Securing B1/B2 interview in Warsaw as a third party national

[CelloLover 26]

I've applied for B1/B2 visa with the embassy in Warsaw for my in-laws who live in Ukraine so that they can visit our wedding. I have not yet been able to secure an interview date despite having checked the interview registration website every day for the past 2 months.

How does the scheduling system work? Is it a lottery? First come first serve? What time of the day do availabilities typically become available in the registration system?

[Boiler 43,871]

Are they Polish residents?

 

I would imagine they are prioritising Polish residents.

 

It us really up to them to apply for a visa, not you on their behalf.

Edited January 28, 2022 by Boiler

[SalishSea 16,988]

1 hour ago, CelloLover said:

I've applied for B1/B2 visa with the embassy in Warsaw for my in-laws who live in Ukraine so that they can visit our wedding. I have not yet been able to secure an interview date despite having checked the interview registration website every day for the past 2 months.

How does the scheduling system work? Is it a lottery? First come first serve? What time of the day do availabilities typically become available in the registration system?

Most consulates release appointment slots as they become available.  In some countries, the wait time for a B appointment is well over one year.

 

Not sure how realistic your plans are, since Warsaw will likely be dealing with the fallout from US embassies in Russia and Ukraine now with those closures/reduced services.   B visas for non-residents would seem to be low on the priority list in the context of unrest/war.

[millefleur 5,039]

10 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

Not sure how realistic your plans are, since Warsaw will likely be dealing with the fallout from US embassies in Russia and Ukraine now with those closures/reduced services.   B visas for non-residents would seem to be low on the priority list in the context of unrest/war.

Warsaw apparently has a pretty big capacity for B visas ever since Poland went on the WVP, so I've heard. It's not a requirement to be a resident in Poland to apply for a non-immigrant visa there, according to the Warsaw Embassy site:

https://pl.usembassy.gov/visas/nonimmigrant-visas/information-for-non-citizens/

 

They even have a page with the same info in Russian:

https://pl.usembassy.gov/pl/visas-pl/nonimmigrant-visas-pl/foreigners-rus/

 

I assume if that changes, they'll update it on the Embassy site. Also, it's not just Warsaw accepting these appointments for third countries but also apparently Krakow, so that's something to keep in mind.

 

1 hour ago, CelloLover said:

How does the scheduling system work? Is it a lottery? First come first serve? What time of the day do availabilities typically become available in the registration system?

I think you have to just keep logging in to the site and checking for openings. Did you pay the fee yet? I believe you have to pay the fee first before you can access the calendar and see what slots are open on what days.

Edited January 28, 2022 by millefleur

[CelloLover 26]

6 minutes ago, millefleur said:

I think you have to just keep logging in to the site and checking for openings. Did you pay the fee yet? I believe you have to pay the fee first before you can access the calendar and see what slots are open on what days.

Thanks for your response. I've paid the fee. I really hope the embassy doesn't simply release availabilities into the open with no notion of a queue. It would suck if someone who submitted their application and paid yesterday beat me to the registration portal since I've been trying for nearly 2 months already.

[SalishSea 16,988]

31 minutes ago, CelloLover said:

Thanks for your response. I've paid the fee. I really hope the embassy doesn't simply release availabilities into the open with no notion of a queue. It would suck if someone who submitted their application and paid yesterday beat me to the registration portal since I've been trying for nearly 2 months already.

That is exactly how it is done in some countries.  I'm not sure about Poland.

 

Others looking for interview slots have had better luck looking on off-hours, local time.  So maybe if you checked it out in the middle of the night in centra Europe's timezone, you'd find one.  Good luck.

[SalishSea 16,988]

44 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Warsaw apparently has a pretty big capacity for B visas ever since Poland went on the WVP, so I've heard. It's not a requirement to be a resident in Poland to apply for a non-immigrant visa there, according to the Warsaw Embassy site:

https://pl.usembassy.gov/visas/nonimmigrant-visas/information-for-non-citizens/

 

They even have a page with the same info in Russian:

https://pl.usembassy.gov/pl/visas-pl/nonimmigrant-visas-pl/foreigners-rus/

 

I assume if that changes, they'll update it on the Embassy site. Also, it's not just Warsaw accepting these appointments for third countries but also apparently Krakow, so that's something to keep in mind.

