Support information needed please

[mark30378]

My girl comes from good family. Her parents own their own dasha on a small farm and she has her own apartment in Tver. Her father was in goverment work and was taken care of. I do not believe she is wealthy but in russian standards she is in very good shape. She has paid for most of everything on her end. Thank you for your responses

[mark30378]

Thanks for your response. I believe my girl is similar to yours. She shops the same way. She is a bargain hunter also but always seems to find or put together very fasionable clothes. We are lucky I suppose.

[Bruno]

yes, on the other hand it sounds as if some of these guys expect to treat them as if they were babys. They are not defenseless nor helpless. Why didn't you get her a GPS for her car, jb? She could go everwhere she wanted, as long as she had the address.

How much Russian woman can use a car GPS ? ... maybe a big part of RW have never see one... A other think to learn to your RW...

Think about your first trip in Russia, imagine it without translator, without help of agency... yourself alone in Russia with a woman that you have meet only a few day previously... imagine yourself financialy dependant of these woman... several men will know problem in so situation... it is around the same for a RW coming the first time in your country with a K1...

 

[mark30378]

I completed my school in May and now am waiting upon this application process to be completed. I am a criminal justice major and will begin career in law enforcement. Here this income is avarage around 35-40K. I also restore antique pianos which in past has brought in average 8-10K per year in cash money. I also have as of 3 weeks ago aquired my N.C, real estate lisense and will sell a little real estate on the side also. I am very motivated person and it is normal for me  to work more than one job. The only reason my income was low on paper last year was because I cut my hours back so that I could take more classes and complete my schooling a little quicker, but i kept enough hours to keep my insurance. My main concern and the reason I first came here was to find out my best possiblilty and correct way to fill the support paper without allot of problems. Thank you for your response, it was well taken an I appreciate it.

[PeeWee]

yes, on the other hand it sounds as if some of these guys expect to treat them as if they were babys. They are not defenseless nor helpless. Why didn't you get her a GPS for her car, jb? She could go everwhere she wanted, as long as she had the address.

How much Russian woman can use a car GPS ? ... maybe a big part of RW have never see one... A other think to learn to your RW...

Think about your first trip in Russia, imagine it without translator, without help of agency... yourself alone in Russia with a woman that you have meet only a few day previously... imagine yourself financialy dependant of these woman... several men will know problem in so situation... it is around the same for a RW coming the first time in your country with a K1...

 
[/quote]
Bruno, anyone can use a GPS if you show them how to use it and if you give the the credit for having the intellect to learn. The rest of your comment is valid. But we are talking about specific women. Those who speak English, have an awareness of the United states or other countires. I have a friend who lives in Vladivostok. She speaks English. Twice a year she vacations somewhere in Western Europe. Never has she had any trouble with that. She adapts just fine. I don't think you give these women enough credit. Like I said, you tend to treat them as if they were babys.

PeeWee

[PeeWee]

[user=461]mark30378[/user] wrote:

I completed my school in May and now am waiting upon this application process to be completed. I am a criminal justice major and will begin career in law enforcement. Here this income is avarage around 35-40K. I also restore antique pianos which in past has brought in average 8-10K per year in cash money. I also have as of 3 weeks ago aquired my N.C, real estate lisense and will sell a little real estate on the side also. I am very motivated person and it is normal for me to work more than one job. The only reason my income was low on paper last year was because I cut my hours back so that I could take more classes and complete my schooling a little quicker, but i kept enough hours to keep my insurance. My main concern and the reason I first came here was to find out my best possiblilty and correct way to fill the support paper without allot of problems. Thank you for your response, it was well taken an I appreciate it.

Go for it. You're a smart guy. I'd say your best possibility is to try. Who knows, you might just be successful. funny how that tends to happen when people with desire and and dream make it happen.

PeeWee

[BC]

[user=461]mark30378[/user] wrote:

My girl comes from good family. Her parents own their own dasha on a small farm and she has her own apartment in Tver. Her father was in goverment work and was taken care of. I do not believe she is wealthy but in russian standards she is in very good shape. She has paid for most of everything on her end. Thank you for your responses

Just a 'heads up'..

Sounds like she does do well working, supporting herself, has apartment, a good amount of change at the end of the month for a few nicer things and a certain social status. She may find herself disappointed in the beginning if she has expectations about a similar level of 'buying power' and status in her new homeland. Also the step down (at least in the beginning) from self-sufficiency to dependency can be tough and quite depressing.

Keeping expectations low helps imho.

[Bruno]

They are not babys... but again, your case is not the usual case... how much RW have already visit a Western country... Only some have already visit USA... And these twice year vacation in Western country is really not the norm... Same my actual lady who earn around 1000$ month in Belarus, have in the last 5 year visit UK and Cyprus like tourist... short one week holiday... she work so much that she have no time for holiday... several RW don't know how to use a microwave, a computer, a washmachine, ... not because they are baby but because their income in Russia don't allow them to buy so material... the middle income in FSU is enough low but modern material have around the same price that in our country...

