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5 <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
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7 <meta name="Author" content="Andrew DeFaria">
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9 <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Mozilla/4.75 [en] (Windows NT 5.0; U) [Netscape]">
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10 <title>My fiancée, Olga Fedoryaka</title>
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13 <body text="#000000" bgcolor="#ffffff" link="#0000ee" vlink="#551a8b" alink="#0000ee">
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14 <div align="Center">
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16 <div align="Left">This is the story of my relationship with Olga Fedoryaka.
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17 It will be long and the story is complicated. And because of the problems
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18 we are currently having with the INS, the duration of time involved, the history
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19 and numerous contacts, lies, messages, etc, I feel compelled to document this
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20 if for no other reason as to get it relatively straight. <br>
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21 <blockquote><small><b>NOTICE: </b>I feel I should state this right up front:
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22 This web site is </small><small><b>private!!!</b></small><small> It is intended
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23 for my eyes only and perhaps Olga's eyes eventually. Any unauthorized access
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24 to these pages is, as defined, unauthorized. While these pages are stored
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25 on my home computer and I do run a web server on my home computer, these pages
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26 are stored in the web area but in a separate folder and encoded with Windows
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27 Encyrpted File System. The web server cannot read these files. I keep these
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28 files because HTML is my medium of choice for writting thing. This clearly
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29 indicates my intent to have these pages only readable by me.</small><small>
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30 If you are reading these pages then you are doing so illegally. I suggest
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31 you leave immediately!</small><br>
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33 I will probably ramble on and on and edit these series of web pages for
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34 a long time. The intend is to get some sort of documentation in a close to
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35 chronological order. As such I should probably start at...<br>
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36 <h2>The Beginning - Meeting<br>
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38 In the summer of 2000 I traveled to Kiev, Ukraine with A Foreign Affiar
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39 for the purposes of finding a wife. It was not a mail order bride sitatuion.
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40 I went to meet eligible, marriage minded women. I was hoping I'd meet a special
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41 woman but figured if that failed at least I'd have a good vacation and an
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42 opportunity to visit the city where my mother grew up.<br>
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44 During the trip I meet Olga Fedoryaka and dated here. Initially I didn't
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45 think that she was interested in me but on our second date things went better
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46 and by the end of the trip I had cancelled all my other dates to be with Olga.
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47 I remember on the plane ride back regretting that I didn't ask her to marry
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48 me before returning to the US. More of this story is available in my <a href="LoveLetter.html">
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52 When I returned to the US I sent Olga flowers and we continued our relationship.
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53 In September I returned to Kiev and asked her to marry me. I also started
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54 filing a K1 petition. The petition was sent to the INS Service Center in Laguna
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55 Niguel (AKA CSC) in October 2001. I returned again in December and we spent
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56 the holidays together. When I returned to the US I found out that my K1 petition
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57 was approved on 1/2/ 2001. <br>
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58 <h2><a href="Disaster1.html">Disaster #1</a>
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63 <h2>Disaster #2 - April 2001</h2>
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64 <h3>Initial Interview<br>
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66 We had our fiancée interview scheduled for April 23, 2001. I flew
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67 out to Warsaw, Poland and flew Olga out to attend the interview. I as very
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68 happy and really looking forward to getting Olga back home to California.
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69 But she was not allowed to come back with me. <br>
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71 We arrived on time to the embassy for the interview and after proceeding
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72 through security got in line to present our papers. We were then told to wait
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73 to be called. Olga was nervous, "What if they don't let me go?" she asked.
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74 I told her "Why wouldn't they? They let you go before". Finally we were called
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75 up to the window.<br>
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77 The consular officer (Let's call him Dave - none of the consular officers
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78 identified themselves by name) took Olga's paperwork and looked it over. He
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79 mentioned that Olga was in the US before, which I knew about. Olga was in
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80 the US from 1995 - 1997. She came on a K1 visa and married a man named Michael
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81 Moffat. That marriage didn't work out and they divorced a year later. She
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82 stayed in the US and later married another man named Jon Miller but she realized
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83 that that was a mistake and attempted to get that marriage anulled but couldn't.
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84 So she divorced him too. Then Michael came back around and help Olga leave
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85 the country and join him in Hong Kong. <br>
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87 Dave told us to hold on and walked in the back for a while. He returned
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88 with another consular officer, a blonde haired man who we'll call John. John
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89 asked me to step to the window next door. He <font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">
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90 asked me why I wanted my fiancée. I was not aware that it is customary
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91 to interview the petitioner at such visa interviews! I told him that I loved
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92 her and wanted to bring her to America to be my wife. He then asked if I was
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93 aware that my fiancée was in the U.S. before. I responded that she
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94 had not been deported. He looked at me very sternly and menacingly, raised
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95 his voice and scolded me "Now don't be trying to get legal with me!". I told
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96 him I was not trying to get legal with him I was just trying to inform him
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97 that she was not deported and apologized. Needless to say at this point I
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98 was very nervous and intimidated. I did not feel that I needed to be scolded
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99 by him nor intimidated by him however I was worried if I didn't go along with
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100 whatever he said that he would deny my petition. In other words I felt very
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101 threatened by him. </font>
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102 <p><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Next he asked me if I knew
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103 that she had been married twice before and that he believed that she was just
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104 using me to get a ticket to America. I told him that I was fully aware of
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105 her prior marriages and had discussed it with her on many occasions. I told
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106 him that I had even spoken with her first ex husband on the phone. He seemed
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107 satisfied with that and let me return to my fiancée and the interview.</font></p>
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108 <p>I returned to the other window. Dave had asked how she had left the US.
