Hello, my husband was naturalized a few years ago and now we are starting form 1-130 to bring his mother over to the States from Russia. I just have a few questions regarding this form that I wasn't able to find exact answers to in the instructions so I was hoping to get some opinions. Thanks in advance!

1. Alien Registration Number - Since my husband is now a citizen, was naturalized in 2019, I was assuming we no longer have to enter an A- Number and we should enter "none" for that field. Is that correct or should we throw in the old Alien number he has associated with himself back in the day?

2. Can you leave field blank if they don't pertain to you, or do you absolutely need to enter write N/A? The reason I'm asking is because the instructions mention saying "N/A" but on the actual form sometimes they say "leave blank".

3. When asked to provide information about the beneficiary's (my husband's mother) children, do we need to list my husband again even though he's the petitioner and it should be evident that he is her child? (Page 6, Part 4).

4. The supporting documentation we have per the info from USCIS regarding this petition is my husband's birth cert and his naturalization cert. In your experience, should this be enough, or is more documentation or "proof" needed?

Thanks again for your help!

I sitting with a friend helping him deal with his current visa situation. The following are his words (not mine, so you don't get confused with my own personal timeline).

I have been living in the United State for the last 20 years. The first 7 years I was here on a L1A visa, 1998 to 2005 . then two years later married an American which is how I got my green card. However, I have been a resident since 2008 when I got my Green card. From 1999 - 2001, I was coming back and forth from Canada. I got married in 2007. We got divorced in 2013. We were together about 5 years. No kids.

I met a lady on a religious website (my religion) Nov 15, 2021. We corresponded by text for 2-3 hours per day and fell in love.

We made arrangements for her to arrive in Tampa Florida where I live on Dec 27, 2021. She was allowed entry for 6 months (until June 27) as she had been to the US before earlier in the year in Sept for 6 weeks and her existing Visa was valid until May 7, 2022. She came in telling immigration that she was visiting friends and doing spiritual courses at her church. She arrived on a tourist Visa from Russia to Tampa Florida.

She gave my address as her residence for the following three months. She also entered with a return ticket for March 15, 2022.

We have fallen in love and I would very much like to marry her and spend my life with her. I would like her to stay with me here in the US permanently and I am looking at the various options towards that purpose.

Below is a list of possible options that I would like opinions and consultation to make my goal a reality.

1) A refugee status since Russia is currently at war. Also, her Church has been banned in Russia, so her religious freedom has been violated. Her Church was banned in Russia in October of 2021.

2) My religion here in Florida said that they know how they can extend her visa for another 6 months if she is doing spiritual consoling.

3) I am a Canadian citizen, and I could marry her in both the US and Canada if there is some option in that area. As a Russian, she could not enter Canada, but if we had married her in the US, I think that might change the situation.

4) I have talked to a lawyer who said he could navigate through the situation.

5) Both of us go to a Country where both Russians and Canadians are allowed and get a second citizenship there.

6) We get married here and now, and then go through the paperwork to get her Greencard.

Any advice you can give me ono my situation would be greatly appreciated.

Hello and aloha from Hawaii,

I have quite a complex series of questions/series of events that I hope everyone will have plenty of to opine over and hopefully school me in the ways of the K1 (potential CR1) visa process.

I am brand new to the forum and will at this point keep it as brief as possible because people here seem to be way more educated on these topics, hence why I decided to join and ask for your advice I am eager to learn.

Now to the point at hand:

Girlfriend (future spouse ) - Russian citizen, has traveled extensively as her job required this of her, and up until recently has had no visa issues when visiting the states which she has done multiple times on tourist/work visas (more on this later).

Myself - U.S. citizen, travel less frequently than girlfriend, nothing over the top criminal record wise a few charges from my younger years all off my official record, have been employed with taxes filed my entire adult life.

List of questions/info in some particular order:

1. The obvious elephant in the room, my girlfriend is Russian, (back) in Russia, we met while she was traveling in the states and was in Hawaii. We began dating within a week or two of meeting. And her trip was coming to an end a couple weeks afterwards. Not really a question but the whole situation over there isn't ideal for our circumstances so anyone with advice, or experience dealing with embassies during crisis or wars is appreciated.

2. I have also gone to Russia to stay with her on a visitor visa and was there for two weeks, well documented, and it was a great time. The good ole days you could say, now here is where it gets interesting.

3. Girlfriend's visa was expiring mid March, so we figured with everything she should come and stay with me for a couple of weeks until we have another chance to see each other. Her flight was cancelled the day before she was set to leave, no outbound flights from Russia over Europe. Okay we said, let's try going around Europe and she ended up taking a flight from Istanbul.

4. Now this is less of the question part but important details here for my questions after. We decided to meet in LA and she flew into LAX where I was already waiting for her and to spare you the drama of waiting 10 hours at the international terminal her visa was refused, her friend was also traveling with her and they found an email related to work, whether or not she intended to work idk, I know my girlfriend didn't I was covering the expenses which is also documented, and she was told she had to go back and denied entry.

5. As mentioned earlier she has a very clean travel record and loves to travel so prides herself on making sure not to stay over her time and even this time she had been in the US about 5 months before. Five months ago, it seems like just yesterday, according to the customs officer I spoke to and the customs agent also said if she likes coming to the US so much why not look into a K1, yes thank you customs officer.

