What other expenses are there?!

[LP]

... in response to Now Now Frankie-Poo . . ., posted by Dan on Jul 7, 2004


Laziness is the least of his worries. Frank is one of the few reasons I still read this board...

[MarkInTx]

... in response to What other expenses are there?!, posted by Frank O on Jul 7, 2004

I'm not sure where you are in the process, so I don't know what you have paid so far...

Yes, you will have a Visa fee for her.
Plane tickets, of course.
As far as actually getting out of the country, that's it.

You're lucky because you are doing the exit Visa in Ukraine... Viktoriya had to have $50 per day for Warsaw, or they wouldn't let her in the country...

Now, once you get here, the fees start up again...

Marriage license... Wedding...
You pay for the adjustment of status...
You will pay for the Employment card...
Social Security number... etc, etc... though some of this will be offset by the tax benefit you get by having a new dependant. (I got a $4000 bonus fromt he IRS when I married Viktoriya :-)

[Frank O]

... in response to Re: What other expenses are there?!, posted by MarkInTx on Jul 7, 2004

We're already married. I've paid quite a bit already just haven't heard much from my immigration atty other than she'll let me know when I get the other papers in. So far so good. Just trying to get a ballpark figure so I can shoot for.

[MarkInTx]

... in response to Re: Re: What other expenses are there?!, posted by Frank O on Jul 7, 2004

You're married already???

Then you're filing the K-3?

I really don't know what you can expect then... But why'd you hire an attorney? Unless there are special circumstances... I mean, I am about as bad at filing forms as a guy can get, and I got Viktoriya here with no problem.

It's tedious... but not hard...

(BTW, sorry about the crap you're getting from some posters... Time was that guys could come on here and post simple questions and get simple answers instead of Condescending "Smarter than Thou" flames...

A shame, really...

The fact is that ANY post on here could be answered by doing research... (as if that is any guarantee of correct answers... sheesh, even Mapquest gives you wrong directions sometimes...) I always though that one of the purposes for forums like this was the ability to seek answers from a collective body of people who have had experience... I guess some people forgot that...)

[romachko]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: What other expenses are ther..., posted by MarkInTx on Jul 8, 2004

Yes, the main purpose many of us have joined this board is to learn from others' experience and help others too.
Unfortunately, there are some members whose objective is to put down others. Of course, much of information may be  available somewhere else but this board saves enormous amount of time. Also some official info is not very clear whereas the board member's experience clarifies it. For example, instruction for a multiple entry visa to Ukraine as given by Chicago Consulate is confusing. Two board members showed how to do it. I couldn't believe that it was so simple and I got a 5 year-multiple entry visa(my passport expires in five years). Previously I got only a single or double entry. I don't know how much I benefitted from this board. Every little thing counts because it is backed by precious hands-on experience. As far as those #@$%!?&% are concerned, just ignore them because they love attention and hate to be ignored. I thank all of those who have been posting valuable info and I am more than happy to do the same.

[Frank O]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: What other expenses are ..., posted by romachko on Jul 8, 2004

Thanks for the feedback. You know I just had someone who recently got back from Ukraine & the guy asked a TON of questions &  never got irritated about helping the guy. I'd been there & done that & he was very glad for my help. I even had my wife be his translator & help him aroud, my father in law picked him up at the airport etc. Amazing how some people get all bent out of shape. Usually when I'm of no help (which is most of the time) I simply DON"T respond rather than be an arse & respond negatively.

[Frank O]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: What other expenses are ther..., posted by MarkInTx on Jul 8, 2004

[This message has been edited by Frank O]

That's what I thought as well. Honestly all the flaming is part of the reason I hardly come here at all now. I'm a musician & part of the reason I hired an atty was due to a divorce I went through back in 01 & 02 so I had to "work" my taxes...anyways I figured I'd hire an atty to play it really safe. I'm not an affluent atty or dr. so I can't afford to be making trips every 6 months over there. I simply wanted to know about what expenses to expect not really questions about the paperwork. You know how sometimes you cover "everything" then show up & they tell "well there is this other thing you need to do..." then spend another round of $$ for something you didn't expect. I encountered a LOT of that in Ukraine getting married. That & a heck of a lot of bribes so that's what I'm having trouble projecting. Of course you always have @$$holes from colorado rearing their ugly head. By the way my atty says everything is fine & we should be having our interview in either late Aug or Sept. She did ALL My paperwork. All I had to do was sign. She just doesn't tell me much about any fee's other than her own. Go figure eh? She was pretty cool. Did everyting all I had to do was sign. I love having other people do all the work for me ;-)

[Jack]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: What other expenses are ..., posted by Frank O on Jul 8, 2004

Frank, watch out for those who say "the facts are the facts", especially one who always quotes facts and "statistics that are not often spoken of",  who seems to never be able to back-up such statistics or facts when asked. A good example would be a recent statement one made about traffic being up on a certain discussion board when it's just the opposite, traffic, hit's, are down!!!!!!!!!!!   Wonder where he get's his facts?  (How many times have we asked that?)

