Russia cutting US diplomat staff at embassies

[BigRedCat 36]

Hey guys, have any of you seen this? Russia is kicking out a bunch of diplomats from the US embassies in response to sanctions passed by Congress (idiots!) I am praying this doesnt affect my pending K1 as my interview is coming up pretty soon. 

 

http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-russia-embassy-20170728-story.html

 

Edited July 30, 2017 by BigRedCat
update link

[Coco8 1,039]

I doubt it will.

 

If they remove people they will probably start with cultural sections that are not necessary. If they were to affect visas it could be worse because Americans also need visas to go to Russia, so even though not many Americans need visas, Russia could delay their visas just for show. 

 

 

[TBoneTX 43,019]

A noncontributory/off-topic post has been removed.

[BigRedCat 36]

1 hour ago, Coco8 said:

I doubt it will.

 

If they remove people they will probably start with cultural sections that are not necessary. If they were to affect visas it could be worse because Americans also need visas to go to Russia, so even though not many Americans need visas, Russia could delay their visas just for show. 

 

 

I need to get a new visa for Russia next week. I'll do a ten day rush visa so I get it before this change goes into effect, just in case. 

[Coco8 1,039]

4 minutes ago, BigRedCat said:

I need to get a new visa for Russia next week. I'll do a ten day rush visa so I get it before this change goes into effect, just in case. 

Good idea!

[Pat&Ana 14]

Visa's to visit Russia are usually handled by the Russian embassy / consulate.  Visa's to the US are handled by the US embassy / consulate.  The diplomats and support staff (which includes local Russians) could negatively impact the ability for us to get K1 Visa's in a timely manner. 

 

-- P

 

 

Edited July 31, 2017 by Pat&Ana

[millefleur 5,035]

This is really disappointing news. If the embassy gets backlogged, it could definitely end up causing long wait times. However, I'd expect this might end up affecting non-immigrant visas more as those are given less priority and are often handled by the lesser consulates in smaller cities.

[Dashinka 23,199]

1 hour ago, millefleur said:

This is really disappointing news. If the embassy gets backlogged, it could definitely end up causing long wait times. However, I'd expect this might end up affecting non-immigrant visas more as those are given less priority and are often handled by the lesser consulates in smaller cities.

I forget, how many US consulates are in Russia?  My thoughts are four, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Ekatringberg and Vladivostok, but I could be wrong.  I think only Moscow handles immigrant visas.

 

On another note, I am heading to Krasnoyarsk in a couple of weeks with my three year tourist visa.  We usually fly through Beijing and then direct to Krasnoyarsk which though a legal port of entry, they do not see a lot of US passports there.  I hope the recent tensions don't cause any issues.  I will let everyone know how things go.

[tanderson64 201]

8 hours ago, Bill & Katya said:

On another note, I am heading to Krasnoyarsk in a couple of weeks with my three year tourist visa.  We usually fly through Beijing and then direct to Krasnoyarsk which though a legal port of entry, they do not see a lot of US passports there.  I hope the recent tensions don't cause any issues.  I will let everyone know how things go.

ILS helped me with my 3 year visa in Feb.  I called ILS (http://www.ils-usa.com) yesterday to ask if there would be issues with me entering Russia in the near future.  They said no.  I would not worry about it.

[tanderson64 201]

The cuts will probably lead to longer waits for interviews...

On 7/30/2017 at 6:56 PM, BigRedCat said:

I need to get a new visa for Russia next week. I'll do a ten day rush visa so I get it before this change goes into effect, just in case.

Get the 3 year visa.  I used ILS http://www.ils-usa.com and they processed everything quickly - back in Feb.  They were great - I made a couple of errors in my paperwork and they entered the system and fix it directly.

 

I called them yesterday and they said nothing has changed for Russian tourist visas.  It took one week from drop off to visa delivery.  Fortunately I live near Seattle, so I went there in person.

[BigRedCat 36]

On 8/1/2017 at 10:18 AM, tanderson64 said:

The cuts will probably lead to longer waits for interviews...

Get the 3 year visa.  I used ILS http://www.ils-usa.com and they processed everything quickly - back in Feb.  They were great - I made a couple of errors in my paperwork and they entered the system and fix it directly.

 

I called them yesterday and they said nothing has changed for Russian tourist visas.  It took one week from drop off to visa delivery.  Fortunately I live near Seattle, so I went there in person.

What did they charge you for that? The place I got my Russian visa from last time quoted me $407 for a 3 year visa (delivered in 12 days). I still need to get mine, was waiting to see how long it took for my application to get to Moscow and its ready now. 

[tanderson64 201]

1 hour ago, BigRedCat said:

What did they charge you for that? The place I got my Russian visa from last time quoted me $407 for a 3 year visa (delivered in 12 days). I still need to get mine, was waiting to see how long it took for my application to get to Moscow and its ready now. 

The Visa was $270, and $33 for them to review the application and make corrections, and print - so $303 total.  If you did everything by express mail it was an additional $85.

 

Edited August 14, 2017 by tanderson64

[Dashinka 23,199]

On 8/1/2017 at 3:04 PM, Bill & Katya said:

I forget, how many US consulates are in Russia?  My thoughts are four, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Ekatringberg and Vladivostok, but I could be wrong.  I think only Moscow handles immigrant visas.

 

On another note, I am heading to Krasnoyarsk in a couple of weeks with my three year tourist visa.  We usually fly through Beijing and then direct to Krasnoyarsk which though a legal port of entry, they do not see a lot of US passports there.  I hope the recent tensions don't cause any issues.  I will let everyone know how things go.

Just a quick update.  Arrived in Krasnoyarsk early Sunday morning and Immigration was a breeze.  No questions, and since this was the third time coming in through Yemelyanova airport and the second since Immigration filled out the arrival/departure slips for the travelers, I was pretty quick since I am already in their system.  I will say that Yemelyanova is not the speediest airport when it comes to baggage and customs though.  Took over 45 minutes before the bags even started coming out with only one international flight of about 170 people, and even though Customs uses the Red/Green channels like many other airports, they scan every bag leaving instead of only doing a random sampling.  It took almost two hours to get through from landing to full entry.

[BigRedCat 36]

Update: looks like Russia is temporarily suspending nonimmigrant visas! 

 

http://www.latimes.com/politics/washington/la-na-essential-washington-updates-u-s-suspends-nonimmigrant-visas-in-1503322247-htmlstory.html

 

From what I gather the K1 is considered immigrant in this case so those of us with pending interviews (mine is September 14) should not be affected. They are moving all processing to Moscow after September 1. 

 

"In a step that could affect hundreds of thousands of Russian tourists, the U.S. Embassy in Russia said Monday it would suspend issuing nonimmigrant visas for eight days from Wednesday in response to the Russian decision to cap embassy staff. 

The U.S. Mission in Russia issued 182,958 visas in 2016, according to the State Department. About 25% were issued at U.S. consulates in St. Petersburg, Ekaterinburg and Vladivostok, and the rest in Moscow.

The embassy said it would begin Monday to cancel appointments for visa interviews. No visas will be processed until Sept. 1, after which all applicants must undergo an interview in Moscow, it said" 

[Alya and Joe 130]

Our K1 interview date was delayed from 8/25 to 8/31.

I would imagine they will become somewhat backlogged and interview dates will take a bit longer to get.

Best of luck BigRedCat.

By the way we are going to fly to Las Vegas to get married. Hopefully late September!