The Kyiv Beat......

[zqt3344 21]

Lviv

Hi there, say curious, did you file a I130 or I129F? Did you marry in Ukraine? Just learning from you is all, curious how you journey is going, I thought you were already married in Ukraine, so it had me miffed when it said K1 interview tomorrow in Kiev. Also if you are standing in line outside embassy tomorrow make sure your finance wife tells the man at entrance she is K1 interview and they will bring her right on inside immediately to waiting window, then they take stuff from her and ask basic questions, then she sits and waits and then they call her name out and she goes behind place for interview, which you can usually hear what they are saying, also she gets choice of English or Russian and usually they only ask about 2 - 4 questions that are simple and that is it, so relax you are in like Jim on this. Good luck.

ZQT3344

Best of luck to both of you. You have had smooth sailing so far and there is no reason to think otherwise. The Embassy staff are first rate, respectful and seem to really want to give you what you want.

Best wishes!

Thank you very much! Glad to hear the people in the consulate are nice. As you know, frequently this is not the case. Down to just over 1 day away now. The excitement is really building! =)

[LvivLovers 39]

Lviv

Hi there, say curious, did you file a I130 or I129F? Did you marry in Ukraine? Just learning from you is all, curious how you journey is going, I thought you were already married in Ukraine, so it had me miffed when it said K1 interview tomorrow in Kiev. Also if you are standing in line outside embassy tomorrow make sure your finance wife tells the man at entrance she is K1 interview and they will bring her right on inside immediately to waiting window, then they take stuff from her and ask basic questions, then she sits and waits and then they call her name out and she goes behind place for interview, which you can usually hear what they are saying, also she gets choice of English or Russian and usually they only ask about 2 - 4 questions that are simple and that is it, so relax you are in like Jim on this. Good luck.

ZQT3344

Hi ZQT3344! I went to Ukraine and married my wife in February this year. Then I filed both I-130 and I-129F in March. The USCIS decided for us that we would be pursuing a K3 visa since they didn't forward our I-130 on to the NVC...only the I-129F was sent even though both were approved.

Thanks for the info on the consulate. I just talked to her and she was first in line already...she was also aware she could go to the front of the line. Also, we had both been there together once before when we got our letter of non-impediment to marriage (so we could get married in Ukraine), so she at least has some idea of what it's like inside. I should know the result of her interview in about 4-5 more hours. Not surprisingly, I'm finding it a little difficult to sleep at the moment! hahaha

Best wishes!

LvivLovers

[natashenika 0]

She'll be good

As everyone on this forum said Kiev is not that bad place to go for interview and I bet your papers are in order

Hope you'll get results soon and will go to sleep you need to get some rest before your wife will move to your place ;-)))

[LvivLovers 39]

Thank you for the support everyone! I just talked to Oleksandra...her K3 visa has been approved! She's going to let me know all the details once she returns home.

Best of luck to everyone else who is still waiting!

[natashenika 0]

Thank you for the support everyone! I just talked to Oleksandra...her K3 visa has been approved! She's going to let me know all the details once she returns home.

Best of luck to everyone else who is still waiting!

I KNEW that when I sow vthe reply notification message and your name in there i KNEW it was APPROVED Gongratulations

I'm So happy for you

Enjoy your Life together

Wish you all the best

Edited October 29, 2007 by natashenika

[Mariya 0]

WOW! That was interesting to read how you Americans percieve life here in Ukraine!!!

My husband spent 3 months with us in Ukraine this time - and some of his comments are so simillar to those above!

I'll send him the reference to this page and he might have a good time reading it.

I have always had a great time there. We did discuss my moving, but with a young son in my life it would be tough and I know I couldn't handle leaving him behind. I have seen others on VJ just pack up and leave their children behind...I can't do it. I could leave the rest of family behind no problem, I'm an adult I know I'd see them again and would stay in touch but there is zero dependency on them or for them on me.

This will be Lena's first time being really far away from family. One of the draws to her was the family make up and respect of family within Ukrainian culture. I admire that, and here in the states it is unfortunately not as strong or binding as it seems to be there. Our culture and society seem to forget family sometimes or they look at it very differently from the perspective of how we treat our parents and elderly.

Sorry, just rambling again. Lena will have some tough days ahead I'm sure. I've prepared for this as much as I can. She'll have access to Vonage phone service to call home, I left my laptop there with her family so they can email from home, and use the Vonage "Softphone" for up to 500 minutes of calling per month for only $9.99. The laptop is set up for Video conferencing through Microsoft Messenger. Lena will have all of this, and I just had an International Dish from DirecTV installed this past week so she will have Ukrainian channel 1+1 available to watch here anytime she desires. When I went over last July-August I took her a new Cell Phone (unlocked) and when she leaves Kyiv next Monday she will just swap out the sim card, and be on the ATT network for sms updates on her flights, and to call once the plane lands at O'Hare. She will also have International sms capabilities here in Madison.

