American (tourist) marrying Russian in Russia

[Sparkle Sparkle 914]

21 hours ago, Lil bear said:

Yes ... but if asked specifically if he is visiting his girlfriend / fiancé he must answer Yes. Doesn’t need to offer information if not specifically  asked .. can offer visiting friends 

Only if they consider themselves engaged....US migration does not recognize girlfriends or boyfriends ...only fiance and fiancee

[designguy 1,179]

21 minutes ago, Sparkle Sparkle said:

Only if they consider themselves engaged....US migration does not recognize girlfriends or boyfriends ...only fiance and fiancee

The only context they recognize fiancés is in regards to a K1. Otherwise there is no difference legally between a boyfriend/girlfriend and a fiancé. One can be single, engaged, and single again within 5 minutes. 

[Sparkle Sparkle 914]

Just now, designguy said:

The only context they recognize fiancés is in regards to a K1. Otherwise there is no difference legally between a boyfriend/girlfriend and a fiancé. One can be single, engaged, and single again within 5 minutes. 

I concur

[Dashinka 26,278]

1 hour ago, implife said:

Keep in mind, it is extremely unlikely he will be granted a US tourist visa either as your boyfriend or as your husband, since immigration intent will be suspected.

Completely agree.  Especially since the girlfriend/wife is only in Russia on a visitor visa.

[SusieQQQ 11,590]

1 hour ago, Bill & Katya said:

Completely agree.  Especially since the girlfriend/wife is only in Russia on a visitor visa.

Once she is a wife according to OP there will be a 10- year residence visa for Russia. Best to apply after this imo.

[SalishSea 18,638]

2 hours ago, Sparkle Sparkle said:

Only if they consider themselves engaged....US migration does not recognize girlfriends or boyfriends ...only fiance and fiancee

This is not correct.  ‘Fiancé’ is only used in context of K-1.

[Dashinka 26,278]

1 hour ago, SusieQQQ said:

Once she is a wife according to OP there will be a 10- year residence visa for Russia. Best to apply after this imo.

I agree, if the USC spouse becomes a legal resident of Russia, then it may look better.  That being said, getting the B2 may be difficult even after that.

[Molly Zuckerman 2]

21 hours ago, Luckycuds said:

He would need a tourist visa B2 as he would just be visiting the US.

Once you are ready to settle in the US (years down the road as you indicate) you would apply for a spousal visa. Please note this is when you are ready to live in the US- it’s not meant for him to occasionally travel to the US- you guys would need your residence to be in the US along with you having a job in the US (or a joint sponsor) Down the line you may want to see if you living in the US will void your Russia temporary residence. Also don’t forget to keep filing your taxes while you live in Russia. Just food for thought 🙂 good luck!

thank you! this is what our plan seems to be. the Russian temporary residency is another nightmare that I don't want to think about until after the wedding (it requires both a language and history test in Russian, thank god I have my degrees in that!). And for taxes, last year I barely made the foreign exclusion (tax free!) but next year it seems I might not qualify

[Molly Zuckerman 2]

13 hours ago, Bill & Katya said:

I agree, if the USC spouse becomes a legal resident of Russia, then it may look better.  That being said, getting the B2 may be difficult even after that.

we're just going to try our best, be completely open about our intentions to enter the US simply for a wedding service with no legal parts, and leave when it is over. if that doesn't work, we plan to try again once I get my temporary residency, most likely a year after the legal Russian wedding. luckily, we love living in Russia and are not in a rush to move to America, so these multi-year-long timelines aren't scary to us (yet!).

 

we will also be applying for the tourist visa not within Russian, but in Georgia (the country). It's perfectly legal for Russians to get US visas at any embassy in the world (and vice-versa for Americans), and Georgia is perfect because it's close, Russian-speaking, and has a wait list of about a week (while Moscow's waitlist is several years since the closing of the St. Petersburg consulate).

 

several of our Russian friends have successfully gotten US tourist visas from Georgia, and we're hoping that the smallness of the country/embassy there could work in our favor. 

 

if absolutely everything fails and everyone rejects us, our plan Z is to move to Israel for a bit (where we both have family/common religion), secure Israeli passports with Ailiyah, and try it again as an Israeli 😅 but this is truly plan Z. 

[Sparkle Sparkle 914]

Wish you guys the best all the same.. Listening to Nikita by Elton John

[Dashinka 26,278]

2 hours ago, Molly Zuckerman said:

we're just going to try our best, be completely open about our intentions to enter the US simply for a wedding service with no legal parts, and leave when it is over. if that doesn't work, we plan to try again once I get my temporary residency, most likely a year after the legal Russian wedding. luckily, we love living in Russia and are not in a rush to move to America, so these multi-year-long timelines aren't scary to us (yet!).

 

we will also be applying for the tourist visa not within Russian, but in Georgia (the country). It's perfectly legal for Russians to get US visas at any embassy in the world (and vice-versa for Americans), and Georgia is perfect because it's close, Russian-speaking, and has a wait list of about a week (while Moscow's waitlist is several years since the closing of the St. Petersburg consulate).

 

several of our Russian friends have successfully gotten US tourist visas from Georgia, and we're hoping that the smallness of the country/embassy there could work in our favor. 

 

if absolutely everything fails and everyone rejects us, our plan Z is to move to Israel for a bit (where we both have family/common religion), secure Israeli passports with Ailiyah, and try it again as an Israeli 😅 but this is truly plan Z. 

Good luck, hopefully everything will work out.  I had heard the wait time for a B2 interview in Moscow was around a year or so, is that still the case?  I have mentioned to some of my family that if they want to apply for a tourist visa, they should look into Ulaanbaatar as an alternate to Moscow since it is much closer to them.  So far, no one I know has taken that route, but it seems better. 

[SusieQQQ 11,590]

300 days for Moscow.  
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/wait-times.html

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,101]

On 1/7/2020 at 6:02 AM, SusieQQQ said:

300 days for Moscow.  
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/wait-times.html

65 for Yekaterinburg and 35 for Vladivostok, if that matters (doesn't really for us; the Russian in-laws most likely to even consider visiting us are in Moscow).