NVC / Embassy Interview

[centurion 0]

I am sure that my question not only is beating a dead horse on this forum but pulverizing it.

My problem is that internet in the middle east sucks and I can rarely remain on line long enough to research

the past forums. I have even found this site blocked a time or two due to "content"

My fiance lves in Bashkortistan which falls under the Ykatarinaberg consulate district. Thus I requested that her interview be conducted there. Her sister lives in the city so it is also more convenient.

The I-129 was approved and sent to the NVC Feb 6. After 2 weeks I emailed the NVC requesting our Case number. After a week, I received a response and the Case #.

There has still been no notice via snail mail of it's receipt by NVC.

I have looked on the Embassy site and noticed that case #'s after ours have been assigned interview dates. Is this normal ?

Does the Moscow Embassy publish the dates for all interviews or only those scheduled at the Embassy in Moscow ?

Í do understand this is a trying process that requires patience. My predicament is that I will rotate home in a day and need to schedule my leave accordingly. I am hoping that someone can give me a heads up on

how what problems or experiences they have had that caused delays Etc. Possibly it is only my frustration with the process getting the best of me.

[Satellite 1]

As far as I am aware all K1 visa interviews are conducted in Moscow. I am very surprised you were able to move your interview to Yekaterinburg. The consulate there usually does B1/B2 interviews only.

"Fiancée Visas Fiancée(e) Visas are for persons planning to travel to the U.S. in order to marry an American citizen and then reside there permanently. Fiancée(e) visas, like all categories of immigrant visas, are not issued in the Consulate in Yekaterinburg. Residents of Russia must apply for fiancée(e) visas at the Embassy in Moscow."

http://yekaterinburg.usconsulate.gov/en/consular/niv.php#02

And all but one clinic for the medical exam is located in Moscow. So you'll be forced to go to Moscow anyway unless Vladivostok sounds better.

http://moscow.usembassy.gov/consular/consu...record_id=ivmed

Don't worry about not receiving a receipt from the NVC, I didn't get one either. Keep watching the interview schedules at:

http://moscow.usembassy.gov/consular/wwwhcisk.html

http://www.tenthgen.com/Visa.aspx

I’d only worry if you didn’t the service center NOA-2. You need that thing later at the interview stage, AOS stage, and even lifting conditions.

Good luck.

[slim 1,525]

Congrats on rotating back to the Big PX tomorrow!!! Gonna be nice to have a real beer, huh? Watch a few commercials, take a long, (HOT) shower, drink real milk, be able to walk around outside without having to check your six or get sand mixed in with EVERYTHING you own. But, SWA is a good time. Great place to visit. ONCE! (Hopefully you're not on one of those deployment rotations and have to go right back in a few months. If so.... go to Korea instead!!!)

By requesting the interview in Yekaterinburg, does that mean that you put that on the line for "at which embassy will the interview be?" question on the I-129F? You can put whatever you want down there, and they're going to tell you the same thing. SHE MUST GO TO MOSCOW. It sucks too, cause my fiancee is living in Vladivostok right now and there is a consulate there. She has to fly all the way to Moscow just for her interview. Vlad to Moscow is farther than NY to LA. Sucks. But, it's Russia.

As far as confirmation from NVC.... you'll probably get that AFTER you have already checked the embassy website and seen your original case number near the interview date. The embassy site doesn't update too often, and even when it does, they back-fill some of the dates. As long as you have your original case number (NOA I or II) you should be fine.

The interview probably will be in Moscow though, so if you are planning on taking leave, you should wait until the website updates. Once you get the interview date, plan leave accordingly and travel plans to Moscow. You'll also have to have your fiancee make the trip from Yekaterinburg to Moscow as well. Once the date is on the website, they usually don't change too often, so that's a pretty good time to start planning leave. I think ours was about a seven or eight weeks out when the website updated. That should be enough time for leave, especially after deployment. Good luck with that!!! I know I waited until after separation from the military to go to Moscow because I could never get leave dates and plane tickets lined up.

Another thing.... you don't have to go to Russia during the interview. (You can't even go in with her!) It would be a great support for her and probably a good vacation for the two of you together, but it isn't 100% necessary. She does have up to six months to travel here once the visa is approved. Just options.

Anyway, good luck, and again, congrats on making it through your tour. Don't get too drunk in Frankfurt or Shannon or at Gander or wherever the hell your first of the 500 stops is.

[Satellite 1]

She has to fly all the way to Moscow just for her interview. Vlad to Moscow is farther than NY to LA. Sucks. But, it's Russia.

Actually it is the US that requires all K1 interviews to be in Moscow and not Russia. The only part of "it's Russia" that would be applicable to this situation is the sheer size of Russia itself.

[slim 1,525]

Very true!

I guess the USCIS processes were modeled after the "it's Russia" philosophy.

