US Immigration from Russia

My mom's I-130 petition was approved, and I've just submitted the second package of personal and financial documents at CEAC. My mother's case was sent to Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Does anyone know, how long it might take now, before we can schedule the interview?
Or maybe, there's a topic on that, if you could send me the link, where people share their terms?

Thank you!

I did dig around and found a couple of travel discussions from 2022, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to start a fresh one.

Is it possible to research flights to or from Russia these days? I've used Kayak in the past, but now they won't display search results "due to government restrictions".

The Aeroflot site won't let me on at all. I haven't tried any other carriers yet.

Do I need VPN or some <Deleted>

But seriously, what is it that people do these days to arrange travel?

Thank you.

I do not know where to post this so I am putting it here. Some of this I have asked before but we have new information, an evolved situation, and new advice from attorneys so I am seeking guidance here because I do not know which path to proceed with and have limited time and resources. Any information or advice is welcome!

The summary of our case history is as follows:

My wife (Russian citizen, possibly stateless) first came to America in 2011 on a K-1 fiancee visa. We married and she received her conditional green card. We lived in America together until personal issues caused us to separate and her to return to Russia with our daughter in 2014 a few months before we were to file for the removal of conditions on her green card. I remained in America and filed when it was time but was told that they could not process it as my wife left the country. I moved to Russia in 2015 where we reconciled and had a second child together. When the Ukraine war started in March of 2022, we filed for an IR-1 spousal visa and humanitarian parole. We never heard anything about the humanitarian parole but later found out it was approved in March of 2023 but never sent to the Embassy and we were never notified. We continued the IR-1 process and she did the medical and interview at the US consulate in Almaty, Kazakhstan in March 2023. They suspended processing as they demanded original copies of my divorce decree from my previous marriage and we could not get those documents to them due to the sanctions. DHL was the only company willing to attempt delivery and the documents were seized at the Kazakh border by customs who refused to release them. While this was happening, we were forced to flee Russia under emergency conditions due to political persecution and threatened imprisonment/execution in July 2023. We fled to the US embassy in Astana where my wife was given a new emergency humanitarian parole valid for 2 years. We entered the US in August 2023 and she was inspected and paroled for said 2 years. As of July 2023, her IR-1 case on the CEAC website shows refused as the status but we have never received any documentation regarding this.

My initial plan of action was to file an I-485 to adjust her status based on being an immediate relative (spouse) of a US citizen and using the I-130 that we filed with her IR-1 visa application. I have been told by an immigration attorney that her green card from 2011-2014 should still exist but in a 'suspended' state. That we could file an I-751 to remove the conditions but upon reading the instructions it states you can only do so within 90 days of returning to the US. We are outside of that window and I was not aware that this was a possibility until today. I was also told by the same attorney that we can file an I-824 to request action on her IR-1 visa and effectively have it transferred from the US consulate in Kazakhstan to the USCIS here in America but upon reading those instructions it states this does not apply to denied or pending applications and only approved ones. It is my understanding that the I-485 is the only real option open to us but I am not sure if that is true and am seeking opinions on this. I was also told that the medical exam she had done in Kazakhstan in March 2023 is still valid for the I-485 as they are now valid for 2 years instead of 6 months. Even if that is the case, we do not have a completed I-693 as everything there was done electronically. All we do have is her vaccination record for all the vaccines she received. I assume she will need a new civil surgeon appointment for the I-693 to submit with the I-485. Please correct me if I am wrong.

I have written several letters and made several phone calls to the State Department, USCIS, and multiple US consulates regarding our case but have not been able to determine the correct course of action as most of my inquiries go unanswered. At this point, I plan to just proceed with the I-485 as it seems to me it is the only valid option.

Hi, my name is M and I am a USC.

I would like to bring in my mother to the US to live here.

I did not use any lawyer, as the situation was straight forward, however now I need some pointers as I feel a bit lost.

The story of the process is as follows:

I-130 e-filed 3/30/22 approved 4/4/22

NVC responds 4/8/22, all package sent to the NVC 5/24/22

Initially, interview scheduled for 1/4/23

However she was not able to come as she needed more time completing her vaccinations and passing the exam

She completed her medical exam ~3/15/23, with multiple follow ups for TB.

I contacted the consulate, rescheduled for May. Unable to follow up as I got family emergency (wife struck down with cancer)
I am trying to pick the pieces together now and restart the process

What part of consular processing do I re-start with?

1. Is I-130 still valid? How do I check?

2. Is the set of documents uploaded to NVC still valid? How do I check?

3. Is the immigration file still open? Any actions required to reopen it?

4. I assume the medical she did ~2/23 is no longer valid. Is this correct?

Where do I restart the process to get her an immigration visa? I will appreciate any pointers.

I filed two IR-5 visa applications for my parents and both cases were just documentarily qualified (DQ'ed). I did not submit any translation to English of those documents on the CEAC site, and this is why:

According to Travel State Gov website --- Please note that all documents not written in English, or in the official language of the country from which you are applying, must be accompanied by certified translations. All of the submitted documents are either in Russian, Kazakh or both, so I figured there was no need to translate.

Could someone please confirm if at their interview (any immigration visa interview) the translations were absolutely required? Was anyone able to go in without them?

Thanks all.