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109 Olga explained that she left with her first ex husband, Michael, to Hong Kong,
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110 where he was working, and that they were attempting to patch things up and
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111 perhaps remarry. Dave asked how she got back to the Ukraine. Olga explained
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112 that she stayed in Hong Kong for 3 months then her Hong Kong visa expired.
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113 She had to return to the Ukraine. Michael said he would try to get her another
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114 visa but he was unable to. Dave asked for proof that she re-entered the Ukraine.
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115 All Olga had was a photocopy of her Russian passport with a visa stamp for
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116 Hong Kong dated September 27, 1997, 179 days from April 1, 1997 when the
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117 INS made extensive changes to the INA. Dave said that that did not prove
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118 that she entered the Ukraine, it only proved that she left the US. I said
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119 "Does it really matter what the exact date she entered the Ukraine is? I
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120 mean we can see that she was left the US". <br>
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122 <p>Dave seemed like he didn't know exactly what he was doing. I later found
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123 out that Dave was in training. He would frequently stop the interview and
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124 go back into the office asking others for advice. He came back and said that
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125 they needed proof that she entered the Ukraine after leaving the US. He told
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126 us that things like airplane tickets, voter registration, etc would be acceptable.
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127 Well Olga didn't keep the used airline ticket stubs. This was almost 4 years
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128 ago and she didn't think she needed to keep the tickets. Dave said they needed
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129 to see that she was not barred from the US due to an overstay. Now if Olga
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130 overstayed more than 180 days she would be barred from re-entry for 3 years.
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131 Of course, it's clear that Olga has been out of the US for almost 4 years
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132 (September 1997 - April 2001). But Dave also said that they would not accept
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133 the photocopied last page of a Russian passport as adequet proof.</p>
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134 <p>We left the embassy with the green refusal notice stating that we needed
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135 to gather additional documentation. Later at the hotel we called her mother
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136 in Mironovka and asked if she could go to the police department and get Olga's
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137 "registration". It seems if you live in the Ukraine you must register with
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138 the police stating that you live here. Now Olga returned to her mothers in
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139 December 1997 and expected that Michael would be able to get her a visa again.
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140 So she didn't register until around February. Olga's mom faxed us the registration
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141 but it was a bad fax of a small, hand written registration. </p>
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142 <h3>Second Interview<br>
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144 <p>Nonetheless this is all we could muster as proof so we went back the
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145 next day to the embassy and presented it.</p>
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146 <p>Again we got Dave. He took this registration and consulted with a person
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147 who understood Russian as it was written in Russian. After much delays and
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148 waiting standing at the window (and nervousness) this Ukrainian consular would
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149 not accept this fax stating that the handwritting was too small for him to
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150 read and he disputed some of the dates. So once again we were sent back for
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151 more documentation.</p>
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152 <p>Back at the hotel we contemplated what could we do to get better proof.
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153 We called her mom again and asked if she could ask the police to type up the
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154 registration in larger type and fax it again which she did. I also called
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155 Michael in the US and asked him for help. Michael had drawn up a statement
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156 saying he indeed did take Olga out of the country, had the statement notarized
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157 and faxed it to us along with a photocopy of both the first and last pages
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158 of Olga's old passport. By the way, Olga's old Russian passport was confiscated
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159 when she returned to the Ukraine and eventually renewed it. Since the Soviet
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160 Union had broken up years before she was given a Ukrainian passport and her
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161 Russian passport was not returned to her.</p>
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162 <h3>Third Interview<br>
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164 <p><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">We returned again to the embassy
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165 with this new evidence. We had a better copy of the registration as well as
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166 Michael's statement. Also the photocopy of the first page of Olga's Russian
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167 passport had her picture and although it was hard to see the picture the passport
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168 number on the first page matched the passport number on the last page which
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169 had her Hong Kong visa stamp. Dave took this all in and after consulting
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170 with members in the back office announced to us that we met the burden of
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171 prove with respect the issue of re-entering the Ukraine.</font></p>
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172 <p><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Then John came back and Dave
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173 and John were discussing her exit from the U.S. in 1997. With four of us there
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174 together there started to be a little confusion. John was now pressing on
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175 my fiancée again in an authoritative and threatening manner. He was
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176 all confused about the sequence of events. John thought that Olga married
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177 Jon Miller briefly then divorced him and then left the US with Jon Miller
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178 to go to Hong Kong. I attempted to interrupt and explain to him what he was
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179 misinterpreting. He turned to me and like a dog owner barked at me in a
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180 harsh tone and instructed me to go sit down. After a few minutes he motioned
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181 for me to return only to explain to me that he was overruling the interviewer
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182 and sending this petition back for administrative review to the INS office
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183 in Vienna. </font></p>
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184 <p><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Now I understand and appreciate
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185 that it is the consular's job to weed out undesirable applicants. However
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186 I do not feel, as an American citizen, that I need to be threatened, intimidated
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187 and told that my choice of a spouse is wrong by members of my own government!