[Bruno]

[user=461]mark30378[/user] wrote:

I completed my school in May and now am waiting upon this application process to be completed. I am a criminal justice major and will begin career in law enforcement. Here this income is avarage around 35-40K. I also restore antique pianos which in past has brought in average 8-10K per year in cash money. I also have as of 3 weeks ago aquired my N.C, real estate lisense and will sell a little real estate on the side also. I am very motivated person and it is normal for me to work more than one job. The only reason my income was low on paper last year was because I cut my hours back so that I could take more classes and complete my schooling a little quicker, but i kept enough hours to keep my insurance. My main concern and the reason I first came here was to find out my best possiblilty and correct way to fill the support paper without allot of problems. Thank you for your response, it was well taken an I appreciate it.

Thank you for the reply Mark...

I don't see problem for your future... and i think that you have your reply for the visa... a very good friend of family member can help you for be in order with paperwork for the visa...

Good luck Mark

[mark30378]

Yes, this has been a thought to me. I suppose I can only hope for the best. We have spoken of how in the beginning that it will be difficult and money may be tighter than usual because of the added extra expenses( everything to do with citizenship) and so far she says she knows what we will face. I belive her biggest spending splurge is espresso in cafe. She cannot be more maintence than my previous wife. I hope. ha ha.

[mark30378]

Thanks, I was wondering if it was very important if the co-signer was a family member or if it was a close friend. I have one sister and I am some what close but I have never ask her anything like this before. My best friend whom I have grown up with and speak to every day, cook dinner every sunday, etc... I think would be better for me to ask such question to. I am planning to ask my sister tomorrow. But I would feel more comfortable asking my friend. I think either will work fine because both have large incomes but want to have the correct choice to make the CO happy and make process easy as possible.
Oh , one more question that I have thought of. When I originally submitted my I-129, I sent many photos with description of each in nice folder, printed 115 pages of emails and copies of all telephone records, etc..., but in the usembassy.ru web site where it has what she needs to bring with her it has these items listed. Do i need to make all the coopies and reprints over and send to her with the I-134. It to me seems like they will already have the original copies. What would you do?
Also at Home Depot they have company policy for managers or HR not to fill out work statements. I went in to HR and she gave me a sheet with web address that is company wide for us to give and use. The person who wants request must pay for this service, (in this case it is me) and it is a print out of employment dates, hourly pay, last three years wages in detail. This service list the company but it is not on Home Depot letterhead. It only has it in the description. I have went as high as i can in the store where i work and it is not possible to get this on letterhead. I plan to send company memo and this bought information and little note with explination. How would you handle this to make them happy. The use a company called the worknumber.com service. The HR woman told me this is binding service and can be used in legal matters. This new hurdle was only discovered yesterday. How would you handle this? I plan to give them my store numbver and all management names and contact info plus copy of the memo.

[Turboguy]

The co-signer does not have to be a family member.   It just needs to be someone who trusts you enough to guarantee financial responsibility for your gal.

The official listing of requirements for a visa lists a range of proof.   Most people do the employee letter and that is the prefered choice.   They like a format something like

To whom it may concern.

Mark has been employed by Home Depot since January 2001.   He works part time as a customer service person and earns $ 10.00 an hour.   His weekly pay averages $ 200.00 a week.   The likelyhood of his continued empolyent is excellent.

Sincerly

Mick E Mouse.

There are other proofs that are acceptable but not as well recieved.   What ever you can get is better than nothing.    Even if they charge you for an employment report it is just something you need to do and a part of the costs of doing this.  Copies of your most recent paychecks are usually also furnished at the time of the interview.

Yes, You need to reprint those e-mails.   They are more important at the interview than with the initial application.   I think you might want to make a priority of any phone records.  They seem to like those better than e-mail   Regular letters are also liked and have your e-mails over a wide range of dates.   Printed SMS messages rate very low.    Speaking English can be important depending on the interviewer.   If you get the bad one a few nice comments about Brazil might smooth the way.

[jb]

edited

[Turboguy]

jb, you always have some good ideas but now you are starting to think like me and that is really scary.  

Mark, how much were they going to charge you.   Here are my bargain prices.

Home Depot letter saying you work there $ 10.00

Home Depot letter saying you are a department manager making $ 17,000 -- $ 15.00

Home depot letter saying you make $ 100,000 and manage the store   $ 25.00

Home depot letter saying you are president of Home Depot and make $ 5,000,000 a year  $ 50.00

I will give you the URL for my online ordering if you are interested.  

Just kidding sorry,  I know you were getting your credit cards out.

