royryan

So help me understand.  If my fiancee enters US from Mexico (Matamoros land crossing) with her K1 visa (first and only time), it is considered "essential" travel, and therefore does NOT require vaccination, at least until January.  Is this correct?

Based on Rice Theory's post above, I got that impression my fiancee could enter the same way as your wife.  I just wanted to confirm.

I was in Frankfurt transiting just a few days ago. No need to go through passport control or leave the airport if you have a connecting flight.
 
Frankfurt is just a very annoying airport because it's huge and shuttle buses drive you from terminal to terminal (sometimes even from the airplane, to the terminal, so we're talking multiple bus rides just to even get to your gate), so make sure she has a good layover time, at least more than one hour. It's a very confusing airport and waiting on the shuttle buses means potential missed connections. Saw an American guy there who ended up in the wrong terminal and he missed his connecting flight.
 
Might want to double check if the airline requires a negative Covid test for the flight to Mexico. Just something to be aware of, it will depend on the airline.
 
 

I don't know how relevant this is, but there is a clinic in Warsaw administering J&J vaccinations to Russians.  They specifically mention that they have Russian speaking staff.  I learned of it from one of my Telegram groups.  My fiancee may need to utilize their services in the coming weeks, especially since there are rumors that some approved K1 holders are being denied boarding to US, even with Sputnik.  I think the site mentions a 100 Euro fee for the service.  If anyone is interested I can share the link.  I'm just trying to help others.

I just saw this on the USCIS site:
https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/covid-19-vaccination-required-for-immigration-medical-examinations
 
USCIS may grant blanket waivers if the COVID-19 vaccine is:
Not age-appropriate; Contraindicated due to a medical condition; Not routinely available where the civil surgeon practices; or Limited in supply and would cause significant delay for the applicant to receive the vaccination. Maybe that last point, "limited supply" could apply for Russia? Or the fact that she's already been vaccinated and therefore is unable to get a vaccination? The whole thing seems a bit insane otherwise to just essentially ban people because they have the "wrong" vaccination.

It is not the Russians as they and the Americans do their political ####### for tat. I spoke to the Embassy at Moscow and they blamed the Russians for not allowing local hiring or limiting it. Was told if I had any solutions to send them in, so I did. I worked until I retired in Sacramento and met many wonderful prople from Russia and the Ukraine. All speak Russian, I am sure there are many young men and women that would love a job for 1,2 or 3 years at the Embassy. I submitted this as jobs are needed but heard nothing back!!!!
I received a 3 year, multi entry visa from the Russian Embassy (3 weeks with limited staff) and now stay with my fiance most of the time in Saint Petersburg, Russia. I have no problem being an American in Russia, and all the people that I met and are friends with have no problem being Russian in America. Dont be blaming the Americans or the Russians its all political and the only losers are the people on both sides!

Yup. It costs about $19 per person to use that pedestrian bridge. It's recommended to buy that ticket in advance: https://www.crossborderxpress.com/en/requirements

Don't know if schedules work (or at least are less bad than flying or taking the train to Moscow), but there are direct flights from St. Petersburg to Frankfurt.
 
Though you'll likely to need to fly within Mexico to make this work; the Mexican border cities are a long way from Cancun or Mexico City.
 
Heading to Oregon (the OP's profile says he's in Oregon but says his local office is Imperial, CA; since Imperial is much closer to Mexico than Oregon I'm sure at least one of those is wrong; if Imperial is actually right then just drive from the border crossing in CA), I'd guess you fly to Mexico City, fly from there to Tijuana and walk across the border from the airport (you can apparently literally do this, though I've never done it), then fly from San Diego to Portland (Alaska does this direct several times a day).

Am I reading this travel assessment right that they did actually ban travelers from Eastern Europe with Sputnik? I know it’s not directly stated, but it’s pretty clearly implied through the ‘test’ - if you’re not traveling with an approved vaccine, you then are told you can’t enter unless being on a list, and Russia and Belarus *are not on the list*. That’s actually... what? I’m grateful I don’t have this issue but I’m actually dumbfounded. Are they actually forcing such travelers to have to get vaccinated in Europe prior to entry?

How about leaving from Moscow and transiting through Frankfurt? Russians don't need a transit visa for Germany: https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/transit-schengen-visa/

Get a Mexican Electronic authorization* and then fly to MX and cross at a land POE. Land POEs have consistently recognized K-1 travel as "essential" https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/10/21/2021-23005/notification-of-temporary-travel-restrictions-applicable-to-land-ports-of-entry-and-ferries-service Also, there aren't any COVID testing requirements for land entry.
 
*Electronic authorization link: https://www.inm.gob.mx/sae/publico/en/solicitud.html

except for when it isn't, ergo the need for explicit clarification.
 

From the CDC website:
 
Categories of noncitizen nonimmigrants that meet the criteria for an exception under the Proclamation and CDC’s Order include:
 
Persons with valid visas [excluding B-1 (business) or B-2 (tourism) visas] who are citizens of a foreign country with limited COVID-19 vaccine availability
 
So, how is it that Russia has not made the list of limited availability despite having NO approved vaccines?  It can't be because they have over 10% of Russians vaccinated, because I don't believe that 10% of Russians traveled to get an approved vaccine. 
In my opinion Fauci is cooking the books.

except for when it isn't, ergo the need for explicit clarification.
 