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188 Further it seems to me the supervisor, John, had clearly expressed his bias
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189 towards my fiancée in the first 5 minutes of the interview way before
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190 making any objective decisions. And I do not appreciate having to suffer for
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191 somebody else's prejudices!</font></p>
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192 <p><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">I asked John what do I do.
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193 He said that I could call back to the embassy in 1 or 2 weeks and they would
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194 give me a tracking number that I could track the case with. I asked him, realistically,
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195 what chance do I have. He told me 50/50.<br>
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197 <p><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Devastated with left the embassy
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198 to contemplate our next move. I had to make all kinds of arrangements with
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199 the hotel, extending our stay and with the airlines. I flew Olga back to the
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200 Ukraine and I flew back home to California.<br>
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202 <h2>Returning home - contacting the embassy</h2>
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203 Shortly after I returned I called the embassy asking for a tracking number.
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204 Calling Warsaw is difficult given the time zone difference and considering
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205 you have only a few hours of the day when they will accept calls. It ends
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206 up like 2 Am - 4 Am California time. I finally managed to get through and
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207 asked for the tracking number. The people there were noticibly confused and
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210 I had spend the two weeks looking up on the Internet about the INS, INA
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211 and looking for any information I could find regarding returned petitions.
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212 I contacted William Livinston, the immigration attorney I used to file the
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213 K1 and he washed his hands clean stating he was only hired to get me an approval
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214 and I got an approval! Gee thanks Bill! The conclusion I came to was that
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215 I needed to understand the exact reason why my petition was returned. Warsaw
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216 was not telling me.<br>
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218 At this point I started emailing the embassy (A: Andrew DeFaria; W: Warsaw):<br>
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220 <tt> A: 5/2/2001 <a href="Email/Warsaw/05-02-2001.html">Tracking # for
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221 Admin Review for WRW2002009031 Olga Fedoryaka</a>
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223 W: 5/14/2001 <a href="Email/Warsaw/05-14-2001.html">Tracking # for
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224 Admin Review for WRW2002009031 Olga Fedoryaka</a>
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226 A: 5/14/2001 <a href="Email/Warsaw/05-14-2001a.html">[Fwd: Tracking # for
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227 Admin Review for WRW2001009031 Olga Fedoryaka]</a>
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229 A: 5/16/2001 <a href="Email/Warsaw/05-16-2001.html">Re Tracking # for Admin
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230 Review for WRW2002009031 Olga Fedoryaka</a>
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232 W: 5/23/2001 <a href="Email/Warsaw/05-23-2001.html">Re Tracking #
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233 for Admin Review for WRW2002009031 Olga Fedoryaka</a>
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235 A: 5/31/2001 <a href="Email/Warsaw/05-31-2001.html">Re Tracking
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236 # for Admin Review for WRW2002009031 Olga Fedoryaka</a>
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238 W: 5/23/2001 <a href="Email/Warsaw/05-23-2001.html">
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239 Re Tracking # for Admin Review for WRW2002009031 Olga Fedoryaka</a>
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241 </tt><tt> A: 5/31/2001 <a href="Email/Warsaw/05-31-2001.html">
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242 Re Tracking # for Admin Review for WRW2002009031 Olga Fedoryaka</a>
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244 </tt><tt> W: 6/8/2001 <a href="Email/Warsaw/06-08-2001.html">
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245 Re Tracking # for Admin Review for WRW2002009031 Olga Fedoryaka</a>
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247 </tt><tt> A: 7/03/2001 <a href="Email/Warsaw/07-03-2001.html">
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248 Re Tracking # for Admin Review for WRW2002009031 Olga Fedoryaka</a>
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250 </tt><tt> W: 7/17/2001
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251 <a href="Email/Warsaw/07-17-2001.html">Re Tracking # for Admin Review for
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252 WRW2002009031 Olga Fedoryaka</a>
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254 </tt><tt> A: 7/23/2001
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255 <a href="Email/Warsaw/07-23-2001.html">Re Tracking # for Admin Review for
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256 WRW2002009031 Olga Fedoryaka</a>
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258 </tt><tt>
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259 W: 7/25/2001 <a href="Email/Warsaw/07-25-2001.html">Re Tracking # for Admin
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260 Review for WRW2002009031 Olga Fedoryaka</a>
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262 </tt><tt>
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263 A: 7/26/2001 <a href="Email/Warsaw/07-26-2001.html">Re Tracking #
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264 for Admin Review for WRW2002009031 Olga Fedoryaka</a>
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projects / clearscm.git / blob