Beware of the smiling lady

[baron555 934]

Phil,

So sorry to hear of your delay. I am confident this is a delay, not a major roadblock. Delays are tough, I know firsthand. The evidence they are requesting will be easy to produce, and they will see that you are a committed couple. Thanks for posting this - it is prompting me to shore up and update our evidence.

I guess the lesson learned by me/us is that you need to rehearse for the interview; meaning they will be asked detailed questions (or may be asked) about especially anything contained in the petition documents. We had met via Elenas Models (immdediately left the agency) so the questions asked were not out of the realm of possibilities. I don't know if she was asked my street address number but she may have. We didn't spend too much time of some of these details and I didn't grill her too much on these details. We did rehearse the "usual" questions, she knows my mother's name and location, my brother and sister's names and locations, when, where, how we met, has a ring, lots (I thought) of email summaries, phone logs, Skype logs and about 7 photos of us together (we didnt' take a ton of those). And as another poster mentioned, his fiancee was asked very detailed questions concerning living conditions and former wife (I believe) that was not contained in any of the documents.

[LoveWaits 1]

And maybe it should be noted that the detailed questions Katia got might also have been due to me having a foreign ex-wife (green card holder). Also, Katia and I met in Europe when I was living there, not through an agency so maybe they look harder at agency cases? However, based on the details we've shared it sounds like both interviews were equally difficult. Pretty good example for people I think as we had the same person interview both our fiancees.

Anyway, you'll do fine, she'll get the visa and this will all be a bad memory very soon! Keep us updated! Will be pulling for you!

[jimnlena 8]

Sorry to hear of your issues!! Though I do not think you have more than a day or 2 delay!! I wonder if the embassy bust in Kiev has employees being more picky for the time being?

[visaveteran 1]

I'm wondering if there has been a policy change under Obama/Hillary to slow visas or to take a tougher look at applicants? First we hear about problems with long, difficult medical exams which, except for very rare cases, usually went smoothly in the past. And the interviews were a similar story...case after case APPROVED. Now we read that people are being asked hard questions and are going into AR, or asking for a lot more evidence of a relationship. Seems like the consulate process may be getting tougher.

This seems unlike the way things were a year ago. And the Secretary of State does dictate policy at the consulates, which may be why people get through USCIS OK and then have problems with the State Dept. end of it.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the coming year. For all those yet to complete the visa journey, I hope these recent issues are the exception, and not the new rule.

[kylejb 0]

Phil, be stong for Alla and Leonid. It will be ok. I know that doesn't ease the pain.. but as you told me many times. ALL WILL BE OK.

You are NOT denied. Just temporaily delayed.

[Jeff and Tatiana 0]

Phil, man on man, do I understand this situation. Heh, just happened to me not but a few days before. I am so very sorry to hear it, but I echo other's comments, I think if you pile up the info, you will be fine. Just give them what they ask for, in spades.

Hang in there!! To everyone who did make it through this week, GREAT!! To those that just missed it.. well hang in there, the journey continues, but at least we have practice at this waiting game.

-Jeff

[SuperDuper! 230]

Is it a good idea to go loaded for bear? I mean to have girl take 25 emails, 200 pages of chats, and 6 months of phone logs, and all our snail mail cards, and 37 fotos together. Better too much than too little?

[Steve S 2]

Beefing up our evidence . . .

- I included just one representative month of a phone bill with my I-129F packet. I think I will print every third month since then. Sound ok? Each bill is about 11 pages of printouts. My printer is an ink-hog, I think I will just about use up a cartridge doing this! Usually I call a calling card number, but I can highlight those anyway along with the direct calls.

- She was going to take 4-6 photos, but after reading this I think I will make her composite sheets of 20-30 thumbnails to go along with the full photos.

- I am printing out at least one long yahoo chat archive -- most of them I did not save because I did not set the preferences for that.

- Irina said she was afraid to bring her ring on the trip, but eventually she will be bringing it overseas anyway, and it sounds like it would be helpful for her to be wearing it. If not, I can send her the receipt or appraisal.

[LoveWaits 1]

For the I-129 packet I sent only 8 photos, call record, trip record from our two trips (Germany and Russia), a letter from her father and the appraisal for the ring (together with a photo of her wearing the ring). So definitely include that and also take the ring to the interview. She can just put it on when she gets inside the embassy because as you said, not so good to wear around Moscow.

[Ruemonst 0]

Hi,

My fiance had the same problem on Friday.

I didn't send copies of emails or phone records.

After getting advice on this web site. I felt they would

be unnecessary.

She did have the only 3 pictures of us together.

We just never seem to think about asking someone to take

them. I have tons of pictures of her and her son.

Another strange thing?

They showed her a list of alias names that I have used.

My name is Edward as a child I went by Eddie now I go by

Ed.

Where do they come up with this ######?

Anyway, they kept her passport and asked us to send more info

and pictures. I guess I need to go back to St. Petersburg.

Ed

[1HappyGuy 45]

It seems that a number of responses here are about how much to include in the original application and what additional items should be sent to the fiancee for the interview. The number of photos does vary among VJ'ers but it seems that somewhere between 5 and 8 is the most appropriate. It is probably a good idea that they are in different venues and that the images show wearing different clothes, so that they aren't all one day. But, the matter of email letters and other correspondence is always subjective. It seems that a series of letters spread out over time is most helpful. The letters should contain words describing your future plans, which would be usual for this situation. It is not a matter of having a large quantity as much as quality.