But then, why would it be impossible to find a time slot over the course of two months?

[CelloLover 26]

2 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

That is exactly how it is done in some countries.  I'm not sure about Poland.

 

Others looking for interview slots have had better luck looking on off-hours, local time.  So maybe if you checked it out in the middle of the night in centra Europe's timezone, you'd find one.  Good luck.

Off-hours local time would be perfect for me as I'm based in Pacific Time zone

[SalishSea 16,988]

7 minutes ago, CelloLover said:

Off-hours local time would be perfect for me as I'm based in Pacific Time zone

Excellent!  So is it a 9 hour difference?

[CelloLover 26]

14 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

Excellent!  So is it a 9 hour difference?

Yes it is!

I have an acquaintance who is trying to secure a B2 visa for her mother who lives in Russia. They're going through an agency in Russia that claims to use registration bots to secure appointments. Sounds like a marketing scam to me. I'm guessing they have a fleet of humans that are constantly refreshing the registration page for their clients. Either way, it's scary to compete against these people

[SalishSea 16,988]

Just now, CelloLover said:

Yes it is!

I have an acquaintance who is trying to secure a B2 visa for her mother who lives in Russia. They're going through an agency in Russia that claims to use registration bots to secure appointments. Sounds like a marketing scam to me. I'm guessing they have a fleet of humans that are constantly refreshing the registration page for their clients. Either way, it's scary to compete against these people

Yikes, that doesn't sound good.  I would hope they'd have an anti-bot system in place to deter that.

 

Btw, this is random, but since you live on the west coast, are you aware of the MyShake early warning earthquake app?  It is from Berkeley, and until yesterday only included California, but has now been expanded to Washington and Oregon.  We are well overdue for a big one!

[millefleur 5,039]

29 minutes ago, CelloLover said:

Yes it is!

I have an acquaintance who is trying to secure a B2 visa for her mother who lives in Russia. They're going through an agency in Russia that claims to use registration bots to secure appointments. Sounds like a marketing scam to me. I'm guessing they have a fleet of humans that are constantly refreshing the registration page for their clients. Either way, it's scary to compete against these people

That's interesting. Maybe they are using some software and scripting that auto checks it. It's not entirely unheard of and could explain why it's hard to get a slot. 

 

Do you know if this acquaintance was indeed able to get a slot?

[millefleur 5,039]

2 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

But then, why would it be impossible to find a time slot over the course of two months?

Well, according to the official wait times, it's 57 calendar days for Warsaw for a visit visa interview, so OP is still pretty close within that.

 

Krakow is 32 calendar days, might be a better place for those of us who need to go via Poland for B visas since it seems less backlogged.

 

[JayFromTexas 61]

On 1/27/2022 at 6:24 PM, CelloLover said:

I've applied for B1/B2 visa with the embassy in Warsaw for my in-laws who live in Ukraine so that they can visit our wedding. I have not yet been able to secure an interview date despite having checked the interview registration website every day for the past 2 months.

How does the scheduling system work? Is it a lottery? First come first serve? What time of the day do availabilities typically become available in the registration system?

CelloLover, did you ever get an interview scheduled? I am helping my girlfriend who is a Russian citizen apply for a US Visa and we plan to meet in Warsaw once we get an interview scheduled. Having your recent experience is very helpful. Please let me know your status.

 

Thanks!

Edited February 5, 2022 by JayFromTexas

[slavaskii 885]

On 1/27/2022 at 10:58 PM, millefleur said:

That's interesting. Maybe they are using some software and scripting that auto checks it. It's not entirely unheard of and could explain why it's hard to get a slot. 

 

Do you know if this acquaintance was indeed able to get a slot?

So curiously I looked at a popular Belarusian forum online, and they seem to be talking, as well, about the B2 slots being eaten up by "bots." One person alleges to have gotten an appointment in a week, whereas others are complaining that there's no spots for a year or something like that. I thought you actually needed to fill out the DS160 to be eligible to make the appointment...? Weird. 

 

Wonder if there's a different interview scheduler for immigrant appointments (i.e., K1, IR1/CR1, etc.). If not, that could explain what some Russians on the other thread here were complaining of something very similar. This all sounds like such a mess... 🙄