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56 days and I received the approval letter.  I'm seiked.  

Now I need to know how to advise my girl(no children and never been married or name change)?
Is there is anything I can do to speed up the process in Moscow?  

A recommendation on if expressing the letter to her and having her bring it to the embassy really works?  What express mail works best?

Airfare for her,  (A Fair level english fluency/Probably a 3 out of 5 scale.)  
She may need to spend the night in moscow..
Should I buy the airfare the day after the interview date. Or do too many complications ruin that idea.

She has police report and international passport and birth certificate.  Translated Birth Certificate.  

Any help would be appreciated.

... in response to What now??? received approval letter for..., posted by KC12 on Mar 16, 2002

We have used the plain old US Post Office several times, and it has worked well for half the cost of Fed Ex/ or DHL.
The service to use is just USPS Express Mail, the same as you would use to send an envelope across town, with a customs sticker attached, it goes to Russia just as easily, and quickly starting at about $28 for a large Express sized envelope, or box. We sent the box at Christmas, filled with a shirt, blouse, heavy gloves, and a ton of pictures for $34, and it got to St Petersburg within 5 days unopened with no hassles, or 'extra duties'.

... in response to US Post Office works for us, posted by RfB on Mar 18, 2002

Lot of confusion on this subject.

1.  You fill out the standard "express mail", form.
2.  Fill out the usg customs forms.
3.  If you're sending small stuff (envelopes, pics, etc), then it goes into a bag that takes a philadelphia lawyer to figure out how to seal; (plastic tabs, etc).

4.  Then it goes... to russia, ukraine.. etc.

However, the usps website says that global priority is not available to the fsu.

BS.  I've sent stuff using an older usps clerk, with years of experience that couldn't figure out this process to save her own job, and others, that knew it better than the back of their hand.  It's kind of like getting 15 different answers from the irs for the same question.

US to Siberia using this process... about 7 days.  The only reason why I figure they say that Global Priority service isn't available, is because it either switches hands, (as mentioned below), or there's just no guarantee time-wise for delivery.

I've never sent anything other than standard envelopes in these big plastic bags, so your mileage will vary.

... in response to US Post Office works for us, posted by RfB on Mar 18, 2002

That's what I've been told by my local post office.

... in response to I'm under the impression that express ma..., posted by Richard on Mar 18, 2002

The Top of the Line Express mail does go to Ukraine.  It is the middle of the line service, Priority Mail, which is faster than regular airmail and slower than Express Mail, that does not go to Ukraine.

... in response to I'm under the impression that express ma..., posted by Richard on Mar 18, 2002

go to Ukraine.  Check out their website or your local post office.  They list about 200 Ukrainian cities,  maybe more.

... in response to Oh!  Richard,  USPS does definitely, posted by tim360z on Mar 18, 2002

With the Priority Mail service?  I've had several clerks at the two post offices tell me that the Priority mail is not available to Ukraine.  They have looked something up on their terminals and refused to sell the service to me.

Exactly what are you asking for when you get to the counter?

... in response to Re: Oh!  Richard,  USPS does definitely, posted by Richard on Mar 19, 2002

1

... in response to I'm under the impression that express ma..., posted by Richard on Mar 18, 2002

I have never had a big problem with them.  I live in a small New England town and usually about 5-7 days for Expressmail and at 1/2 the price of others.  And some are small Ukraine town deliveries.  As I understand the process the USPS usually gets it to Ukraine in 2-3 days,  to the Ukraine Postal,  and then another few days for Ukraine Postal to deliver.  I have another small package to ship out this week and it will go USPS....seems to work quite well.  When I consider it is going 6000 miles and through quite a few time zones...its a deal.

... in response to I'm under the impression that express ma..., posted by Richard on Mar 18, 2002

I've used USPS "express" mail three times to Kyiv. It takes about ten days.

... in response to Re: express mail does not go to Ukraine., posted by Rags on Mar 18, 2002

The letters I've sent to Kyiv via airmail rather than express mail take roughly 10 days from what I can figure out.  That's air mail as in $0.80 an ounce vs. many dollars for a service that should take less than half that, where offered.

... in response to Re: Re: express mail does not go to Ukra..., posted by Richard on Mar 18, 2002

I was told (FWIW) by my post mistress that the difference is the chain of custody and security. It may actually take longer for registered/express mail to get delivered because it must be signed for at each stop.

... in response to Re: Express/Registered mail vs Air mail, posted by Rags on Mar 19, 2002

LOL, at first I thought you had missed typed and meant "past mistress"!  :)

... in response to Re: Re: express mail does not go to Ukra..., posted by Richard on Mar 18, 2002

Expressmail.  Packages?  Not so.  I have been quite amazed at how fast Postal letters from Russia and Ukraine reach my mailbox.  Average 7-14 days.  Although,  I did have a summer postcard from Yalta take 3 months.  Mixed bag.

