Hello averyone...

My fiancée has her interview for a K-1 Visa on the third week of May (next month).

I have the following questions for anyone that has gone trough the Moscow embassy recently:

1) She lives in a town where DHL does not deliver. Our current plan is to provide DHL an alternate address in St Petersburg for them to send Visa for a subsequent pickup by my fiancée. Is this a good idea? Has anybody had any recent experience with a similar situation?? Other ideas? Does anybody know what is the typical fee for DHL “Express” delivery?

2) What are the actual steps to get the DHL Airway Bill to the embassy for interview?

3) Does anybody know a good place to stay near the embassy that is not too expensive?

Thank you in advance for your replies. Any additional advice would be welcomed.

Thanks again

1) Best choice is to have DHL hold at their office in Moscow, since most likely she will be flying out of Moscow to get to the states anyway. St Petersburg may also work too.

2) You need to pay for it at the DHL office in Moscow. About $50. You need to have it before the interview - might as well get it while there for the medical anyway.

3) Plenty of other threads on here address that, though you should be able to book a room at the Ukrania from the US for about $120, it is reasonably close, and very easy to find. You will not find anything substantially cheaper, and it isn't worth your time looking for only a night or two.

(I know everyone here has an opinion about how to stay in Moscow on the cheap, but the reality is there will be less convenience and minimal savings. With an apartment, you are limited in what times you can arrive, location probably isn't as good. You might save $50 shopping around, though your time and convenience is worth something too).

The medical/interview/DHL/travel/stay in Moscow will run you about ~$600 all together (assuming it takes about 3 days there). About half as much if you have a free place to stay and a car (like my wife did).

Honestly, this whole ordeal is pretty stressful - more so if you are there by yourself. You may want to spring for a nicer place if you can afford it (a western hotel can be had for about $200/night if you are careful, which is still cheaper than you would pay in most major cities). Any of the Marriotts, Radisson SAS, or Metropol are really nice if you can get a deal. FYI - I paid about $110/night for one of the Marriotts after some haggling.

Russ - I appreciate your insights and advice.

Thank You

All information about the DHL air bill is in the packet sent to your fiancee. We had it held in Moscow at the
DHL office and picked it up the day before we returned to the US. She will have to pay about 1000 rubles and take the form to the embassy at the time of the interview. You may also want to discuss the delivery problem regarding her city with DHL.

I would also suggest Ukarina Hotel as it is an easy walk to the embassy. It will probably cost at least $150 and you better book it now. Since the closing of Rossia hotel and it's 2700 rooms all other reasonably priced hotels have been more difficult to find. We stayed there before our return to the US and had a difficult time getting a room and had to search many internet sites to find a company that could get us a room. A few companies have blocks of rooms reserved for resale.

Another hotel choice a little farther away is the Belgrad hotel at Novinskiy and Arbat street, again within walking distance. There is an expensive hotel right next to the embassy called Mir but I could not tell you what they charge.

Neonred - Your reply is appreciated.

We did talked to DHL and they said they would deliver to the closest city to my fiancee's hometown that has DHL service. This happens to be St Petersburg.

Thank you for the hotel recommendations. If I may I have the following follow-up questions about your reply:

How did you know the VISA had arrived at Moscow's DHL - Did they call you?

Thank You

We had the DHL tracking number.

When a girl leaves the embassy she knows if she has been successful and the staff at the embassy will tell her when they will send out her passport and immigration package. DO NOT open the immigration package. It's a sealed manila envelope with "do not open" written all over it in English and Russian. It's only to be opened by immigration at her POE.