Greetings to all!

[Fettman 0]

Hello to all, My name is Steven and I just found this site and I have enjoyed reading the various posts and discussions. This is just what I need as I am starting my K1 process now for my girlfriend of 6 years, Liliana who is Russian. I am from the US. We met 6 years ago on a mission trip in which she was a translator and things took off from there. Now that we are both out of school or soon to be out of school, we can finally get married. I know this place will be a great resource and help as I navigate the maze of paperwork and documents. She is currently getting her MBA in Germany, so we are waiting until December to apply when she will graduate. She is from Moscow for those of you from Russia, I live in Virginia. It has been a great blessing to have her in Germany as Germany requires no visas to visit :-).

So, I wish everyone the best of luck with their application processes and such and extend an big Привет to the Russians and a good old Hello to those of you from the States.

Your comrade in paperwork,

Steven

[Jasman0717 9]

Welcome to VJ

['my_destiny' 0]

HI Steven, Welcome to Visa Journey!!

Good luck to your petition and visa approval.

[Satellite 1]

Will you be going through the visa process in Germany or Russia? Because your fiancee has been residing in Germany for an extensive period of time, I'd look into doing the process in Germany. Keep in mind that getting police certificates from Germany and or ordering them from Russia is probably going to take more time than usual. If you do decide to go through the German route, the advice specific to Russia might not be as applicable to you.

[Fettman 0]

Will you be going through the visa process in Germany or Russia? Because your fiancee has been residing in Germany for an extensive period of time, I'd look into doing the process in Germany. Keep in mind that getting police certificates from Germany and or ordering them from Russia is probably going to take more time than usual. If you do decide to go through the German route, the advice specific to Russia might not be as applicable to you.

She will be in Germany for under a year. I believe then she will not be required to get a police certificate for Germany if I read the US Russian Embassy's website correctly. She only has a temporary visa for the EU as a student and will return home to Russia in December. We believe right now the Russian route will be the best, even if it does take longer as she and I are more familiar with it and as her MBA course load is very dense she does not have time to go through the paperwork now.

"If an applicant has lived abroad for more than one year, a police certificate must also be submitted from the country in which he/she lived."

Taken from US Russian Embassy

Thanks for the advice.

- Steven

[Jason-Sasha 1]

Welcome Steven and Liliana, to VJ! Good luck to you both.

[Satellite 1]

She is currently getting her MBA in Germany, so we are waiting until December to apply when she will graduate.

She will be in Germany for under a year.

Wow, that's pretty cool. I made the assumption that an MBA takes more than a year.

You are good to go otherwise.

[slim 1,525]

Welcome to VJ, Steven.

If she's going to be back in December, send in the K-1 now. No sense in delaying, as she'll be home long before the approvals roll in and the subsequent Moscow interview. You'll save yourself a few months by going ahead and sending it in now.

You can use her "home of record" in Russia for all the paperwork. She can download the forms, fill them out, and send them to you (NOW!) and you can have the whole packet done and sent in within a week or two of getting her stuff. She can call her mother or someone (or maybe even her school has one on file) to e-mail her a copy of her birth certificate, she can translate it herself, and then she can type up a "letter of intent" and fill out the G-325A as well. A quick trip to the photo store to get her passport size photos, and she's all done. You should have all of her documents within two weeks.

After sending in your K-1 packet, it's going to realistically take a few months to get the NOA-II, then through NVSC, to the embassy, and then get her interview scheduled. Even if you sent it in today, she probably wouldn't have the interview until next year. However, if you wait until after December when she returns home, you're going to have to pass through both U.S. and Russian Christmas/New Years holidays and then get it sent in. Basically, you can do it now and save yourself about 5 months.

Good luck in the VJ process, and I hope to see you in the VJ Russia Forum.

[essjay 0]

Welcome to VJ and Good Luck

[Fettman 0]

Welcome to VJ, Steven.

If she's going to be back in December, send in the K-1 now. No sense in delaying, as she'll be home long before the approvals roll in and the subsequent Moscow interview. You'll save yourself a few months by going ahead and sending it in now.

You can use her "home of record" in Russia for all the paperwork. She can download the forms, fill them out, and send them to you (NOW!) and you can have the whole packet done and sent in within a week or two of getting her stuff. She can call her mother or someone (or maybe even her school has one on file) to e-mail her a copy of her birth certificate, she can translate it herself, and then she can type up a "letter of intent" and fill out the G-325A as well. A quick trip to the photo store to get her passport size photos, and she's all done. You should have all of her documents within two weeks.

