Interview Date Set

[Son of Clyde]

I received an email from my fiancee today.

Her interview date is scheduled for June 29.

I would jump up and down but I might create a disturbance here at work. 

[BC]

Don't know you personally Clyde but automatically smiled when I read your post.

Happy to see those loose ends are converging for ya!

[jb]

Me too.

[Turboguy]

Wow, that is great Son of Clyde.  I can see I should have had my gal move to Kiev when I started this process.  You went from many weeks behind me to a month ahead of me.    Well, I will contain my jealousy because it could not have happened to a better person.

[wxman]

Congratulations SOC,

My fiancee also received her notification today and her interview is scheduled for June 30th! It's a foot race now! I saw you jumping from here!

 

[Todd]

Wow!  Congrats to both of you for getting the interview dates.  I posted here on my experiences...it is all down hill from here.  I WILL definitely be envious of both of you as even though Kate got her visa on May 13; she probably won't be able to come until late September/early October.  By then, hopefullly, both of you will be blissfully together with your loved ones in the US.

Best of luck,

Todd

[Son of Clyde]

Thank you all for the kind words.

This next 4 weeks will seem like an eternity.

It may have seemed like a race between Turbo,wxman and me but we actually did very well and our interview dates were very close.

 Maybe Kiev is a little quicker than Moscow because the waiting line in Moscow is  longer.

[Turboguy]

You are right Clyde.  Moscow is getting very backed up.  They are at about 4 months and moving to 5.   I actually got lucky.  One person I know had his approval the same day as me and his appointment was three weeks after mine.   It is tough counting the days.   Time seems like it passes so slowly sometimes.  Of course I am doing a lot of remodeling and hope to have it done before she is here.  Rignt now I am covered with drywall compound.  I could have sworn the object was to get the stuff on the walls. Hummm

[Photo Guy]

After the interview, what time constrictions are there?
Are the interviews conducted in English? Russian? With an interpreter? How many minutes are the interviews?   etc.

[wxman]

Photoguy,

The interviews can be done in Russian, English or Ukrainian, whichever she is comfortable with. From other people on this board, the actual interviews last only around 10 minutes. Since their application has already been accepted by INS, and all the background checks have been done, the only really way to get denied is if it is quite obvious to interviewer that she is not sincere or she has a serious police record, or failed the medical exam.  

 

 

 

[wxman]

As far as time constrictions, the last time I checked, is that she has 6 months to come to America after visa is approved, and when she arrives, the 90 day countdown begins.

[Photo Guy]

Oh -so the interview is the very last step of the visa application process.  Hey, soon your woman will be here!     Doug

[Turboguy]

Yes Doug the interview is pretty much the end of one road and the start of another.   Some of the embassys give you the visa right on the spot, but later in the day, some mail them.   For moscow you have to take a prepaid DHL label and they send them out usually late the day of the interview.   They will arrive at the gals home in a few days depending on where the home is and some guys just arrange to have them held at the local DHL office (that is my plan) and can pick them up the day after the interview or at worst the following day.   I think Kiev does the same thing but uses UPS or FEDEX or something different.   I think there the agent is actually at the embassy and you go over after the interview and arrange shipping.

[wxman]

Sometimes I wonder who works at the embassy in Kiev! On the 17th of May I wrote an email asking if they received the KEV-1 form I emailed for my fiancee, and attached it to make sure again. On May 30th, I wrote again, and got the following response yesterday :

Dear Mr. XXXXXX:

Thank you for your correspondence of May 30, 2005.  Please be informed K-1 visa interview for Ms. XXXXXX has been scheduled for June 30, 2005 at 8:45  The appointment package was emailed to Ms. XXXXX on May 24, 2005.

My fiancee received notification by regular mail and email too.

Then today, they finally replied to my May 17th email that they did not get the KEV-1 form, even though it was attached to that email, and told me to resend it. 

Not all the wheels are turning in the same direction there.

 

 

 



 

[Son of Clyde]

wxman,

Maybe you should send an email postdated May 16th and thank them for their prompt response.

[wxman]

SOC,

That's a good idea! Knowing our luck, she will show up for interview, and they will have sent all the documentation to Moscow by mistake. The sad part, is that probably has happened before.

[START2]

Wow!!! Very cool!!! I'm envious of both you and soc. I'm sure if I wasn't dealing with the custody court now, we'd have our date as well. The ex has to appear before the judge on june 14th. He was a no show for the first date so the judge is giving him 2 weeks to respond. We'll see what happens on the 14th.  Again, CONGRATUALTIONS!!

[Bruce]

Congratulations - now its time for you to start getting your house in order!

[Frank]

Congratulations to all of you!!!  You all will be experiencing roughly the same things once your ladies get here.  I'm sure you will be exchanging stories at that point. It should be a big help.  Believe me, it is a real culture shock.  Be prepared to buy lots of flowers, go to the ballet, be a psychologist and an all around tour guide:D:D:D   

[Vaughn]

Good to see a few upcoming interviews, I remember our own
level of excitement. Go easy on paint and wallpaper - chances are good she'll be redecorating soon after her arrival....

[Photo Guy]

Based on what many of you have said, it looks like they give you about a month's advanced notice. How are you handling plane reservations? Are you gambling and assuming she'll be ready to fly home in the next day or two?  To get a cheaper airfare, are you making reservations as soon as the interview date is set? Are any of you flying over there to accompany her to the interview and flight home?  I would probably buy the tickets and assume she'll pass the interview.   Doug

[Turboguy]

Doug,  Just for general information Moscow and Kiev do things differently.  Moscow combines Packets 3 & 4 and you get your interview date right up front with about a 2 month notice or a bit more.    With Kiev you get packet three which contains a check list of things you must have.   When you have those things arranged or assembled you send the check list form back and they assign a date about a month from the time they receive the form.

[Turboguy]

[user=134]Photo Guy[/user] wrote:

Based on what many of you have said, it looks like they give you about a month's advanced notice. How are you handling plane reservations? Are you gambling and assuming she'll be ready to fly home in the next day or two? To get a cheaper airfare, are you making reservations as soon as the interview date is set? Are any of you flying over there to accompany her to the interview and flight home? I would probably buy the tickets and assume she'll pass the interview. Doug

This has been one of my big question marks.  How much to gamble on success.   To answer your question, I do have the plane ticket booked for her about a week after the interview and I will be flying with her.   

Since there will be a little summer left, I would like to take advantage of it.   There are a few resort type places I would like to go that really need to be booked a bit in advance and probably can't be cancelled.  If she didn't get approved I really don't want to go without her.   Those I am up in the air on and trying to decide.

[Goombah]

As much as I'd like to fly to Moscow to be with her for the Interview, its really not practical.  A months notice is barely adequate to get a visa, shy of paying expedite fees, and little notice to arrange time off work.  Its a huge vacation burn.  In 5-6 days you get to get there, spend two days tired from travel, and return.  I rather meet her at her point-of-entry, and have those 5 days available to take her grocery shopping, see the city, etc.  The money saved will buy her a nice wardrobe...

Kevin

[wxman]

My fiance has her interview June 30th. We decided that it will be cheaper to fly to US from Kiev in September after tourist season is over. Will save a $1500 by flying back then. She doesn't mind waiting as she wants to save the money. I will go there to pick her up and bring her through customs.