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Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Russia
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Visaveteran - please advise how you are using Vonage without a landline? I just called Vonage, hoping to sign up, but was told one was required.

All that's required is cable modem or DSL access to the internet. Vonage which works off the internet so why would you need a land line? Call Vonage again.

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Russia
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All that's required is cable modem or DSL access to the internet. Vonage which works off the internet so why would you need a land line? Call Vonage again.

Thanks - correct. Believe I didn't ask the question to them properly the first time.

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The cost to call a mobile phone on Vonage is 8¢ a minute. I can live with that as my wife mostly calls landlines. And I was able to keep my old phone number as well.

The call quality has been quite good also.

I was thinking about this too so Claudeth can call her family more often but when she first got here she ran my phone bill up to $3000 so I might stick with the calling cards, her family only has cells.

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Russia
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I was using calling cards to Russia (callingcards.com) with limited success. More often than not, I would have to dial the call 2-3 times to get a connection where we could both hear each other. I also noticed if I used a calling card to dial her home/land line, there was a significant delay that would result in us talking over each other. If I called her cell phone, there was no such delay (but the cost was quite a bit higher).

I switched to the new Vonage plan a couple of months ago and have been thrilled with it. Free calls to land lines in Russia (she's in Chelyabinsk) and inexpensive service to cell phones.

We've tried Skype in the past, but I don't think broadband Internet is all that great in Chelyabinsk, so the speed on her side makes things a challenge in that respect.

I also just added the new Vonage Mobile service. If you have an iPhone or BlackBerry (they may support other smartphones, I don't recall), it allows you to leverage the same Vonage calling plans. They have a $24.99/mo plan, which offers the same coverage as the "new" standard Vonage 60-country plan. If you have both Vonage and Vonage Mobile, they discount the bundle $10/month.

I have a BlackBerry. You download and install the Vonage application and it inserts itself into the phone dialing process. It intercepts a call and routes it through a Vonage bridge number first. So the only thing you're essentially paying for on top of the Vonage plan are the cell phone plan minutes you're using to dial another US number. I've used it with great success so far--it's very convenient. Even if I'm calling her cell phone at 8 cents a minute, it's not that much more than what I was paying with a calling card and there's a lot less hassle.

If you have an iPhone, I believe the Vonage Mobile app can also make the calls over a Wi-Fi connection.

Finally, they have a pay-as-you-go option for Vonage Mobile, where you deposit funds ($5 minimum at a time) and they deduct from that. In my case, I can't justify $25/month for Vonage Mobile as I usually make my calls from my Vonage home number. I think it's 5 cents/min for landline, 8 cents/min for mobile.

Hope this helps. I've been a Vonage customer since 2006 and am pretty happy with the service.

K-1 Timeline:

2010/02/08: I-129F package sent via USPS Express Mail

2010/02/12: Received at CSC by Linda Fairbanks

2010/02/16: NOA-1 issued

2010/02/17: Check cashed (no legible receipt number on back)

2010/02/22: NOA-1 hardcopy received

2010/04/02: Touched

2010/04/04: Touched again (Easter Sunday?!?)

2010/04/05: Email/text notification of NOA-2

2010/04/05: NOA-2 Notice Date on I-797

2010/04/12: I-129F received by NVC

2010/04/15: I-129F petition left NVC for Moscow

2010/04/16: I-129F petition enjoys a layover in Cincinnati, OH

2010/04/18: I-129F petition hangs out in Vitoria, Spain

2010/04/20: I-129F petition drinks a bit too much lager in Leipzig, Germany

2010/04/22: I-129F petition arrives in Moscow, looking like it was rode hard and put away wet

2010/04/25: Emailed the U.S. Embassy in Moscow asking for interview date

2010/04/28: Response from Moscow that our interview is 8 Jun 2010 at 10am

2010/06/08: Interview at the Moscow Embassy

...

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Thanks, Slim. I'm going to stop worrying about it then. Our case is iron-clad as far as I see it, just a matter of waiting until VSC gets to the petition.

On a matter of phones though, I still like google talk/gmail chat over anything, since I can use it on my cell phone to call wherever I am.

Our expierience and others here is that Kiev won't even look at that stuff. If you go to the interview, they probably won't look at anything. :thumbs:

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Ukraine
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Our expierience and others here is that Kiev won't even look at that stuff. If you go to the interview, they probably won't look at anything. :thumbs:

Our case is clear cut, imo. Two people, same age (almost exactly the same b-day), never married, no kids, same culture, same language, known each other and each other's family forever....yadda yadda

There's no if in me going to the interview. I am going and coming back with her, period!

Edited by Мартышк+Мартышка

Слава Україні!

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Our case is clear cut, imo. Two people, same age (almost exactly the same b-day), never married, no kids, same culture, same language, known each other and each other's family forever....yadda yadda

There's no if in me going to the interview. I am going and coming back with her, period!

Good man :dance: I predict zero problems. That date should be coming up soon too right?

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Travelers - not tourists

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Jordan
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Our case is clear cut, imo. Two people, same age (almost exactly the same b-day), never married, no kids, same culture, same language, known each other and each other's family forever....yadda yadda

There's no if in me going to the interview. I am going and coming back with her, period!

I think everyone would agree (who has been through this and been around the boards for a while) that logic is a big part of every case. Circumstances mean very little as long as you have and have built a logical case. Your case is completely logical IMO. Take for example our own case. I went to Jordan to work on a projectwith my university in joint with Ammar's university. This was my first year on the project and it was his 6th. He was on their faculty. The universities had partnered for 10 years at that point. My colleagues knew his colleages and HIM. He and my colleagues had published together. We had the same educational background/degrees, worked in the same field. We met at work. We had friends in common. We worked on publications together. We are essentially the same age. We are equivilent social and socio-economic statuses.

There is a logic. Your case shows a great logic and probability. I would think you would be fine, but never take anything for granted. In MENA, there was a couple who was in a similar situation to you and they put her fiance in AP for like 6 months or so before granting the visa. Not sure why. Amman was back-logged at the time, though, which could have been a factor. We, for example, had to wait 6 months until there was a slot for an interview... So, it's never guaranteed, but in the end what matters is that you make it through and she gets here, right? When its all over, the wait time will disappear and be a distant memory.

Edited by julianna

None of my posts have ever been helpful. Be forewarned.

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Ukraine
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Good man :dance: I predict zero problems. That date should be coming up soon too right?

Everything is still in the hands of VSC :)

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Ukraine
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There is a logic. Your case shows a great logic and probability. I would think you would be fine, but never take anything for granted. In MENA, there was a couple who was in a similar situation to you and they put her fiance in AP for like 6 months or so before granting the visa. Not sure why. Amman was back-logged at the time, though, which could have been a factor. We, for example, had to wait 6 months until there was a slot for an interview... So, it's never guaranteed, but in the end what matters is that you make it through and she gets here, right? When its all over, the wait time will disappear and be a distant memory.

I know, Julianna. We even front loaded our I-129F with stuff beyond the "we've met in 2 years" evidence.

That is also a reason I wanna be at the interview. To minimize any doubts about our relationship.

Слава Україні!

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Jordan
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I know, Julianna. We even front loaded our I-129F with stuff beyond the "we've met in 2 years" evidence.

That is also a reason I wanna be at the interview. To minimize any doubts about our relationship.

Fantastic. So they let you guys come to the interviews? That is awesome! Amman said I would have to wait outside, so I didn't come.

None of my posts have ever been helpful. Be forewarned.

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Everything is still in the hands of VSC :)

Hang on... I'll put in a good word. :) Seriously, you are a textbook case for easy approval.

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Travelers - not tourists

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