Transfer IR5 Case to Almaty

[ITBOB 30]

My Russian mother-in-law was scheduled for an IR5 interview on August 28, 2023 in Warsaw, Poland. Due to the visa situation with Russian citizens she is unable to get a visa to enter Poland. I notified the Visa Service Center that she was unable to attend and that i wanted to move her interview to the Almaty, Kazakhstan consulate. They advised me to cancel the interview in Warsaw and then notify them and they would work with me to reschedule the interview in Almaty. I canceled the interview and notified the Visa Service desk and they replied that they had changed the country location but I would need to contact the Almaty Consulate to arrange the transfer. I emailed the Almaty consolate over a week ago but have heard nothing back. For those of you that have recent experience with the Almaty consolate, what is the average response time for an email? I don't want to keep emailing if it just takes them a little time to respond. Almaty would be ideal for my Mother-in-law because it is only a four hour flight from where she lives. I would appreciate anyone that has recent experience with the Almaty consulate to offer advice on this.

 

Thanks

[Dashinka 24,609]

Here is a thread discussing moves to Almaty that may be helpful.

 

Good Luck!

 

 

[ITBOB 30]

Dashinka,

 

Thanks for the link. I had heard that NVC was assigning new appointments to Almaty. Our problem is that my mother-in-law was already assigned to Poland and NVC has no control over the location any more. I appreciate your help!

[powerpuff 6,736]

This might not be so recent but when I was going through K1 back in 2021, they took about 3 weeks to respond to my inquiry 

[ITBOB 30]

Powerpuff,

 

Thanks for the reply. Based on your answer I will continue waiting for awhile. I went through the K-1 process for my wife in 2001, but the interviews were in Moscow at that time and it was much easier then. Again I appreciate the information!

[Runner19 39]

Did you email at this address: USAKZ@state.gov? They responded pretty quickly to me - 2-3 days. 

[ITBOB 30]

Runner19,

 

Yes I emailed that address on 3-8-23 and requested the transfer. I have not heard anything back yet but I will wait a few more days before trying again. I started the process in 2021 and have jumped through multiple hoops to get this far. I will be patient a little longer, nothing else I can do. Thanks for the reply!

[stacys 9]

Almaty responded to me about my parents interview transfer from Poland to Almaty within 5 days. They agreed to take their cases and immediately requested their files.  I wrote them on Friday, they responded on Thursday, by Monday their cases were already in Almaty. This took place in January 2023.

[ITBOB 30]

Stacys,

 

Thanks, that gives me hope that they will respond shortly. If I dont hear anything by next week I will do a follow up email.

[stacys 9]

Good luck! Overall they were very quickly to respond to all my questions. And you still have plenty of time. We received an invitation for IR5 interview in Warsaw mid January with a scheduled date of Feb 3rd. We were really rushing to reschedule it

[ITBOB 30]

We had an interview scheduled in Warsaw for August 28, so my mother-in-law is expecting sometime in the summer anyway. Thanks again for the information!

[Chancy 6,241]

*** Moved from Bringing Family of USC forum to the RUB regional forum, where similar topics about consulate transfers for Russian beneficiaries are discussed ***

 

[ITBOB 30]

Got an email from the Almaty consulate this morning saying that they would accept my mother-in-law's case. They told me that they would request the case from Warsaw and send me further instructions after they receive the case file. Thanks to everybody for all of the responses I received.

[ITBOB 30]

Received another email from the Almaty consulate this morning tell me they had receieved the case from Warsaw and that I could go ahead and schedule her appointment online. Just letting anybody know that might be in a similar situation.

[Bella1464 52]

On 3/20/2023 at 10:04 AM, ITBOB said:

Received another email from the Almaty consulate this morning tell me they had receieved the case from Warsaw and that I could go ahead and schedule her appointment online. Just letting anybody know that might be in a similar situation.

Hi! I was wondering how you requested the transfer? My Russian mother's I130 got approved today, and I want her to go to Almaty due to the visa and etc....Do you have to wait for NVC Welcome Letter to email Almaty office or can I just email them now? I did see the email from this thread and will be using that. Just want to make sure I am doing it correctly to avoid delays and all. I appreciate any help 🙂