... in response to US Post Office works for us, posted by RfB on Mar 18, 2002

US Post Office uses DHL for its international delivery.  They used to Use Fed-Ex but changed.  

I am just thinking maybe they had some problems with the Fed-Ex service like I had.

Sorry I am on the Fed-Ex witch-hunt but I have had 2 bad experiences with this international carrier and in my book, 2 strikes and your out.

... in response to What now??? received approval letter for..., posted by KC12 on Mar 16, 2002

N/T

... in response to I use FedEx, but DHL, and UPS work just ..., posted by Mike on Mar 17, 2002

If documents must be there on short notice.  I have found that they are unreliable in my case and had to actually hand deliver documents to Poland because they told me it would be there by a certain date and then when I called to check up on it they said it would be delivered too late.  They told me they could reimburse me $100 for the mistake but I never recieved the forms and when I went to the local office to ask them about it they said it would be too late to file for damages and were not very sympathetic or understanding.

TERRIBLE company service.

I have used UPS before and they were okay, so I would go with UPS or DHL.  I have heard that DHL offers really good international service.

... in response to Re: My recommendation would be not to us..., posted by Oatmeal on Mar 17, 2002

I had a good experience using DHL to ship documents *from* Ukraine to USA: They were delivered in four days as promised.  (Note: it might have made a difference that I drive by the local DHL office on my way to and from work and stopped to pick them up.)

... in response to What now??? received approval letter for..., posted by KC12 on Mar 16, 2002

Welcome to the world of "hurry up and wait"

You have done your part...now it is time for her to do hers...she can easily fill out the forms that are yet to come, mostly biographic so do not worry.

If she can get to the embassy in person might speed things up a bit, when they get around to mailing her the packet it could take a month from now for her to get it..if at all.

You will need to open up a provisional file, which basically is a form of all of her personal bio..name, address, phone number, birthdate and parents name. She can do this also if she has a copy of your approved NOA, and can get to the embassy in person.

I scanned and emailed my approved NOA, she printed it and that was what she gave at the interview. I hope you had "many" pictures taken togeather when you visited her.
Make sure she has more than the ones you submitted with your petition. Also make sure she has all of your phone records and copies of e mail correspondence, not to mention your w2 and last years 1099. You do not need anything certified, for Moscow you are not going to need to submit the financial support form.That will come later at the AOS,
which is more confusing than the petition...

Now, since a lot has changed since 9/11 I do not know how fast the embassy is working anymore.

For me, my wife lived in Moscow..and I was there visiting her when my approval came (checked by phone to INS) and we went to the embassy the next day to get all of the required papers and to open the provisional file. We "could not" get an appointment "until" my petition arrived in Moscow (took 2 weeks) and then I called the toll number to request a new date a few weeks earlier than they gave her. The way it used to work was your fiancé would receive her packet along with the interview date, usually the date was 60 days after your petition was approved.

It is a *good* thing your fiancé has her police report, I hope you verified with the embassy which one they require...the embassy changed their requirements during the period when my wife was getting hers...she had to get a local police report as well as the "national police" report just so to cover all of the bases.
Luckily she "only" lived in Moscow.

One last little bit of information: the medical exam will be her last hurdle before her interview..the packet will give several places to get her exam, my wife went to the cheapest place and it took all day...some others spent the big bucks and had a more expedited experience, so the word to the wise..spen the extra 50 bucks. Make sure she asks to see the report before they seal the envelope, it seams that more than a few women were sent home without a visa on interview day due to improperly filled out medical papers.

You should post your experience to the board to give a heads up to all of your up to date info..as I said before, after 9/11 things did change and I am not sure if it has gotten back to normal. My wife has met many woman from FSU in the last 6 months, they each have a different story to tell...my wife thinks that we did things correctly but no one knows until that visa is in her hand.

Airplane tickets...do not buy them until she has her visa. It will give her time to think clearly about packing and give you time to prepare for her arrival. You can pre-pay her ticket at your local travel agent and she can pick it up at the airport or at the airline business office in Moscow. I used Aeroflot, it was very easy.

Good luck

... in response to Re: What now??? received approval letter..., posted by apk on Mar 16, 2002

There has been one change since 9/11--no more provisional files.  Also, I believe interview dates are running early May at present.

In addition to the excellent police report/medical exam advice already given, do make sure your fiancee has/is working on getting an international passport.  That can take six weeks or more.  Like the police report, it is more complicated if she has lived in several places or in other CIS countries besides Russia.

Good luck,

Steve M.

... in response to What now??? received approval letter for..., posted by KC12 on Mar 16, 2002

Request an interview. Has this happened? ...
faxing your approved petition and stuff..?