US Immigration from Russia

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The United States announced last week that it would soon open its doors to foreign travelers vaccinated against the coronavirus, loosening restrictions for broad swaths of global visitors for the first time since the pandemic began.

But the new rules, set to take effect in November, appear to also shut out many people who consider themselves to be fully immunized including millions who have received two doses of Russia s Sputnik V vaccine.

Hundreds of thousands of Russians could be directly affected. Despite frosty diplomatic relations and limited demand for international travel, roughly 300,000 Russians visited the United States in 2019, the last year for which figures are available, according to the U.S. Travel Association.

Read more here: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/new-us-travel-rules-close-door-on-those-fully-vaccinated-with-russia-e2-80-99s-sputnik-v/ar-AAORVex

Finally finally my wife got her CR1 visa and will be moving from Russia to me in the US in 3-4 weeks.

She wants to take a reasonable amount of her stuff that would fit into about 10-15 boxes, no furniture, no kitchenware, no large items.

Just mostly clothes and personal items.

It's too much to fit into 2-3 suitcases so it needs to be shipped.

Does anybody have a recommendation for a good and reliable moving or shipping company from Russia to the the US?

Big international moving companies are geared towards large moves with furniture and stuff that would fill a shipping container. (The will move her stuff but at an exorbitant price)

We looked into DHL but they don't ship large boxes from Russia.

All suggestions are welcome!

Has anyone successfully used assets to offset insufficient income at the AOS interview? I'm curious to hear actual experience stories.

When we filed for my wife, 2019 was my most recent tax year and I had plenty of income, but because of the pandemic my 2020 income, and so far in 2021, is less than 1% of 2019. (Self-employed; sole proprietor in one venture and S-corp in the other.) So, when we filed we went all-out and documented all significant assets, mine and hers, plus got an accredited "USCIS-approved" evaluation of my wife's foreign masters degree in finance. (Our packet to USCIS weighed about six pounds.) The total of the overly-conservative appraisals (minus any offsets) is about $810K. The true cash value of one of my assets is about $2.5M but I'd need to pay a licensed petroleum engineer at least $7.5K for such an analysis and appraisal, so I included some unsolicited immediate-cash buy offers that were for over $200K. Our next door neighbor just sold their equivalent home for $625K, but I sent USCIS the real estate tax appraisal which was for about $500K. Between us we have about $25K left in the bank, but that continues to dwindle. In July my wife found part time work, mainly as a way to get out of the house and practice English, but she grosses only about $1600/month. My wife will begin receiving her pension next summer, and she owns two nice apartments in Russia that she'll rent out if she can get back there and finish renovations. (She included translated copies of the deeds and real estate tax appraisal statements in the AOS packet.) My business ventures should begin to return next year; stuff is finally looking "up" for me... BUT... We just received the I-797C for the AOS interview at the end of October... ???...!!!

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Hello,

My fiancee is in America on a K1 Visa and she is worried that we need to actually have her SSN card before we get married. She is saying that if we get married, she will no longer have valid status as a K1 Visa holder and wouldn't be able to obtain a SSN card until she has her green card. Can anyone help with additional information that shows that's true? I'm having trouble understanding exactly what dates are important for obtaining the card.

We found out today that we have to make an appointment to apply for the SSN card. The appointment is scheduled for October 21st and we have an appointment to apply for our marriage certificate on October 27th. The only date that I can find is important in relation to applying for the SSN card is to do it within 2 weeks of the I-94 expiring. Please help. She is very stressed about the process and it's starting to wear on me as well since I'm having a hard time finding resources that show we should or shouldn't be worried.

Thank you so much.