O&V's US Immigration Timeline
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Petitioner's Name: V
Beneficiary's Name: O
VJ Member: O&V
Country: Ukraine
Last Updated: 2009-06-03
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Immigration Checklist for V & O:
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USCIS I-129F Petition:
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Dept of State K1 Visa:
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USCIS I-485 Petition:
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USCIS I-765 Petition:
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USCIS I-131 Petition:
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USCIS I-751 Petition:
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USCIS N-400 Petition:
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K1 Visa
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| Event |
Date |
| Service Center : |
California Service Center |
| Transferred? |
No |
| Consulate : |
Ukraine |
| I-129F Sent : |
2009-01-21 |
| I-129F NOA1 : |
2009-01-27 |
| I-129F RFE(s) : |
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| RFE Reply(s) : |
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| I-129F NOA2 : |
2009-03-17 |
| NVC Received : |
2009-03-26 |
| Date Case #, IIN, and BIN assigned : |
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| NVC Left : |
2009-03-26 |
| Consulate Received : |
2009-04-09 |
| Packet 3 Received : |
2009-04-17 |
| Packet 3 Sent : |
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| Packet 4 Received : |
2009-04-23 |
| Interview Date : |
2009-05-28 |
| Interview Result : |
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Second Interview
(If Required): |
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| Second Interview Result: |
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| Visa Received : |
2009-06-03 |
| US Entry : |
2009-06-29 |
| Marriage : |
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| Comments : |
Touched 01/28/2009
Check cashed 01/30/2009
NOA2 received in the mail 03/25/2009
USCIS website still shows "Case received and pending;" there was no e-mail notification...
From NVC letter: "...within a week the petition will be forwarded to the appropriate visa-issuing post..."
Yet, according to a phone call to NVC "Your case has been sent to the consulate in Kyiv on 03-26-2009."
Actually date when received by the consulate is unknown. I called the call center today (April 9, 2009) and found out that the case is already in Kyiv, Ukraine. I asked for the interview at the end of May (I cannot make it to Kyiv earlier), but the answer on the other end of the line was "You will have to call back later since the dates for the interviews in May are not opened yet." The operator suggested calling next week. Will keep calling until they have the dates for May...
April 21, 2009. Nearly two weeks later, the answer is still "For K1 visa we do not have open dates for May". Today I was told that the dates for May will be available at the end of April. Keep this in mind if you are trying to schedule an interview at the US consulate in Kyiv at the beginning of a month.
April 23, 2009. Finally. A call to the call center lead to setting up the interview date at the end of May. All of a sudden, May interview dates in US Consulate in Kyiv became available. 28-th of May is the only day I can be in Kyiv with my love to see her interview through. Now to buying tickets, arranging hotel in Kyiv, the usual.
The interview: 30 seconds with a 2.5 hour wait -- see report. |
Processing
Estimates/Stats : |
Your I-129f was approved in 49 days from your NOA1 date.
Your interview took 121 days from your I-129F NOA1 date. |
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Member Reviews:
Consulate Review: Ukraine
Review Topic: K1 Visa
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
June 3, 2009 |
| Embassy Review : |
We were at the consulate around 9am, the interview was scheduled for 9:30am. A little plot of land before the consulate was filled with visitor/business/student/exchange visitor visa-seekers, about 200 people all together. There were two-three local people, apparently consulate-hired security people. They behaved like very important people, at least by the way they were treating the crowd, shouting commands and directing the crowd. Almost like herding a crowd of prisoners... No machine guns, though, which was comforting.
We went to the beginning of the line, where there was an inconspicuous sign "Immigration visas and US citizens". We identified ourselves to the guard, who basically said "Come back at 9:25am and someone from the consulate will come out and pick you up." Outright lie. At 9:25 the same person showed up, checked that were were on the list, and told us to go through the door when the green light above the door lights up. So we did. We entered the consular section at 9:30 after leaving our cell phones at the guard desk and going through a metal detector.
Inside the consular section, the first thing one sees is a huge crowd of visitor visa-seekers. One has to manage around the crowd to proceed to the end of the hallway where there is a little room (total capacity 13 people) for immigrant visa applicants. We had about 15 minute conversation with a nice lady who took our documents. She was unhappy that we did not have joint photographs (I had copies of my airline tickets and a copy of my passport showing numerous entries to Ukraine) but she took copies of my telephone bills showing numerous calls to my fiancee's phone. Document-taking took about 15 min. By the way, even though consular instructions ask for originals and copies, the only copy we actually needed, was a copy of my fiancee's birth certificate with translation.
We then proceeded to wait. In about 30 minutes my fiancee was called for fingerprinting that took about 5 min. All-in-all we were ready for the interview around 10:15 am, Yet we ended up waiting until 12:15 om for the actual interview.
The seats in the waiting room are extremely uncomfortable. Nobody behind the glass seemed to care about the people in the waiting room. There were two other couples waiting for either the fiancee of spouse visa. One was denied due to ineligibility (two year home country residence clause), another was granted. In addition, there was a young woman who quickly got her visa, a lady who brought her elderly mother for immigrant visa interview, and a few US couples dealing with adoption documents and visas. Together with us, this morning there were 6 applicants total.
I fail to understand why, but we were waiting almost exactly 2 hours for a call from the consul for the interview. He definitely was not in a hurry. We were dead last. The interview itself lasted about 30 seconds. My fiancee was asked to raise her right hand and affirm that everything that is written in the forms is true. So she did. Then the consul asked what do I teach. After which he said "You are all set" and handed a pink slip to my fiancee.
We went to a plastic tent located near the entrance and paid 60 UAH for a courier delivery of my fiancee's passport. By about 12:40 we were out of the consulate.
My overall rating is 3 out of 5, which can be broken down as follows:
Consular staff:
- 5 when they are talking to you (taking documents, fingerprinting, etc.)
- 1 when they are moving behind the glass, going about their duties.
Facilities/room:
- 1: waiting room sucks. There is nothing to do over there. You cannot take much of a reading with you, and there is nothing to read inside. TV shows a set of short clips about the USA. The content is totally stupid and gives no idea to a potential immigrant about what the USA really is.
The interview:
- 5. It was really easy. The consul is a nice guy.
Summing up and assigning equal weights to my four grades, the overall rating of this consulate is only 3 out of 5. |
| Rating : |
Moderate |
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Timeline Comments: None yet, be the first!
*Notice about estimates: The estimates are based off averages of other members recent experiences
(documented in their timelines) for the same benefit/petition/application at the same filing location.
Individual results may vary as every case is not always 'average'. Past performance does not necessarily
predict future results. The 'as early as date' may change over time based on current reported processing
times from members. There have historically been cases where a benefit/petition/application processing
briefly slows down or stops and this can not be predicted. Use these dates as reference only and do not
rely on them for planning. As always you should check the
USCIS processing times to see if your application
is past due.
** Not all cases are transfered
ver 5.0