6. So now my girlfriend is being held captive at LAX, I get the nice hotel room we booked to myself unfortunately and the guilt of being in a nice hotel room while my beautiful girlfriend is locked in a room at LAX

7. This brings my main question to a head, has anyone ever experienced applying for a K1 or CR1 visa with a potential spouse or spouse who has had their visa cancelled?

8. I've read into letters of forgiveness a little bit and have sought some legal advice which led me to here and I feel like I can handle the paperwork myself with the guidance of some more experienced for K1 applicants. But the shadow of a cancelled visa weighs heavily on me just thinking of what lies ahead.

Thank you for any advice I have browsed through a couple of threads semi-related to this topic and I mean the whole world war thing going on doesn't really help our circumstances. But really I am grateful for any advice or words of wisdom in regards to this I am just beginning to understand and learn about this process.

From Hawaii with love.

Dc

I wanted to apply for my citizenship. I am a Russian citizen. I called my lawyer who did all my paper work before (from fiance visa to my permanent GC), his secretary did not connect me with him, she said that they will call me back to make an appointment. But they never did. I guess it is because of the situation between Russia and Ukraine. I can file it myself, but now I am not sure if I get rejected or not....because I am from Russia....

I'm copy/pasting this from the Warsaw Embassy and will highlight the important points so it's easier to read:

https://pl.usembassy.gov/visas/humanitarian-assistance-and-visa-information-for-ukrainians/

HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE

If you are seeking information about immediate humanitarian assistance in Poland:

• There are no visas for refugees for travel to the United States.
• Almost all refugee cases in countries abroad are first processed by local authorities, in this case the government of Poland.
• Please visit the government of Poland webpage for information about resources: https://www.gov.pl/web/udsc/ukraina-en. This website provides the locations of official reception points along Poland s border with Ukraine.
• Additional information is available from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR): https://help.unhcr.org/poland/, including information about non-governmental organizations that may be able to provide additional assistance.
• In Warsaw, those seeking information on support from the Polish government can direct inquires to the Office for Foreigners (Urz d do Spraw Cudzoziemc w).
  • Phone: +48 47 721 75 75,
  • Web: https://www.gov.pl/web/udsc/ukraina
  • Email: ukraina@udsc.gov.pl

VISA SERVICES IN POLAND

IMMIGRANT VISAS

If you are a U.S. citizen or Legal Permanent Resident with a Ukrainian relative seeking to travel to the United States on an immigrant visa:

• If you have an I-130 petition approved by USCIS pending processing at the National Visa Center (NVC) and want to transfer it to another Embassy, the designated processing post for Ukrainian Immigrant Visas is now United States Consulate General Frankfurt, Germany. You may request expedition and transfer from the National Visa Center: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/national-visa-center/nvc-contact-information.html
• If you have not yet filed a petition but wish to do so, you may contact U.S. Consulate General Frankfurt to inquire regarding possible local filing (this applies only to U.S. citizens filing petitions for their spouses, unmarried children under 21 and parents). Both the petitioner and the applicant must be present in Germany.
• If you have an immigrant visa case that has already been transferred from NVC to Kyiv for the appointment and processing and you would like it to be processed in Frankfurt, please send an email request with your case number (KEV+10 digits) to U.S. Consulate General Frankfurt.
• If you a question about an immigrant visa case that is already in process at U.S. Embassy Warsaw, please email support-Poland@ustraveldocs.com.

If you are a U.S. citizen with a Ukrainian fianc e/fianc seeking to travel to the United States on a K1 visa:

• If you have already filed a petition with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that was not yet approved, U.S. law prohibits U.S. embassies from accepting K visa petitions (I-129F) for local filing abroad. USCIS must first approve K visa petitions. However, you can request an expedite for USCIS processing at https://www.uscis.gov/forms/filing-guidance/how-to-make-an-expedite-request

NONIMMIGRANT VISAS

Before applying for a nonimmigrant visa, consider carefully whether you are qualified for the visa you intend to apply for. Nonimmigrant visas are for temporary stays in the United States and are not for refugees. There are no nonimmigrant visas for refugees. If you apply for a nonimmigrant visa but do not intend to leave the United States, your application will be refused.

If you are not qualified for a nonimmigrant visa, you may wish to refer to the humanitarian assistance information above.

If you are a Ukrainian who wants to travel to the United States or a U.S. citizen who has friends, business associates, or NON-IMMEDIATE family who want to travel to the United States on a nonimmigrant visa:

• Demand is extremely high, availability is low, and wait times and processing times are likely to be very lengthy. You may wish to refer to the humanitarian relief information above.
• If you already have an appointment at U.S. Embassy Warsaw but wish to expedite it, you may request expedition via https://www.ustraveldocs.com/pl/en/expedited-appointment.
• If you already began a nonimmigrant visa application process in Ukraine, you may send a request to Support-Poland@ustraveldocs.com to ask for transfer of your profile to Warsaw, after which you should be able to continue the process for a Warsaw appointment.
• If you are seeking but do not already have an appointment visit https://www.ustraveldocs.com/pl/en/step-4 and sign up for the first available appointment of the type you are eligible for.

If you are a U.S. citizen with a Ukrainian spouse or child seeking to travel to the United States on a nonimmigrant visa

• If you are unable to schedule an appointment via methods described above, you may instead request a group appointment via https://ustraveldocs.com/pl/en/group-appointments and suggest a date convenient for you. Once you have submitted your request, please wait for a response from the Embassy, which will come via email and should permit you to schedule an appointment.

• • The group appointment option is only available for a U.S. citizen with a Ukrainian spouse or child. Other applicants who apply for the group method will be refused.