Okay, dammit...

[amberdima 6]

Bobb, you should be seeing your NOA2 *ANY* time now.

So mox, are you prescient?

I arrived home from work moments ago and here is what was in an email:

Application Type: I129F , PETITION FOR FIANCE(E)

Current Status: Approval notice sent.

On April 3, 2009, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E). Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service.

Yahoo!!! So, if everything follows what seems to be the length of time from this point onward I am guessing her interview will be in Moscow in mid June and I will go get her in mid July. As soon as I find out the interview date for sure I will then make my airline reservations.

congrats! wait- am i allowed to post here since i'm marrying a pseudo-russian?

[mox 298]

Bobb, you should be seeing your NOA2 *ANY* time now.

So mox, are you prescient?

I arrived home from work moments ago and here is what was in an email:

...

Yahoo!!! So, if everything follows what seems to be the length of time from this point onward I am guessing her interview will be in Moscow in mid June and I will go get her in mid July. As soon as I find out the interview date for sure I will then make my airline reservations.

WOOT!! Congratulations!!! You've got to be through the roof over that! I'm just so happy I could make that happen for you.

mox, say something nice about Alla and me??!!!

Ummmm...Alla has nice hair and you are more or less punctual. So it is said, so it shall be done!

Sorry Phil, but if I made your approval happen after only a month of waiting, I'd have to do it for everyone, and pretty soon the whole damn K-1 Case Status forum would be descending on us, and then we'd never get any MENA bashing in. If it's any consolation I'll make sure you're RFE-free.

I was really surprised not to receive an RFE. It doesn't matter how much you look at the application before you send it in. I reviewed it three times and still had two minor mistakes on her G325a.

Her middle name is Viktorovna which I spelled Viktrovna.

I had inserted the date of my previous marriage for her date of previous marriage. This is the item I really thought I would receive an RFE about, as this date was well past her date of divorce. It would have been simple to respond to and I figure would have delayed it about 5 days or less.

The middle name thing isn't really RFE worthy, they really wouldn't know at this point anyway. The marriage dates would have been RFE-worthy, but it's a minor mistake in the grand scheme of things and shouldn't cause you too much grief. For now...relax, break open a bottle or can of your favorite alcoholic beverage and celebrate. It's all downhill from here.

[mox 298]

congrats! wait- am i allowed to post here since i'm marrying a pseudo-russian?

Of course! Hey, we've got a new poster who's married someone from Jordon, which is even more pseudo-Russian than your fiance!

[baron555 934]

I understand mox. We can be patient but mutter something for us every now and again, OK?

Phil

[Nasturtium 500]

congrats! wait- am i allowed to post here since i'm marrying a pseudo-russian?

Of course! Hey, we've got a new poster who's married someone from Jordon, which is even more pseudo-Russian than your fiance!

Hey! I have a Russian connection. When I was in the 2nd grade, I decided that I was going to learn Spanish and Russian. I checked out the Russian book from our school library pretty much the whole year and got the alphabet down, some basic words, and now I remember squat. I can tell Russian when I hear it, although I have no idea what is being said unless it's obvious from an English, German, French, or basic Russian (for 2-year-olds) standpoint. Anyway, I made my parents rent me Dr. Zhivago. Let me tell you, DZ is not quite a good movie for a 7-year-old. I sat through it patiently though, but the whole plot was partially lost on me. I moved on to greater requests, such as James Bond. No problem there for a 7-year-old. I asked to see Spies Like Us, but my dad said no. So, that plus a nesting doll, is my basic connection.

Also, Ammar can say "nyet." I think we're shoe-ins for pseudo-Russian-ness.

[Nasturtium 500]

congrats! wait- am i allowed to post here since i'm marrying a pseudo-russian?

Psst! I invaded two days ago. I can barely remember the Russian alphabet, but don't let on. I think we're good. We'll stand and get a sense of things, bake a few pies, and we're totally going to be allowed in.

[bobb 0]

WOOT!! Congratulations!!! You've got to be through the roof over that! I'm just so happy I could make that happen for you.

I have been wondering how I will fall asleep tonight.

In about 10 minutes I will see and talk with Luba with Skype. I can't wait to see her reaction.

[amberdima 6]

congrats! wait- am i allowed to post here since i'm marrying a pseudo-russian?

