OK, my situation is really quite tough - Russian Fiance

[slavaskii 885]

1 hour ago, Kor2USA said:

The truth is... the physical address you use for I-129F or I-130 is usually the address they'll use to determine your consulate (they don't pay attention to the consulate you specify). 

Several members have been caught out because they've moved home after filing and are no longer a resident in said country. 

I've read the process to move the interview is fairly painless as long as you can provide proof of residency. 

A random, tangential point is that because Moscow Embassy is closed (and will be so for a very, very long time), all Russian and Belarusian apps are processing in Warsaw. So, even with Russian residency, OP would need his wife to find her way to the West one way or another. I think for anyone in Russia/Belarus/Ukraine right now, it sincerely doesn't matter what you wrote on the I-129F or I-130 because the situation is so fluid. 

 

Nothing physical is sent to the beneficiary anymore anyway, so anyone in these regions should just be focused on getting to safety and dealing with NVC if Warsaw/Frankfurt isn't convenient (say, if a person relocated to Kazakhstan and would prefer interview there).

[JeanneAdil 6,269]

4 hours ago, millefleur said:

I'm not sure I'm understanding? You mean you're wondering about US embassies abroad where she can conduct her immigrant or fiance visa interview?

 

It's very easy: as long as she can provide some proof of legally residing there (key word is legally), then she can interview at any US embassy anywhere. She just has to be a legal resident there, that's all. She could interview in the Bahamas, France, Turkey, Mexico...it doesn't matter, as long as she has actual residency there and not just some short stay tourist visa. Tourist visas and anything that's not long term will not work, getting a long term Schengen visa is really difficilt (she either has to get a job or have some other legit reason to stay there) hence why I suggested looking at other options.

Not Mexico unless the immigrant has one of the following to qualify for residency 

 

How to Become a Mexican resident?

1. You have close family relations in Mexico.
2. You have found a job in Mexico.
3. You intend to retire in Mexico.
4. You start studying in a Mexican educational institution.
5. You have amassed at least four years of temporary residence and now qualify for permanent residence.

and then the cost is"

Temporary resident for three years	$8,376 MXN
Temporary resident for four years	$9,927 MXN
Permanent resident	$5,379 MXN

 

no 2 year one so she would need to go for the 3 year to get her thru from petition to interview (Mexico has a huge backlog)

[R&OC 357]

She will need a police certificate at some point. Perhaps a good time to apply for documents now and have them send to trusted friends. Not necessarily family members.

[slavaskii 885]

26 minutes ago, R&OC said:

She will need a police certificate at some point. Perhaps a good time to apply for documents now and have them send to trusted friends. Not necessarily family members.

Providing Russian consulates abroad are still functioning, she can request the police certificate through one of those in the country she ultimately relocates to. I'd also like to point out that Warsaw says police certificates are good for up to 2 years, so she can really apply for it whenever (even without NOA2). I'm not entirely confident that Russia will let people other than the requester pick up the certificate.

Edited March 3, 2022 by slavaskii

[Basevi 5]

7 hours ago, ah-no said:

I'm sorry if I'm not making it clear:
There are multiple "types" of residency. There is "temporary" residency, and then "permanent" residency. Generally, the "temporary" is one year, renewable, while the "permanent" is more open ended. I've encountered a lot of language on various sites related to the marriage visa process, that seem to specify "permanent" residency as a requirement. But others are more vague. 

So the Netherlands, is a way to get to the EU if necessary, since right now Moscow's embassy is closed and the interview point has been moved to Poland. (Of course, this is all just crazy speculation, but since residency is not quite simple, it's good to lay out the options, since some countries may have different rules)

If she can have an interview there based on her residency permit, that would be great! But this point above, I can't find info on it that is concrete.

Hi! Thought I'd chime in - hopefully this is helpful. Sorry it's long.

My (now) husband is a Peruvian citizen, but was on a 2-year work permit in Spain when we applied for his K1 visa. We went through the whole process in Spain and it wasn't an issue at all (I don't even remember ever being asked about his residency status in Spain). So a work permit should count as residency, even if it is only for a year -- just expect that you may need to be able to renew that permit in case the backlog makes the wait really long. (Example - We applied for K1 in August of 2020 and due to the pandemic backlog didn't get the interview in at the consulate in Spain until August 2021 - a year of time rather than the pre-pandemic expected 5-7months.)