[Ste]

jb, you always have some good ideas but now you are starting to think like me and that is really scary.

Mark, how much were they going to charge you. Here are my bargain prices.

Home Depot letter saying you work there $ 10.00

Home Depot letter saying you are a department manager making $ 17,000-- $ 15.00

Home depot letter saying you make $ 100,000 andmanage the store $ 25.00

Home depot letter saying you are president of Home Depot and make $ 5,000,000 a year $ 50.00

I will give you the URL for my online ordering if you are interested.

Just kidding sorry, I know you were getting your credit cards out.

Russian people do this all the time! Letters from the Doc to get out of the Army, diplomas without actually studying.........

Ste

[RacerX]

I think jb might want to edit this last post reasonably soon so RWD is not mentioned in some visa fraud investigation - maybe he forgot what PMs are for?

Everyone's experience is different with regard to the interview: for example the CO had no interest in my letter from my employer, no interest in seeing countless e-mails, etc - but it will depend on how creditable he/she sees your relationship.  For example, what is your age difference?  From her comments, is your fiancee as enthusiastic about coming to America is you are to have her come?  Are you planning on being there with her (not inside, cf course)?  Go over to visajourney.com and look at the questions other's fiancees were asked.  What many of the posters don't seem to realize is that these COs see thousands of girls (mostly) and get very good at sizing up the relationship within seconds - if there are any areas you feel the relationship is weak in (for example, she knows nothing about your family or where you live), coach her more in those areas.

My impression is that the COs look at the total dollar amount (yours and the co-sponsor's I-134) before deciding to look at other information.  Having a co-sponsor is a very normal thing for them to see, so just make sure all the signatures are complete, etc.  BTW, don't sweat the employer letter, the use of those employment services is common for the bigger companies (although an insult to their employees).  This is not a financial audit, you just need to put together enough evidence to give them some comfort with your financial situation - and all the small stuff helps (like bank statements, pay stubs, etc.)

[Turboguy]

I think Racer makes some good points here.   I think his comment about making sure she can answer any questions about you is a really important one.   Spend a lot of time going over any possible question they could ask.   Personally I think they know the lists of questions are out there and they sometimes try to think of things that will not make the lists. 

I think that they are really pretty good at sizing things up and will look harder with differnces that concern them.  Age might be a good example.  It is not the only thing that might make them look harder at your relationship.

Most all the requirements have options.   They might ask for the last years tax returns (or 3 years) or w-2's or employment letters, or pay stubs, but you are not "required" to have "all" of those.   You might get by with something not there but the more proof you have the more likely they are to be satisfiend

[mark30378]

I agree, it is like an insult. I go to ask them to state that i am employee in good standing and they tell me to go to web site and pay. It is crazy. It is supposed to be some good thing but to me it is way of putting of work for them and costing us. Our age difference is 8 years. So if I purchase the employment verification from them and show my bank account statement presently and maybe deposits this year, plus a copy of my last pay check stub. i should be o.k. on the financial part? I mostly thought is was very excessive to print all these emails again if they are already in the original file. except for the ones since. It is no problem, just extra paper and weight to mail. Thanks, this was very helpful for me.

[mark30378]

I can make up nice looking letter and put information names on it but I just cannot get it signed. i can even get it notorized. Will this be good?

[Turboguy]

It does not need to be notarized.  It does need to be signed.

[mark30378]

What will they say if they need more? Like after the interview will they tell her. "O.K., all we need is last years tax records", or something like this? And then do i fax or mail and they when they recieve, the visa is possibly approved. I want to send everything so they it is all there then. If I can get enought together.

[mark30378]

I very much appreciate the help you guys are giving me. This is more like what i came here for and was wanting to learn. Yesterday those other people started on my worthiness and whether I should even be bringing her here and it just went way off base. This is a great place to communicate i think. I appreciate everything.

[jb]

RacerX is right, there's been enough collusion discussed here to help Mark circumvent the issues.  He doesn't need me putting more bad ideas in his head.

[Turboguy]

If they want more information they give you a blue slip of paper with what they want on it.    Off the top of my head I think it is called a 221G.   It has been a while since I had it in my hand and I was pretty frustrated at the time.

You can fax the additional information, or drop it off, or e-mail it depending on what is appropriate.   There is a $ 1.95 a minute number you can call for information.   They will do an inquiry into your status but you have to call back.   Hopefully you won't need it.   If you have not been there a great source of information on Visas is at www.visajourney.com    Stop in at the Russia section in the regional discussions too but the main parts are the foreign embassy section and the K-1 section.

[mark30378]

I am off work today and i suppose I am going to Kinkos and school to get my transcripts. I will try other means of getting letter  head. I am trying to ask it I type up will someone sign it. I have not been successful as of yet. What about if i write nice letter and have notorized withour signature. Will this work?