You couldn't ask for a more fair, un-censored, un-moderated Russian discussion board than Planet Love. A discussion board where things, agencies, methods are freely discussed. Where all agencies can be discussed equally and not by who was advertising that month. I guess P-L could generate more traffic if it had 10-12 monthly advertisors and 20-30 moderators, moderators who make one, two, ten post's a day. Frank, take a look at some of the discussion boards that have moderators. Look at ALL the post's made by the moderators. Now look at all the post's made by non-moderators. Ahhhh,  what do you see? You might be surprised.

Planet-Love certainly did have it's problems with certain individuals who were notorious for passing out questionable information and recommendations. I guess the recommendations wouldn't be so bad if those  person's would stand by their opinions and recommendations, such as "I recommend all men to use all the time they can on their K-1 visa, use those 90 days to make sure of everything. It's the safe, smart thing to do". Well, new guys on Planet Love, they read this, believe this individual and what does that individual do? Marries in the first week! What happened to that good advice and opinions? Hell, such advice and opinion wouldn't apply to him, just everyone else. See Frank, this type of dis-information, wishy-washy advice and opinions I am sure turned off many people. These people were not HERE for the dis-information.

Your going to have your ocassianal flame wars here Frank but you do not see Patrick having to everyday remind guys to stay on topic or deleting threads.

[MarkInTx]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: What other expenses are ..., posted by Frank O on Jul 8, 2004

Well, glad to hear everything is working out for you...

I haven't had a lot of good experiences with attorneys, so maybe I'm jaded there...

You're right about this board, though... it is nothing like what it once was, that's for sure... Despite some people's attempts to prop it up... the facts are the facts... a LOT of good posters left... It's a little sad, because this used to be THE place for information...

[Jack]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: What other expenses are ..., posted by Frank O on Jul 8, 2004

Frank, and romachko as well as you made some good points, their is a lot of good experience and advise that can be taken from the Planet-Love Russian board. As well one can get varying degree's of opinions and advice. Experience is a wonderful teacher but also keep in mind that things, conditions, regulations have a way of changing over time, good example being the current questions regarding changes in registering one's visa in Russia. I am trying to get some definitive answers now. I have not see any new "official" regulations at this time and am more inclined to believe that Russian officials have decided to clamp down on a loop hole that has been exploited for some time.

Frank sometimes individuals will get a little testy around here but if you compare P-L to some other sites, this site is by far the best. You don't have 20 different moderators here that you have to worry about offending (or making false accusations). It's possible on some of the heavily moderated discussion boards if you offend one of twenty moderators your post, your question, your recommendation is deleted. Do you see Patrick censoring individuals or thoughts or recommendations here?  I can tell you from first hand experience their are Russian discussion boards who do censor individuals and agencies and this is not one of them. Here (and on the RWD, St. John's RWL, RW-X2 to name a few) the truth can be spoken.

So Frank, this site and the many individuals who participate here may not be perfect, but it's the best their is.

I hope after your bride get's here you will share what you have learned. Maybe your experience and discussing of such will be all that is needed for someone else to try it (or not). K-3's, DCF are one area that it seems their are never enough experts who can share their knowledge.

[AllenB]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: What other expenses ..., posted by Jack on Jul 8, 2004

Hi Jack,

RW-X2?  Is that a sony disc drive?  If you can offer this address I would appreciate it.

Thanks,
Allen (aka Chuda on RWD)

[Jack]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: What other expen..., posted by AllenB on Jul 9, 2004

Chuda, look here  http://groups dot yahoo dot com/group/RW-X2/

[AllenB]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: What other expenses ..., posted by Jack on Jul 8, 2004

Jack, you are right. I visit this board and RWD but not because I need advice about meeting a girl or the visa process, but because I have gone through all of it with a DCF and I didn't have anybody to help me.  I had to learn it all on my own and I don't think it is a big deal to try to help others.

I'd love to see this board and RWD ad a group specifically for these questions as well as I would like to have a board for guys like me that have completed bringing their wives here but now have new issues such as AOS or citizenship, PZHm stamps, etc.

I am happy to help anybody with thier questions that I can answer and if anybody knows of boards that can help me and my wife I would very much appreciate hearing of those as well.

Best of luck to all.
Allen