[Neonred 3,564]

As I recall it took me about a month to get a letter from NVC with the case number for the interview.

I am off a week from Wednesday to meet my girl in Moscow to give her support and freeze my ### off....should remind me why I am living in Florida! Then off to her city to say good-bye to all her friends....if all goes well.

[russ 1]

I am off a week from Wednesday to meet my girl in Moscow to give her support and freeze my ### off....should remind me why I am living in Florida! Then off to her city to say good-bye to all her friends....if all goes well.

Good luck! We are enjoying the sunshine here in St Pete. We will never make another trip to Russia during winter...

[Neonred 3,564]

Thanks russ. I'm in Naples, but get to St Pete often as my parents live in St Pete, or really Seminole. Been so nice lately here. I will look so out of place in Moscow with a suntan. My girls skin is as white as my bottom!

[centurion 0]

I have safely arrived back to the "Real World " Funny how it takes one stop to go there and 4 to get home. Slim, I did manage a pint of Guiness in Shannon.

I fortunately will not have to worry about the leave issue. They will most likely Demobilize my reserve unit and send us home on Terminal leave. Thus the new predicament

is when to plan my return to work. I can hold out until June before I will have to go back. I know I do not have to be at the interview. Olya has never traveled alone and only

once on a plane. Not to mention we have not seen each other for what will be 1 year by the time I head over there. So I am going for support and much needed time together.

I appreciate all the responses from all. I requested the interview for Ykaterinaberg on the I 129. At least now I know to plan for a trip to Moscow.

Looking into all the info from other forums and the State and Embassy websites is a bit confusing and brought some new questions.

Is the interview scheduled once the Embassy receives the pettition from NVC or after the packet 3 and application for a visa w/ payment is received from the beneficiary ?

This site says one thing and other sites and forums are conflicting.

Do we need to bring our / my three year old child ? I know he will likely require a medical but not sure if he needs to be at the interview or needs a passport due to his age.

Again I am certain all these questions have been asked and aswered on this forum. I am just to darn busy with the Navy to spend the time searching ( maybe a bit lazy also).

[Satellite 1]

Is the interview scheduled once the Embassy receives the petition from NVC or after the packet 3 and application for a visa w/ payment is received from the beneficiary?

The interview is scheduled once the embassy receives your data from the NVC. You pay for the visa the day of the interview.

This site says one thing and other sites and forums are conflicting.

That is because every embassy is different. Moscow seems to be the exception of not having a packet 3 followed by packet 4. You just get one packet to bring to the interview with the interview scheduled in advance. A better system in my opinion considering how well Russian mail works.

Do we need to bring our / my three year old child ?

Probably, but I am not sure.

I know he will likely require a medical but not sure if he needs to be at the interview or needs a passport due to his age.

He will certainly need a medical exam, and his own passport, as all visa recipients need their own passports to receive the visa. I know Russia has their unique system of writing kids into the parent's passport, but this pretty much works only in Russia.

[slim 1,525]

Centurion.... Congrats on having a pint in Shannon. I happily wear my green Ireland rugby shirt and recollect on the numerous stopovers there, and the 45 minute wait in line for that sweet taste of freedom. 300 people get off that freedom bird, and there are 3 old women working the bar, #######?

But hey, how many kids can claim to be the first on their block to have "had a pint of Guinness in Ireland?" Awesome... cross that one off the list. (Also first one to walk on Red Square! Isn't that funny... I know when I was "playing army" as a little kid, that's the last place I thought I'd ever end up.)

Did you notice the sign in the restroom... it's in like 15 languages. That was the first place I've ever been where there was a sign that said "this bathroom proudly serviced by..." in so many languages. Good stuff! Even better to be able to read the Slavic words, and a few others.

Just keep checking the Moscow website. It will update (eventually) with your case number. That's how you know when the interview will be. I told my girl about a month before she even got her packet 3. If your case has already been sent from NVC, expect Moscow to schedule you within about 2 months. If you're demob'd and can hold off from going back to work for till June, you should be OK. Might have to come back from Russia and go right back to work, but I'm sure you wouldn't mind that with the little sweety in tow. Keep us posted.

Neon.... you're up! Good luck buddy, keep us posted, and have fun!!!

[Neonred 3,564]

Thanks, Slim. It is really sinking in that we are nearing the end of this portion of the "visa journey". Hard to believe that after more than two years it is time for the interview. Looks like her uncle got the nearly impossible to get Kyrgyz police certificate and has fired it off by DHL. That was our last stumbling block (I think). I had written to the embassy about our difficulty getting this police certificate that covered her for one year when she was 17, 20 years ago and they indicated that with proper documentation about our attempts to get it it MIGHT not be a problem...not the best answer. I suppose it depends on the interviewer at the embassy and what kind of day he or she is having. I feel much better now knowing we have the correct document.

I'll do my best to update you all when I am at a computer over there. I am out of here on the 15th.