help please re co-sponsor!

[nfs 0]

Is there ANYONE out there who went through the Moscow embassy (in particular) with a co-sponsor recently?

I am currently unemployed and hoping to find a job before I send my financial info to Russia. The interview date is not set yet but should be in January sometime I would think. I am not living in a place that is good for jobs, but there are a few short-term possibilities. I am planning on moving, but want to wait until my fiancee gets here (which she hopefully will!) so we can move together.

So I definitely will not have enough income this year, and had even less last year, being in school, but I do have about $60,000 in a bank account. Even though I haven't made enough income this year, I thought it would be better to at least be employed at the time of the interview. Or maybe it doesn't matter?

I have a good co-sponsor, father of a friend.

My lawyer says that is not enough savings. He says my fiancee should just take my financial information to the interview and then they will ask for the co-sponsor information, which she should take them later. Does that make any sense? He also seems to think that the Moscow embassy may not accept a co-sponsor at all, so I am very worried! It seems like a lawyer who just does fiancee visas should know what the current situation is like at the Moscow embassy.

My fiancee speaks English very well and I've visited her in Russia for a total of 2 1/2 months and we've spent 3 months together in the U.S. in the last two years, and more before that. We have plenty of evidence and it seems like the only grounds they'd have to deny the visa would be financial.

It's not like I'm dead broke. But if they don't accept the co-sponsor, I will be in trouble. We've waited a long time and I can't stand the thought of something going wrong now.

[a&o 4]

HI,

Some consulates seem to look at current income, but others look at the three previous years' income. In any case, having a co-sponsor to be on the safe side is worhtwhile.

Check the Russia forum, though, for answers specific to the Moscow consulate.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showforum=98