Don4593

1 hour ago, CyberSamurai013 said:

 

We did finally get our case accepted in Almaty, Kazakhstan but it took Senatorial and Congressional intervention to do so. 

Hi! Can you go into more detail regarding this?

We were working with someone from the state department who was referred to us by our senator. We have a unique situation. Could you help me with how you contacted them and actually got through?

On 8/7/2023 at 7:54 PM, millefleur said:

That's DCF with exceptional circumstances and the US citizen has to be living abroad in a country that offers it. You have to apply to the embassy in that country and see if they will take your case.

 

It would not be one month, maybe 3 months fastest but processing time is totally up to the individual embassy. Again the USC has to be living abroad to qualify, so you need proof of residence in that country where the embassy is located. We have a whole forum about this:

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/82-direct-consular-filing-dcf-general-discussion/

 

Not necessarily. She can always apply for a tourist visa and see what happens. Nobody here makes decisions on that, only the CO does. I would say her chances of getting a tourist visa are low but still worth a try if you don't mind the travel for the interview and paying the fee. 

 

You can wait it out together in a 3rd country, but unless you qualify for DCF and the embassy takes your case (as mentioned above) you will still be stuck with the long wait time, same as if you were in Russia or in the US while your wife waits in Russia. 

 

Great info. And thanks to everyone else who has pitched in, too. I'm reading all of the comments and considering everything.

I have residency in Russia. However, we of course would not be applying in Moscow since they've essentially shut down. Would another country recognize this residency? Belarus would taking into account a law between the countries that was just passed, but operations there are also shut down.

I also suppose it wouldn't too difficult to get residency in Turkey if it really came down to it.

Is the only way of knowing whether we qualify for our case being heard is showing up at the door or via email?  

Lastly, I want to ask a hypothetical question here. Others have mentioned some extenuating circumstances as a way of speeding up processing. Is that solely dependent on the CO or is there someone else who determines that

This all seems truly insane to me. So, the fastest option for my wife and child to join me in America is 7 months to one year? 

The only other variant is to wait in a 3rd country. Is that right?

I was under the impression that before if I lived in the U.S. that the green card would be expedited to one month. Also, the same if I were to receive a job offer in the U.S. while abroad. Was this never the case? Fortunately, Russia has never given me such problems because then I'd truly have no idea what to do. 

My wife owns two apartments in Russia with a well-paying job, but her being married to an American and having an American child would basically destroy any chance she has at a visa, right?

On 6/5/2023 at 6:56 AM, nekotakacho said:

Is your wife part of the Russian girls chat group for American spouses?? If not, you may want to get her enrolled in the WhatsApp group because those girls have all the info she needs, in Russian

Didn't know about this an neither did my wife. Could you tell me how my wife could find this group via whatsapp?

So, update. Daughter has her passport. No idea how to get my wife and myself out. If I am in America and my wife is in Russia, is there a procedure that expedites her green card or visa?

Would be great if we could leave politics out of this completely. Thanks.

I am American. I married my now wife who is Russian. We have a child who is 2.

The Moscow embassy is closed. There are no flights out to Poland or anywhere in Europe. We can go to Uzbekistan or Kazakhstan.

We flew to the country of Georgia. We planned on getting my daughters American passport. After we got her CRBA, they told us that they could do her passport that we had to go to Poland, which didn't sound right, but after nearly two months of waiting, we were just happy to leave after getting the CRBA. 

My wife and I have been trying to plan to go to the U.S., not live, but visit, for sometime. Some people have told me it's impossible, since I am American and that she'll never receive a travel visa. Others have said that it's possible. I don't know.

1. Am I forced to go to Poland to obtain my daughter's American passport? 

2. Do both parents have to be there with our daughter?

3. How can we do that when Poland and the EU will not issue visas to Russians?

4. Is it truly impossible for my wife to get a travel visa? She owns two homes and makes a good a salary and our daughter is enrolled in their version of pre-k.

5. Can we not do my daughters passport via mail?

6. Can we visit another country? If so, how do we know which country we can go to do a passport and attempt a travel visa?

Thank you.

Searching via the internet should have been easy enough, but it seems like there are conflicting answers. 

I am American. My wife is foreign. Our child was born in her home country. We received a CRBA. A Consular Report of Birth (CRBA) is evidence of United States citizenship issued to a child born abroad to a U.S. citizen parent or parents who meet the requirements for transmitting citizenship under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

Can we simply fly to the U.S. and use my infant daughter's CRBA to enter?