After sending in your K-1 packet, it's going to realistically take a few months to get the NOA-II, then through NVSC, to the embassy, and then get her interview scheduled. Even if you sent it in today, she probably wouldn't have the interview until next year. However, if you wait until after December when she returns home, you're going to have to pass through both U.S. and Russian Christmas/New Years holidays and then get it sent in. Basically, you can do it now and save yourself about 5 months.

Good luck in the VJ process, and I hope to see you in the VJ Russia Forum.

Ok, I agree with what you are saying. As for her birth certificate, do I need that for the I-129F? My only fear is (and I am sure it is laughable) is that she would still be in Berlin when they want to set up her interview. I was planning on sending in my I-129F in November, before she got home. If I understand things right for the I-129F all I need from her is a G-325A, signed and dated, as well as a passport sized photo. The rest I provide. Also, I am getting certified copies of my birth certificate made, how many do you think I should get? I was thinking 6-8. Thanks!

[Fettman 0]

Also, to follow up with my above post, if I submit my I-129F in October, what are the chances that it would get approved before she was back in Russia, i.e. January of next year? Does she have to be in Russia to get here interview scheduled? I would love to start as soon as I can, but as I said, I do not want to start it too soon if she is required to be in Russia before she is able to be back there. As Slim said, it is easy for me to get the items from her that I need, so I think October would be the soonest I could have everything together. Thanks!

- Steven

[russ 1]

Also, to follow up with my above post, if I submit my I-129F in October, what are the chances that it would get approved before she was back in Russia, i.e. January of next year? Does she have to be in Russia to get here interview scheduled? I

- Steven

Send it in now, or as soon as possible. It will be 6 months at least before the interview happens. As Slim can tell you, it isn't a big deal to reschedule an interview. She doesn't need to be in Russia to schedule the interview.

[1HappyGuy 45]

You might find that it will take about a month to gather all of your's and her documents in preparation for filing the I-129F. So, get started now. I think two certified copies of documents is sufficient since you can make copies of them for your records. You are going to need duplicate copies of everything you send to the USCIS.

I think you will need police clearance certificates from every place she has lived for six months or more since she was 18. Review the guides carefully and spend time getting everything right. Generally, it takes three months for the USCIS to process the I-129F applications. After that they are sent to the NVC (National Visa Center), part of the state department where a new embassy specific case number is assigned and background is checked. From there the case is forwarded to the embassy. The embassy will then contact your fiancee at the indicated address with requirements of additional documents and procedures.

Everyone is suggesting you get started now because of all the delays. I think you should consider all the different places that your fiancee has lived and how long it will take to obtain police clearances. That could be your biggest slow down other than the application process.

It sounds like you have just gotten out of school also, so you want to review the requirements for income and wealth regarding sponsorship.

Good luck on your journey and welcome to VJ. It will be educational, exciting, frustrating, worrisome and sometimes lonely. Not to worry, you just joined a group with lots of experienced people.

[Nancy2015 2]

Welcome to VJ, Fettman!! Good luck with your journey!!

P.S. I'm from Moscow too!

[Fettman 0]

You might find that it will take about a month to gather all of your's and her documents in preparation for filing the I-129F. So, get started now. I think two certified copies of documents is sufficient since you can make copies of them for your records. You are going to need duplicate copies of everything you send to the USCIS.

I think you will need police clearance certificates from every place she has lived for six months or more since she was 18. Review the guides carefully and spend time getting everything right. Generally, it takes three months for the USCIS to process the I-129F applications. After that they are sent to the NVC (National Visa Center), part of the state department where a new embassy specific case number is assigned and background is checked. From there the case is forwarded to the embassy. The embassy will then contact your fiancee at the indicated address with requirements of additional documents and procedures.

Everyone is suggesting you get started now because of all the delays. I think you should consider all the different places that your fiancee has lived and how long it will take to obtain police clearances. That could be your biggest slow down other than the application process.

It sounds like you have just gotten out of school also, so you want to review the requirements for income and wealth regarding sponsorship.

Good luck on your journey and welcome to VJ. It will be educational, exciting, frustrating, worrisome and sometimes lonely. Not to worry, you just joined a group with lots of experienced people.

Well, yes I have just gotten out of school, about a year or so now, but I have a great job, so money will not be the issue. I am well above the 125% mark. I will talk to her about the police certificates and see what she thinks about those. I also figured it would take a month or so for me to gather all the stuff I need for the I-129F. On her end, I just need the G-325A and a passport sized photo correct? The police certificate and her birth certificate are items she takes to the interview if I read the guides and such right. Thanks for the advice, I believe I will be submitting my I-129F by the beginning of October.

- Steven

Welcome to VJ, Fettman!! Good luck with your journey!!

P.S. I'm from Moscow too!

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!