Call Center/Kiev Question

[DeltaKilo 0]

Here's a question for all of you. I received an email from the Embassy in Kiev that they have received my fiances case, and sent the information packet to her via regular mail on August 26th. I've called since then and they can't find her in the computer so we haven't been able to schedule an appointment. Is this normal?

Thanks

-DK

Edited September 3, 2010 by DeltaKilo

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Here's a question for all of you. I received an email from the Embassy in Kiev that they have received my fiances case, and sent the information packet to her via regular mail on August 26th. I've called since then and they can't find her in the computer so we haven't been able to schedule an appointment. Is this normal?

Thanks

-DK

Ihe consulate may have received your case, but the call center gets updated on cases only ONCE per week, on Friday night AFTER they close. It can take up to 3 weeks for the call center to be updated. If the call center is telling you they don't have it, it is just because they have not been updated. The call center is NOT at the consulate. The call center is in Warsaw Poland.

Call them Monday morning (Kiev time) and ask again. Always refer to the KEV number you got from NVC. If they do not have it on Monday, wait one week and call the next Monday. There will be no updates during the week and the call center has no way to refer to the case until the consulate puts it in their system.

[JVF 0]

You can always email them at KyivIV@state.gov. The are pretty good on replying. I think they should have your case in their system by next week. Monday is a holiday. Try calling them on Tuesday.

[1HappyGuy 45]

Make sure you include your embassy case number in all email.

[DeltaKilo 0]

I had no idea it wasn't in Kiev. You are so helpful, thank you so much!

-DK

Ihe consulate may have received your case, but the call center gets updated on cases only ONCE per week, on Friday night AFTER they close. It can take up to 3 weeks for the call center to be updated. If the call center is telling you they don't have it, it is just because they have not been updated. The call center is NOT at the consulate. The call center is in Warsaw Poland.

Call them Monday morning (Kiev time) and ask again. Always refer to the KEV number you got from NVC. If they do not have it on Monday, wait one week and call the next Monday. There will be no updates during the week and the call center has no way to refer to the case until the consulate puts it in their system.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I had no idea it wasn't in Kiev. You are so helpful, thank you so much!

-DK

If the consulate tells you in an EMAIL they do not have the case, then you have a problem. If it is the call center (which I surmised from your post) it is just the "lag time".

Ukraine did not have a consulate until 2005 when we rewarded them for the Orange Revolution and tossing out the government we didn't like (at the time) by giving them a consulate and lots of CASH and some military hardware no one can seem to find. We got rewarded by ending the need for US citizens to get visas...yada, yada. At any rate, people from Ukraine used to use the consulate in Warsaw, Poland (as Belarus still does) and when they made the new consulate they left the call center there. It is staffed by two Ukrainians, Vitaliy and Viktoria and operates on "Kiev time". But in reality they are only clerks that make appointments, the consulate tells them which appointments are open for which visas and they give you the "next available" when you call, OR you can ask for another after that date, IF they are booking out that far. This depends on their workload.

You can always email them at KyivIV@state.gov. The are pretty good on replying. I think they should have your case in their system by next week. Monday is a holiday. Try calling them on Tuesday.

Oh yeah...forgot. They celebrate US AND Ukrainian holidays.

[JVF 0]

If the consulate tells you in an EMAIL they do not have the case, then you have a problem. If it is the call center (which I surmised from your post) it is just the "lag time".

Ukraine did not have a consulate until 2005 when we rewarded them for the Orange Revolution and tossing out the government we didn't like (at the time) by giving them a consulate and lots of CASH and some military hardware no one can seem to find. We got rewarded by ending the need for US citizens to get visas...yada, yada. At any rate, people from Ukraine used to use the consulate in Warsaw, Poland (as Belarus still does) and when they made the new consulate they left the call center there. It is staffed by two Ukrainians, Vitaliy and Viktoria and operates on "Kiev time". But in reality they are only clerks that make appointments, the consulate tells them which appointments are open for which visas and they give you the "next available" when you call, OR you can ask for another after that date, IF they are booking out that far. This depends on their workload.

Oh yeah...forgot. They celebrate US AND Ukrainian holidays.

Medical center is opened on Monday.

[1HappyGuy 45]

The medical center is probably open on Monday as that is a Ukrainian facility, but the embassy will be closed for our Labor Day.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

The medical center is probably open on Monday as that is a Ukrainian facility, but the embassy will be closed for our Labor Day.

Unless someone TELLS the people at the medical center.

[JVF 0]

Unless someone TELLS the people at the medical center.

Please don't. Svetalan is going for medical on Monday

I wonder how many holiday days per year do they have?

There are 8 National Holidays in US and about 30 in Ukraine. Not a bad job...

[1HappyGuy 45]

I wonder how many holiday days per year do they have?

There are 8 National Holidays in US and about 30 in Ukraine. Not a bad job...

Don't forget that they are also entitled to vacation days. So, do you think the embassy employees (the US ones) choose the typical American period of two weeks or opt for the European amount of about 45 vacation days a year.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Please don't. Svetalan is going for medical on Monday

I wonder how many holiday days per year do they have?

There are 8 National Holidays in US and about 30 in Ukraine. Not a bad job...

OK, I won't tell. Not to mention that last summer (and maybe this summer, I do not know) they closed every Friday. Because it was Friday AND it was summer. The medical clinic closed on Wednesdays because it was Wednesday and it was summer.

The clinic is pretty good, really, I haven't heard of any problems. But one of the concepts I had to put out of mind when I was working there, was the idea that because someone told you they would meet you on Monday at 9am did NOT mean they were going to meet you Monday at 9am. Best I could figure, it means they would meet you...sometime. Maybe Monday, maybe even in the morning Monday (meaning before 12 noon) but don't push it! What really scared me was when they said they would meet with me "first thing tomorrow".