The embassy in Georgia finalized our CRBA request after a couple of months. Now, we are back in Russia. There is no functional embassy here. How do I apply for my daughters passport and SSN. Can both be done online? or can we visit any embassy?

Tbilisi embassy has been a nightmare. I guess being overly rude is par for the course for consulars, so I won't get into that. 

They asked for supplemental verification that I've been in the u.s. for 5 years. I supplied an addition 10 years worth nearly two weeks and they have yet to approve it. 

We scheduled an appointment to do my daughter's passport. We emailed them first, they said yes, it's fine. 

They also said we can have the crba document mailed to us in batumi. 

When we got there, the cashier lady said the crba was not ready and therefore we cannot apply for a passport. 

Additionally, they said we had to go to DHL and prepay to have it shipped to batumi. When we said the email said they can FedEx it and we pay upon receipt, she raised her voice and angerily repeated to go to dhl that "they know what to do". 

We leave the embassy, get in a taxi, arrive at DHL only for them to confirm that this lady was wrong. They only ship internationally, not within Georgia. 

Our flight is in less than 24 hours and they have not replied to my last email. 

They refused to take the address when we were there too, insisting we give it to DHL. 

In the event they never get the address, how do we ever obtain this document? Are they just going to hold onto it forever? 

Is this usual behavior from the embassy? Every trip has been a complete mess on their end.

I ended up getting my both my high school and university transcripts. They accepted my diploma as 4 years, but given how they've been sticklers so far, I figured that they'd probably reject my diploma after the fact. I also made photocopies of my passport stamps which should account for another 1, giving me 9 in total. 

Do you know what we should receive from them?
 

Immediately prior, no. Prior, yes. My wife is not an American, but I am, so I think that changes it.

4 minutes ago, ROK2USA said:

Some people send vaxx records from when they were babies. 

As long as you can show 5 years physical presence in the US. 2 after the age of 14. 

You should be good to go! 

1. At the time of birth, one or both of the parents must be a U.S. Citizen.
2. The transmitting parent (U.S. Citizen) must have a minimum time of physical presence inside the United States or its outlying possession.
   Most of the cases require five years of physical presence, two of them after the age of 14, however the law that applies on each case may be different.  For detailed information regarding physical presence requirements, please check the travel.state.gov website: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/travel-legal-considerations/us-citizenship/Acquisition-US-Citizenship-Child-Born-Abroad.html.
3. There has to be a biological relationship between the child and the transmitting U.S. citizen.
4. There has to be a legal relationship between the child and the the transmitting U.S. citizen.

 

Vax records. Interesting. I'll look into that now. Hopefully, it's not too difficult to get a digital copy for while abroad.

We went to file the CRBA and passport, but the consular rejected the passport submission and requested more documentation of my status in the U.S.

She requested that we email bank statements. I do not live in the U.S., but I called my old bank to ask, and they said that there would be a 451 usd fee to process this, even if it was digital. I tried checking my social security and it seems since I am in a foreign country, I cannot access my account.

She accepted my university diploma but said I need to prove another year. 

Can I just send her my high school transcript or is that too far in the past? (25 years) Is there anything else? I've been in and out of the U.S. for the last 8 years or so. Is there another digital document I can send them that I am overlooking? Apparently, my passport showing me flying into the U.S. was not good enough and neither was my old driver's license. 

On 5/9/2022 at 1:11 AM, millefleur said:

Unfortunately unless another embassy willingly takes your case, you won't have a choice. Trust me, many here do not want to go through Poland. Nobody would've picked that, but it's the US government who calls the shots and not the applicant. If you decided to go the spousal visa route, you must mentally prepare to go via Warsaw unless another embassy says yes.

It's just wild. How do they expect someone to get to Poland during the war with all of these sanctions plus all of the COVID restrictions?

It seems intentional.

Also, I am assuming if we go through with this route then we should get my daughter's birth reported and passport sorted out or would be daughter (1.5 years old) be able to get a visa despite qualifying for citizenship?

You guys were super helpful with my last question. 

So, I am American. My wife is Russian. We have a child (1.5 years old). 

The embassy in Russia is basically closed. 

We eventually want to get my daughter American citizenship, and as I've understand the first step in that process is filing a CRBA.
We also want to get a social security number for my daughter. The lady at the Tbilisi embassy told me that the passport comes first, which seemed odd to me. I just want to be able to do my taxes.


Tbilisi is booked until next month and we've already been in Georgia for over a month now and I cannot extend and wait any longer. Is there a way to get my daughters' ssn via the internet or mail as well as do the CRBA through the mail?

