interview language?

[ignacio 1]

Hi.....was wondering if anybody can tell me if interview at embassy can be done in ukrainian or does it have to be done in english language? Anna speaks really good english (more than she gives herself credit for) but is worried that she will be nervouse and mite not understand person at interview. Thanks for any replies.

[Dave-n-Oksana 49]

Hi.....was wondering if anybody can tell me if interview at embassy can be done in ukrainian or does it have to be done in english language? Anna speaks really good english (more than she gives herself credit for) but is worried that she will be nervouse and mite not understand person at interview. Thanks for any replies.

She will have the choice of Ukrainian, Russian, or English. So she can relax about that. As long as everything appears kosher to the IO, it should be a piece of cake.

Dave

[Oksana & Max 94]

Hi.....was wondering if anybody can tell me if interview at embassy can be done in ukrainian or does it have to be done in english language? Anna speaks really good english (more than she gives herself credit for) but is worried that she will be nervouse and mite not understand person at interview. Thanks for any replies.

I am not sure about whether she can choose. But they are not that strict on the language you are interviewing. As other poster mentioned as long as everything is legit, there is no issues.

[1HappyGuy 45]

They do speak Ukrainian, Russian or English at the interview. If the interviewer is an American woman then suggest she speak a little English by saying, "I hope to improve my English so that I can find a job." That might stop the questioning about finding work in America and not becoming another welfare case.

[Turboguy 6]

I would agree that speaking a little English avoids the question "How will you communicate with your new husband?" They can not deny a visa over someone not knowing Enlish but they can deny one over not enough common language to communicate.

[ONA 133]

When I had my interview in Moscow only me and one more girl spoke English to the CO, everybody else spoke Russian. The CO basically was speaking the language people greeted her with - since I greeted her in English, she started speaking English to me, when people greeted her in Russian, she would speak Russian to them.

Anyway, COs know that English is not applicants' 1st language. I've read some people reporting that spoke a mix of Russian/Ukrainian and English at their interview and got approved.

[Captain Hammer 113]

Yes, she can choose the language. I would recommend* she choose Ukrainian if she's not comfortable with her English. She can always "demonstrate" her English skills if it comes up. It was our experience that the choice of language doesn't really matter as long as everything else looks ok and you're not trying to hide anything.

*Not a professional recommendation, just personal opinion.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hi.....was wondering if anybody can tell me if interview at embassy can be done in ukrainian or does it have to be done in english language? Anna speaks really good english (more than she gives herself credit for) but is worried that she will be nervouse and mite not understand person at interview. Thanks for any replies.

she has a choice of English, Ukrainian or Russian. It makes no difference which she chooses.

[Olya&Bill 0]

I would agree that speaking a little English avoids the question "How will you communicate with your new husband?" They can not deny a visa over someone not knowing Enlish but they can deny one over not enough common language to communicate.

///

i think that is a great point. it fits what Olya was told.

( Olya only STARTED to learn English in February, so I specially told her NOT to do the interview in English!

...to avoid problems, because i noticed that she often got "negatives" reversed, which obviously turns a "yes" answer into a "no" answer. )

But Olya told me later:

" She asked whether I in English ... I said: «A liitle.» ... .. And your suitor says in Russian? - «Only some words.» ... She says ... well, then we need to communicate with you in English .... O-O! I said: «Ok, I'll try» .... "

(Olya was being generous. I know i think 7 words - but, it seems Olya got "brownie points" for trying in English, and said her interview was very very easy and fast.)

So i'm sure the others above are correct, that it doesn't matter much, but obviously Anna speaks much better English than Olya did (after only a few months of occasional classes), so why not go for the brownie points? ...anyway, good luck and best wishes !!!

[baron555 934]

///

i think that is a great point. it fits what Olya was told.

( Olya only STARTED to learn English in February, so I specially told her NOT to do the interview in English!

...to avoid problems, because i noticed that she often got "negatives" reversed, which obviously turns a "yes" answer into a "no" answer. )

But Olya told me later:

" She asked whether I in English ... I said: «A liitle.» ... .. And your suitor says in Russian? - «Only some words.» ... She says ... well, then we need to communicate with you in English .... O-O! I said: «Ok, I'll try» .... "

(Olya was being generous. I know i think 7 words - but, it seems Olya got "brownie points" for trying in English, and said her interview was very very easy and fast.)

So i'm sure the others above are correct, that it doesn't matter much, but obviously Anna speaks much better English than Olya did (after only a few months of occasional classes), so why not go for the brownie points? ...anyway, good luck and best wishes !!!

My wife was asked in which language we communicated and she replied, correctly, English. So she had to have the interview in English. When she had some trouble with a few questions she asked that they be repeated in Russian and was refused (the little one was fussing and causing a disturbance). We eventually were approved.

She should be capable of having the interview in the language you two use to communicate....if not able to do that maybe you two are not ready to get together. Just saying.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

The responses from the members with Russian wives are, as always, very helpful, but the Ukraine and Moscow consulates ARE different in some regards. For instance, Phil, Alla would not have had her little guy there in Ukraine, children under 14 do not attend interviews there. Kiev allows the USC to go right to the interview window, Moscow does not allow them in the building.

Alla was asked by the guy that collects documents, in Russian, which language she preferred. She answereed, in Russian, "Russian, I speak English well but I do not want to make mistakes" From that point all discussion with her was in Russian. The guy collecting documents repoated everything to me in English, though I did not ask him to do this. We turned in our documents, waited 45 minutes and were called to the interview window and informed, in English, that her visa was approved and they handed back our original documents and photos.

There were no questions asked about anything at any time and no one at the consulate ever heard Alla speak English.

I have not heard of this issue of "how do you communicate?" being raised in Ukraine. I think, particularly when you submit a lot of evidence of communication (emails, skype, phone logs) that it is pretty obvious you ARE communicating but I tend toward simple, common sense solutions...character flaw, I know.

I have heard that this question is asked often enough in Moscow but I have not heard from anyone that they really made a big issue of it.

At any rate, the language issue does not seem something to get too concerned about in Kiev. Just make sure you have your documents in order and your evidence of relationship and you should be fine.

[Lena and Igor 5]

Lena requested to be interviewed in Russian. The CO complied. Her Kiev interview lasted less than 15 minutes. She praised the experience. Evidence is what counts the most.

Edited October 7, 2011 by Lena and Igor