Of course! Hey, we've got a new poster who's married someone from Jordon, which is even more pseudo-Russian than your fiance!

thanks! you russian-lovers are quite tolerant.

congrats! wait- am i allowed to post here since i'm marrying a pseudo-russian?

Psst! I invaded two days ago. I can barely remember the Russian alphabet, but don't let on. I think we're good. We'll stand and get a sense of things, bake a few pies, and we're totally going to be allowed in.

oh man, i can cook a mean meal, but baking's not my thing. i must admit- your pies sound delectable. you should post some pics so we all can have a piece. p.s. i want a little whipped cream on my piece

[missmissy 38]

Hey! Can I post here too? Lars and I lived in Russia for a while and he speaks fluent Russian and has interviewed for another job there.....

[bobb 0]

... I moved on to greater requests, such as James Bond...

Ahh...'From Russia With Love' my first James Bond movie at the tender age of 15 back in 1963. Daniela Bianchi (as Tatiana Romanova). Maybe this Western propaganda film planted into my subconscious the desire to meet a Russian woman and only activated a few years ago.

I'm sure glad I did not know until today, although if I had really thought about it her stage name was a giveaway, the following:

Miss Rome of 1960 and runner-up to Miss World 1960

Her voice was dubbed in From Russia with Love (1963); she spoke almost no English and spoke her lines phonetically. Her heavy Italian accent made much of her dialogue difficult to understand, so an English-speaking Italian actress whose accent wasn't so pronounced was hired to re-record her lines. (From IMDB)

[mox 298]

Hey! Can I post here too? Lars and I lived in Russia for a while and he speaks fluent Russian and has interviewed for another job there.....

Of course! And welcome! What were you doing in Russia? What area?

And bobb...how did she take the news? Hope you turned the mic down low.

[bobb 0]

...And bobb...how did she take the news? Hope you turned the mic down low.

She was extremely happy. And as she said in an email after we spoke on Skype,

I am glad to see such good news. So it is wonderful to know, that already soon we shall together. When you know real date... Then always it is easier to wait.

At the moment the real date is based only on average processing times from now to interview. As soon as I find out her interview date then we will know the 'real' date. But why quibble. Back when I first sent my application the average processing times from NOA1 to NOA2 was right around where my actual occurred - 135 days.

So after I finish sending everything off to her in early May I will then direct my attention to what will be necessary for AOS, EAD, AP, and the I-864. Briefly looking at the forms last night there is nothing that seems to present any problem there. I'm sure I'll have a few questions.

[mox 298]

Right now it's running about 11 weeks from NOA2 to interview. Last week in June sounds about right. Mark it on your calendar...in pencil.

[missmissy 38]

Hey! Can I post here too? Lars and I lived in Russia for a while and he speaks fluent Russian and has interviewed for another job there.....

Of course! And welcome! What were you doing in Russia? What area?

Ahhh.....a lovely little village WAY up north, about 45 minutes from the border of Finland, in the Karelian Forest - Suojarvi. My mom and I visited Lars there for a few weeks when he was there working two years ago. We didn't end up living there because there wasn't any western style housing there, no running water, indoor plumbing, that sort of thing, except at the "hotel" that we were staying in. Lars was there for about 6 months. He was working there for a Danish company that has recently bought out the Russian timber company.

I was able to do things and see things that I had never, ever seen or done before (since I'm from the south ya'll). I saw a TON of snow, walked on frozen lakes, ate ice cream in the winter time.....it was such a great trip.

We drove from St. Petersburg to Petrozavodsk and then on to Suojarvi. It was so much fun driving across that part of Russia and seeing how different it was from St. Petersburg. It was like being in a time warp, sort of. In the region of Karelia, a lot of that area is very poor and rural. It was fun to visit there and really makes me appreciate every little thing that I have here.

LOVED St. Petersburg and will go back as soon as we can!

[Nasturtium 500]

oh man, i can cook a mean meal, but baking's not my thing. i must admit- your pies sound delectable. you should post some pics so we all can have a piece. p.s. i want a little whipped cream on my piece

Well, these are past pies (I didn't photograph my recent ones, but I did something similar... now they are kind of decimated by Ammar):

These ones I screwed up the crust a bit-- it was more chewy than it should have been... but... recent attempt was a success! These were apple, I made them with a combination of apples from the orchard down the street and my own. Yum!