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