Then I went a step further and was introduced to a couple of guys here that have Russian wives and we will meet more couples through them. I felt that native speakers would be a great connection to FSU culture, and offer tips and advice for her. I learned there are over 1,500 FSU diaspora (spell?) here in Madison so she will meet some of them for certain. We actually have a school here where many of them are taking their children several times a week to teach and keep them in touch with Russian language.

One thing that I am disappointed in over here is regarding things for Lena's daughter. Lena's 10 year old daughter has been in Dance since age 3. She has been performing for a dance company in Kyiv since that age, making the "cut" at age 6. The cost for the training and so forth over there is very reasonable, and much more intense (training 5-6 days a week sometimes) than about 95% of the schools here in the USA. I checked into one school here and it was outragous in price for only 1 day a week. That will be something we'll have to wait on for awhile.

E.

Etripke,

You are such a caring husband. Lena will be happy with you for sure. Of course it might be difficult for her to adjust. But then everything will be OK as she gonna have you and her daughter with her.

[etripke 0]

Thank you for the support everyone! I just talked to Oleksandra...her K3 visa has been approved! She's going to let me know all the details once she returns home.

Best of luck to everyone else who is still waiting!

Congratulations! Looking forward to hearing about it.

[Mariya 0]

Mariya

Privet

Say did you file a K1 or what? How did you meet your finance?

ZQT3344

WOW! That was interesting to read how you Americans percieve life here in Ukraine!!!

My husband spent 3 months with us in Ukraine this time - and some of his comments are so simillar to those above!

I'll send him the reference to this page and he might have a good time reading it.

Privet Zqt3344!

We filed for CR-1.

As for meeting my fiancee (husband now) - he was sent to me from the heaven.

Well.. we met on a cruise liner..

[zqt3344 21]

Dobrii Utroe Mariya:

Great, ok educate me, so what is CR-1 and how does it work?

ZQT3344

Mariya

Privet

Say did you file a K1 or what? How did you meet your finance?

ZQT3344

WOW! That was interesting to read how you Americans percieve life here in Ukraine!!!

My husband spent 3 months with us in Ukraine this time - and some of his comments are so simillar to those above!

I'll send him the reference to this page and he might have a good time reading it.

Privet Zqt3344!

We filed for CR-1.

As for meeting my fiancee (husband now) - he was sent to me from the heaven.

Well.. we met on a cruise liner..

[Mariya 0]

Thank you for the support everyone! I just talked to Oleksandra...her K3 visa has been approved! She's going to let me know all the details once she returns home.

Best of luck to everyone else who is still waiting!

[Mariya 0]

Dobrii Den' dear Zqt3344,

As far as I know CR-1 takes a bit longer to get BUT it gives your non-US fiance the right to work as soon as she arrives to US. For it you need to file I-130.

K visa take less time to be done than CR-1. For it you need to file I-129F as well. K visa is more expensive.

Check this reference and decide what visa you'd better need:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...mp;page=compare

Edited October 29, 2007 by Mariya

[zqt3344 21]

Dobrii Den' dear Zqt3344,

As far as I know CR-1 takes a bit longer to get BUT it gives your non-US fiance the right to work as soon as she arrives to US. For it you need to file I-130.

K visa take less time to be done than CR-1. For it you need to file I-129F as well. K visa is more expensive.

Check this reference and decide what visa you'd better need:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...mp;page=compare

Todays Ukraine Topic: PIPES Above the Ground! I wonder if natural gas flow from Mother Russia will be a problem in Ukraine again this winter, I cannot believe they still heat their apartments, excuse me flats, with water filled radiators, that get fed with those water pipes that have black asbestos insulation hanging off them running all over the ground all over the place. Anyone ever wonder how or why they put their water pipes and gas pipes all above the ground instead of burying 10 feet underground from frost line and freezing up, I never could get a answer as to why they put hot water pipes above ground and expect to move all that hot water to apartment complex and then have hot water! ANd how do you like having to step over all those pipes all the time when walking around!

[LvivLovers 39]

I'm still waiting for Oleksandra to write up her interview experience. She's been busy packing her things right now. She received her K3 visa from FedEx today, so it only took 3 days from approval to getting it in her hands in Lviv! We are all set!

[etripke 0]

I'm still waiting for Oleksandra to write up her interview experience. She's been busy packing her things right now. She received her K3 visa from FedEx today, so it only took 3 days from approval to getting it in her hands in Lviv! We are all set!

That's great news! They must be processing the Visa's diferently now.

We have 3 days until the flight. I'm still getting things ready, but should be all set in a day or so.

[Deron 0]

APPROVED

Everything went smooth, only one question asked. Finally this part of the journey is coming to an end...