the ticket transferred to Moscow for my gal to pick up. Aeroflot said this will be a quick and easy transaction, but if you have ever dealt with their customer service you would have your doubts as I do. But in the end it is the best way I have found to do it and besides they do not charge more for last minute tickets. Same price today and it will be the day before the flight, pretty cool!

So to summarize, I do not know your reasoning for wanting to purchase in advance although I can imagine. But if it is to "speed" up her departure just be careful because waiting for a company like Travelocity to change your ticket (if necessary)could cost you a couple of weeks. Good luck on her interview!

[Goombah]

Thanks for the warning.  I use a travel agent, Erich, who handles most of this for me.

Currently the plans are to have her fly from Moscow to Paris to Chicago where I will drive up and meet them (its about a 5 hour drive, but allows me to meet them at their Point of Entry).  Her Interview is on the 13th, we are planning the flight on the 16th.

Kevin

Oh good, I suspect a travel agent will be a good way to go. I'm not sure what they could do to help with changing tickets, but I bet if you make them aware of the possibility of this necessity they can chose the best way to buy your tickets (easiest to make changes to).

BTW I plan to do the same thing if all goes well. My gals interview is on 10/18 and I hope to have her on the 10/21 or 10/22 flight. It really is not a problem as Aeroflot rarely sells out their 767's in October on this route. Besides they have 4 non stops from SVO to LAX every week I'm sure my gal will be a flight within one week. if not the next week. Regardless she will be her very soon after her visa is in her hand.

Good Luck

[ConnerVT]

Currently the plans are to have her fly from Moscow to Paris to Chicago where I will drive up and meet them

Be sure your travel agent makes sure he arranges for transit visas if necessary.  Some European countries require them for Russian citizens.  Also, other countries (Germany, I believe) have very strict rules about minor children traveling with a single, unmarried parent.  This can get sticky when no one shares a common language, documentation is in a foriegn language, and time between connections is tight.

My recommendation has always been a direct flight between SVO --> JFK.

[Goombah]

Thanks.  Didn't know about the single child traveling with unmarried parent, but if it helps, Nastya is listed in Evia's International Passport.  That should indicate to virtually anyone that the Russian Government considers it ok.  At least I would think it would.

As planned, she will litterally be walking between gate 2B and 2E in Paris.

I'll ask about the transit visa.

Kevin

[ConnerVT]

Looks like a transit visa will be needed for them in Paris.  I plugged in Russian Federation for citizenship, USA for destination, and France for connecting country in the Delta Visa & Passport web page (below).  A won't cut and paste it, for there is a lot of verbiage, and some hot links of interest.
http://www.delta.com/planning_reservations/plan_flight/international_travel_information/visa_passport_information/index.jsp

(edit: wow, some of my text just disappeared...)

A minor child listed in an international passport will not resolve the issues some countries may have with a the child traveling with a single parent.  The concerns are over custody and parental kidnaping.  Traveling under a fiancee visa would indicate that there is not any intent to return to their home country (and, presumably, where the other parent resides).  A legal order of custody is strong evidence, but then, it will likely be written in Russian.  Some travel with a notarized letter from the absent parent, but this carries less legal clout.  In any case, this is not something that anyone wishes to deal with during a day of traveling, thousands of miles away from home.


The best method (IMHO) is a direct flight.  No transfers, no hassles, no missed flights, no failures of communication.  But then, I also believe in flying to get your family, and helping them on the trip to their new home.  You will be surprised how "really nothing to bring with me" turns into a number of almost overweight suitcases...

[Goombah]

She is wanting to take the train from Omsk to Moscow to reduce cost and eliminate weight restrictions.  I'm OK with the train - honestly it will keep her busy for the 38 hours or so it takes to get there in a time when she will need something to do.  I'm less OK with her idea of buying common class tickets.  I'm not sure, but think that basically means a bench seat like we have in subway trains vs. a cabin she can sleep in.

She will have her parents to help with luggage (and her father is a big man - his hands are about twice the size of mine), and her friend Olga in Moscow to help when she gets there and goes to the airport.  Once checked in at Moscow, I'll be there to help when she arrives in Chicago.

Anyone know if she will have to go through customs in Paris?  If so, she may have a bit of time with her luggage there.

Kevin

[Goombah]

Found this page:

http://www.consulfrance-londres.org/article.php3?id_article=349

Which makes it sounds like getting a transit visa is a MAJOR effort - for instance, you must include your paid airline ticket (the original, not a photocopy!, along with your passport, and birth certificates for anyone under 18, translated into French or English, etc.).

There is a clause that you do not need an airport transit visa if you have a valid residency permit for a bunch of countries, including the USA.  I would imagine the K-1 would qualify as that, wouldn't it?

Kevin

[Bruno]

Found this page:

http://www.consulfrance-londres.org/article.php3?id_article=349

Which makes it sounds like getting a transit visa is a MAJOR effort...

If you good read the top of these page, only a short list of country are needed to have a airport transit visa... and russia is not in these list...