As far as the questions that they ask, that is the State Department's attempt to see if this is a "real" relationship or just another opportunity for someone. When I think back at what my fiancee would have had to answer, I wonder how she passed. We didn't discuss much about family background and just a little about past relationships. You do know that talking about past failed relationships is not much fun, so why bring it up with someone new?

I think VJ does an excellent job of giving users a good understanding of what is needed. It is up to the individuals to determine if they have enough details provided. Sometimes those items of evidence are missing as you didn't realized you might need them or didn't think you would meet someone and fall in love.

The point is to be as detailed as you can when you provide evidence and insure both you and your intended are well aware of each other's history and background.

Let's all keep a good thought for those struggling and hoping for approval.

[Jonathan Matthies 1]

Too many administrative reviews for my liking. It sounds like the Consulate has a bug up their rump. I hope all of these requests are settled soon, and with a positive outcome.

I did not send Katya any of our Skype transcripts; but these recent threads made me reconsider. I copied our entire Skype history into Word 2007 and saved it as a PDF; all 686 pages of it. I emailed this file to Katya last night, but I hope she does not have to use it. Maybe she can pick and choose except pages and print them out before hand. But if they give us an admin review, I'll pay her to take it to a Kinkos (if Moscow has one); print out the entire novel and shove it in their review box.

[slim 1,530]

I'm wondering if there has been a policy change under Obama/Hillary to slow visas or to take a tougher look at applicants? First we hear about problems with long, difficult medical exams which, except for very rare cases, usually went smoothly in the past. And the interviews were a similar story...case after case APPROVED. Now we read that people are being asked hard questions and are going into AR, or asking for a lot more evidence of a relationship. Seems like the consulate process may be getting tougher.

This seems unlike the way things were a year ago. And the Secretary of State does dictate policy at the consulates, which may be why people get through USCIS OK and then have problems with the State Dept. end of it.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the coming year. For all those yet to complete the visa journey, I hope these recent issues are the exception, and not the new rule.

I've been on VJ long enough to see that it goes in cycles. It's really tough, then it's almost a given, then it gets harder again.

Hang in there, keep jumping through the right hoops, and you'll get the visa.

Is it a good idea to go loaded for bear? I mean to have girl take 25 emails, 200 pages of chats, and 6 months of phone logs, and all our snail mail cards, and 37 fotos together. Better too much than too little?

It's not quantity.... it's quality!

You're "painting a picture" when you go in there. You can print out e-mails and call logs, Skype, etc., all day long and it doesn't really show anything other than you communicate a lot. Better to take photos, cards, gifts - items of affection - to show that you have a real lovey-dovey relationship, especially when the C/O is a woman. When you get a dude as a C/O, he sees 200 pages of e-mails and thinks, "wow! That's a lot of e-mails. They must really like each other." A woman sees 200 e-mails and thinks, "if he has all this time to e-mail her, why didn't he get on a plane and go see her?"

Paint the picture they want to see.

sounds like it would be helpful for her to be wearing it. If not, I can send her the receipt or appraisal.

My wife didn't have a ring. (Still doesn't.) She said even if she did, she wouldn't have been wearing it because it's not safe to wear a nice engagement ring in Russia unless you have a professional driver and armed escorts. (Which she has now! - At least when I'm not working.)

Phil, I bet you could submit the exact same stuff you submitted last time and this time she'd pass. It sounds as if the woman C/O wasn't impressed by the fact that yet another MOB was coming to America to take away a good American man and had her mind made up before the interview even started. If Alla goes back in there next time, focused on the interview (not Leonid) and sounds confident that she IS getting the visa, then it will be given to her.

It seems like they get a C/O in there sometimes that's a little more strict and not quite as fair as the rest. Sounds like Alla just drew the short straw this time. For those still awaiting the interview process, fret not, for they change C/Os every so often. Plus, they don't all go through "the bad one" and even if they do, it's more about painting that picture than about what you actually have in front of you.

Coach your fiancees, have them be confident in their answers (IN ENGLISH!) and make sure they know they may have to "impress" a b!tchy American woman into believing your relationships are real.

GOOD LUCK, EVERYONE!!!

[Chris_Жанна 11]

Thanks Slim. I think the handful of us that are on deck need to hear this. Thank you.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hi,

My fiance had the same problem on Friday.

I didn't send copies of emails or phone records.

After getting advice on this web site. I felt they would

be unnecessary.

She did have the only 3 pictures of us together.

We just never seem to think about asking someone to take

them. I have tons of pictures of her and her son.

Another strange thing?

They showed her a list of alias names that I have used.

My name is Edward as a child I went by Eddie now I go by

Ed.

Where do they come up with this ######?

Anyway, they kept her passport and asked us to send more info

and pictures. I guess I need to go back to St. Petersburg.

Ed

They just wanted her to be aware of your sordid past, C'mon Eddie...or is it Ed? Or is it Edward? Seems pretty suspicious to me.

And they tell this to a RUSSIAN woman that has at least three names for each of her friends, children etc. Sheeesh. Our youngest son can be "Pavel" "Pavel Vitaliyovich", "Pasha" or "Pashinka" depending on Alla's mood or if Pasha is in trouble or not.