I've also seen people go through this process while on student visas. I'm guessing it would also be okay on other visas that are not tourist visas or extended tourist visas.

 

For example, Spain has a visa type that is basically "I have enough money in my bank account that I want to come and live in Spain for a year -- I won't work or study, I will just spend my money and live in Spain." It's called a Non-Lucrative Visa. Before deciding to live together in the US, we looked at what it would take to get me (US citizen) permanently in Spain --- this Non-Lucrative Visa was an option that would have counted towards years legally lived in Spain, which would have counted as years towards getting Spanish citizenship. Since that visa type would have been considered "resident of Spain" enough to count towards citizenship there, I'd say it would have been good enough to count for residency for a US K1 or CR1 visa application. So something like that could be an option for her, I've seen it offered in other countries too. 

 

From what I've seen, having a visa good for at least a year counts as you residing legally in that country (I wouldn't risk anything under a year). In fact, once you are on any of those visas in Spain (even a year long student visa), you are required by law to apply for Empadronmiento, which is legally registering the address that you live at with the Spanish government -- so if you are looking at the Netherlands, or any other country, see if they have something similar - she'll for sure be considered enough of a resident if she has a document like that. To clarify, I've been using Spain as an example, just to give an idea of what you can be looking for in other countries.

In short, my recommendation: Get a work permit, student visa, non-lucrative visa, or something similar in a third party country - she shouldn't have a problem with those. Just don't send her somewhere on a tourist visa and have her renew it a bunch of times, that won't count as residency.

Hope that helped and wishing you both all the best!!

PS - We have lawyers and prior to doing the K1 visa, they recommended we meet up and get married in Turkey (due to the travel restrictions of summer 2020, and me being a US citizen and him a Schengen resident) - they had multiple clients that had done that in order to apply for CR1. We didn't do it because there were too many risks involved at the time. Mentioning because Turkey could be a good marriage destination option that it sounds like you're already considering. There are multiple companies that specifically help foreigners get legally married there.

Edited March 3, 2022 by Basevi
Grammatical error

[Gisselle Villegas 15]

On 3/2/2022 at 5:26 PM, Jorgedig said:

Right, so you will need to research where you can both travel to as tourists and legally marry.  That is beyond my pay grade.  It may be more complex than you imagine, so good luck.

 

As far as I know, she can potentially be interviewed at a US consulate in any country where she has legal status.  In terms of which countries would allow her to move there now, given the current situation, also beyond my pay grade.

 

Good luck.

I'm thinking that since they can both work remotely, perhaps Costa Rica would be a good option?  Look into it.  I know they have extended benefits to digital nomads and I also know that many US citizens arrive with their foreign spouses to marry there.

Edited March 7, 2022 by Gisselle Villegas

[Unlockable 7,306]

*** One post removed for ToS violation (advising to commit fraud/ lying to immigration). Please do not make any post regarding fraudulent activities. 
 

VJ Moderation

[Jeffry Hardy 6]

On 3/2/2022 at 4:32 PM, ah-no said:

I want to bring my fiancé here. I'm a US citizen, and I have a job here, and a little bit of savings (to be blunt, approx. 70,000 dollars). I've met me fiancé many times, and I used to live in her country.

Here are the problems:

• My fiancé lives in Russia.
• She wants to leave to go ANYWHERE, ASAP, due to the political situation.
• She does not have a visa to go to Poland, and I guess she needs to apply for that t in Russia. That's a potential future problem.
• My job is affected by the political situation, so I may lose it! I have 2 jobs, one in Russia, and one in the USA. I work both. I also earn extra income as a teacher online. 
  
  where do I begin? what do I do? which visa? Should we try another country? Could a lawyer help?
  
  I'm quite overwhelmed and I want her to get to safety ASAP. People are mostly (justifiably so!) focused on Ukrainians, but even though Russia is the aggressor, for average people dealing with the regime there and the fallout of the sanctions, things are quickly getting unsafe. Please, any advice or help 

call US embassy explain ur situation thank u

[SalishSea 16,937]

6 hours ago, Jeffry Hardy said:

call US embassy explain ur situation thank u

They are not there to provide legal advice or advice about immigrating.   Plus, they are not there.