Thank you for all of the answers. 

October 2023 is when we would want to be in the U.S. for my sister's wedding. Can Minsk service Russians? I never considered them as I just always assumed that it would be closed like Moscow. Based on the replies, it seems the spousal visa is the only way, but if it's in Poland, that's just a nonstarter for us, unfortunately. 

I am American. My wife is Russian. We have a child who is 1.5 years old. 

We live in Russia. We recently traveled to Georgia (Tbilisi) to renew my visa to Russia and report my daughters birth as well as create a passport for her. Unfortunately, due to a technicality on the form, they sent us back home rather than work it out there. Now there are no available dates until June, apparently, which I do not think we will wait for, as I am growing tired of staying in Georgia.

The goal is to just travel to the U.S. for a few weeks so my family can finally meet our daughter. I am open to staying in the U.S. for a longer-term (1+ years) However, the U.S. embassy in Moscow is closed or does not provide visa services for Russians. 

Many neighboring and countries within this region are completely backlogged, some up to 2024. Additionally, due to the war, flights to most places are sanctioned. Moscow has previously attempted to push us to go to Poland, but I do not want to go there due to the political situation and we can't go there even if we wanted to.

I work for a Russian company, but as I understand, if I gained employment or an offer from an American company, they could expedite the process. But where ,since the Moscow embassy is basically closed. Also, if I were to travel to the U.S. by myself is there a way for my wife to apply for a visa on her own to travel/live in the U.S. quicker (less than a month)?

Previously, my then girlfriend failed 3 times to obtain a travel visa. Now she owns property in Russia, but given the political climate, I sincerely doubt any U.S. embassy will be handing out tourist visas to the U.S. My step mother petitioned our local congressman who wrote us a letter that we presented to the embassy in Estonia, which seemed to only anger them.

If I have to live in the U.S. fine, I'll do that. But I'd like to evaluate our options, if we have any.

Thanks

Hmm any idea how that process would work since Saint Petersburg no long has a consulate and Moscow is no longer serving Americans? 

My wife is Russian. I am American. We are set to have a child in a couple of months who would be a dual citizen. Does having a child change the process at all? Making it easier or more difficult for my wife? I am pretty sure it doesn't, but I definitely want to check to be completely sure. 

10 hours ago, Rose711 said:

You can get a job here and then she can join you. You don’t have to coordinate both. You’ll need a job to live here anyway unless your family will support you.

And then we will live apart for a year? That's not an option for us.

16 hours ago, payxibka said:

Do you have extenuating circumstances that is prompting your relocation?

I want to work in the U.S. again. As I understand, I need to have a job offer first. Don't even know how to go about all of this, seems like a bit much to coordinate everything with the government and a future employer.

Thanks for the quick reply. 

If anything needs to be translated into English. Can I do it? Will they accept an translation from a notary in Russia to English? 

As for proof, can I give them links to our social media or should I literally print out photos and what not? 

And unfortunately, we have don't share anything other that than one bank account. This is largely because I still don't have legal residency in Russia (waiting). 

Anyways, thanks for all of the info. I think I've got the main idea and how to proceed

Posted on here before. 

My wife and I recently became married. I am a U.S. Citizen. She is a citizen of Russia. We BOTH live and reside in Russia. We cannot apply for a CR-1 visa in Russia because they closed the Moscow office. This means I need to apply stateside. 

As far as I understood this is what I need:

Petition for Alien Relative
A copy of the U.S. citizen’s birth certificate or a copy of all the pages of his/her passport
A copy of the marriage certificate
Documentation that shows any previous marriages have been legally terminated (divorce documents or a previous spouse’s death certificate if deceased)
Evidence of a legitimate marriage 

Now, I can give them copies of these things, but they'll be in Russian. We got married in Russia. 
How does my wife (and me for that matter) prove we've never been married before?  
What evidence can we provided the government of our marriage? We are on one RUSSIAN bank account together. We share no bills. 

And all of this will be in Russian anyways. 

Also, how is she ever going to be able to do a visa interview if the Moscow office is closed and she can't go to America?

Thanks! A lot of information to take in. I appreciate everyone who chimed in. Very helpful!

I see, I guess it is like the same as before. I suppose they think she will overstay her visa and I imagine having myself down on her application  would likely lead them to believe the chances would be even higher that she would overstay her visa.

Wait, really? We can just get tourist visa then? That's quite a bit of a relief. She applied 3 times previously and was denied - would us becoming husband and wife change anything?