Once you have submitted your Fianc' Visa application, the INS legally has 120 days to process your petition. If all of your documentation is complete, the approval process is relatively speedy.

There are four INS service centers that process fianc' visa applications throughout the United States. The busiest service center is the Laguna Nigel, California office, due to all the immigrants coming into the west coast from the Pacific Region and Mexico.

For this reason, fianc' visa applications through this office may take longer to process than through the other service centers.

Once you have filed your petition, you will be sent a Notice of Receipt from the INS stating that they have received your application. Your petition is now considered in pending status until it is approved.

Notice Of Approval:

When your petition is approved, you will receive another Notice of Receipt, commonly called the Notice of Approval.

On the Notice of Approval is a special number called a 'receipt notice number.'

This approval notification will also have an 'A' number on it. The A number is the actual number of your fianc''s visa.

When contacting the INS or the US embassy, you should always reference the 'receipt notice number' and your fianc''s 'A' number with regard to her application.

By the time you receive the approval notice, the US embassy will have received your fianc''s visa approval notice and will schedule an interview with her.

Which Foreign Embassy:

If your fianc' is from Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, or Uzbekistan, her fianc' visas will be processed at the Moscow embassy:

U.S. Embassy

Bolshoy Devyatinskiy Pereulok Number 8

121099 Moscow, Russia

Tel. 7-095-728-5000

Fax 7-095-728-5203

Monday Friday 9 AM to 6 PM

If your fianc' is from Belarus, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, or Lithuania, fianc' visas will be processed at the Warsaw, Poland embassy:

U.S. Embassy

Al Ujazdowskie 29/31

00-540 Warsaw, Poland

Tel 48-22-628-3041

Fax 48-22-628-8298

If your fianc' is from Ukraine, fianc' visas will be processed at the Kiev, Ukraine embassy:

10 Yurii Kotsiubynskyi St.

Kyiv 01901 Ukraine

Tel 380-44-490-4000

Fax 380-44-490-4085

The Embassy Information Packet:

The embassy will send your fianc' an information packet that will contain instructions and a list of the documents she needs to bring with her at the time of her interview.

Documents that she will be required to bring are originals of all the documents she has submitted with the original application: certified copies of birth certificates, divorce certificates, as well as official translations.

She will also be required to bring employment documentation and an official copy of a police report about her from her local police department.

Good Moral Character:

One of the major requirements of your fianc' is that she must be of good moral character. If she has a police record, she has virtually no chance of being approved for a fianc' visa.

This requirement is well intentioned. It's designed to keep the bad apples out of the US. Pardon me for being cynical, but if she is associated with the vors y zakone, she can probably arrange to pay enough to get a 'clean' police record.

Many of the Russian Mafyia have managed to get documents to qualify them for immigration to America; enough to recruit a full organization in spots like Brighton Beach, New York and Los Angeles.

My personal belief is that the Russian Mafyia is not filling its ranks in the United States through the fianc' visa process.

Your fianc' will have to go through a medical exam by an approved medical examination facility. The doctor will complete a Form I-693 Medical Examination Card, which your fianc' must bring to the interview.

This exam is usually arranged a day or two before the scheduled interview. At the time of the interview, they will complete a Form FD-258 Fingerprint Card with her fingerprints.