The whole situation is beyond frustrating. The situation inside of Russia is also quite stupid, to be fair. I'm visiting right now and I can't go inside museums despite being vaxxed because they don't recognize anything but Sputnik here. However, I was able to get into Russia with a PCR test alone so there is that. 
 
I hope that the WHO approves Sputnik soon as that might be a starting point who repairing some diplomatic ties between the West and Russia. I might look into the Croatia route if things don't get better, at least so my MIL can visit us in the US. She has a US tourist visa and hasn't even used it yet becauss Covid. It's imperative that she use it at least once before expiring because the US does not like people who get visas and don't use them. So we will have to figure something out in the next year or so.

Yeah, I have been sounding the alarms about this for months, plans for this were announced in early August. Remember leaving my fiancee after a vacation in Europe and seeing this news on the plane, had an "oh " moment reading the article. 
 
In my opinion, the vaccine has become the perfect political weapon. If you think our rules are crazy, have you seen the UK? You could've gotten an approved vaccine, but if it wasn't in a certain country, it can't be used. Imagine that! To me, the most discriminatory thing about the vaccine mandates as they pertain to international travel is they purposefully paint those who don't have the vaccine as wrongdoers, though that's the farthest thing from the case. There's so many additional factors here, availability being the most important one. I was shocked when I read the CDC was going to publish a list of 'exempted' countries and thought maybe someone had actually thought this problem through. Yet, reading over the list, I'm completely convinced this is a giant #######-for-tat with all CIS countries, China, and others caught in the fray.
 
I really dislike the idea that we've normalized discriminating against the unvaccinated. Labeling this lifting as a victory is a farce when it instead creates one of the largest travel bans in US history. 
 
Yes, wanted to comment (as I have elsewhere) that I can confirm from my fiancee's personal experience Croatia gives vaccines out to tourists. Though I would encourage *not* to go with a tour group if I was OP and doing that route, as I'm sure those would charge up the wazoo. I purchased my fiancee a really simple itinerary in-and-out of Zagreb and it turned into a little mini-vacation, haha. 

That would be pretty unorthodox by international standards. Plus, I'd expect regardless of the benefits, people would rather give up their citizenship than pay more in taxes.

Do like the IRS and have them file taxes wherever they are - with no/low international income exemption?

It's really the only good news for American-Russian couples that we've heard in years lol. I was extremely happy that they finally passed it. Good luck with your temp residence permit, although in the future you might be able to apply for Russian citizenship via the new "native speaker" rule, I've heard this is the easiest route.

Russia had a super weird law in place before this: basically, Russian citizens were allowed to obtain other citizenships, as in, they didn't really care if you obtained others and you could still keep Russian citizenship. But the flip side for non-Russians who wished to obtain citizenship were required to renounce their current in order to obtain Russian citizenship. So this law really just makes it way more fair and makes the dual citizenship situation go both ways, finally. 

Of course! Feel free to message me direct if you need to know more. I'll include the information below as if you use forum Vinskyy, everything's in Russian, and the process might not be clear for someone who doesn't speak it. 
 
Basically, we decided to pursue the vaccine in Europe once it became clear that the US would mandate it on flights and Sputnik would *not* be allowed. Belarus also has Sinovac, but interestingly enough, another poster here just wrote today saying it probably won't be allowed either (despite being WHO-approved). There's lots of misinformation right now about what countries are offering vaccines to tourists so you need to be very careful. We were told Serbia and Dubai many times, but a quick search shows they discontinued the program months ago.
 
While googling in English gave nothing helpful, googling in Russian immediately revealed a bunch of pages talking about what countries in the EU were giving out shots. Many of them had quarantine restrictions, but Croatia, weirdly, did not so long as you were a tourist (i.e., had a hotel reservation somewhere). Googling more, I found forum Vinskyy, in which people were discussing flying from Russia to various countries and hunting a shot. It seemed like Croatia was promising, and after confirming on the Croatian Health Ministry's website that non-residents are eligible for shots, I booked my fiancee a ticket for Zagreb the following week. It is very expensive considering the Belarus flight ban, but it's comparable overall to the price of having to do medical in the US during AoS. So basically, better to get it done now.
 
Within two hours of landing in Zagreb, she had already gotten Janssen and returned to the hotel to relax. She explored the city for the remainder of her time (it's actually a really cool little place!) and returned to Minsk via Istanbul without problems. There were many different people at the clinic; Ukrainians, Russians, British, etc. They had many vaccines available and, after issuing her a certificate in English, Croatian, French, and German, told her to email them after 14 days to receive a QR code for the EU Digital Covid Certificate. 
 
Note that Croatia is in the EU but not Schengen, which is why I presume it's allowed to have these weird (but helpful) entry requirements. To get in, you either need a Croatian visa, or any C/D type visa issued by a Schengen member.

Really good to know, thanks!

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

The panel physician performing the medical exam will see the cut arm and ask about it.
The paramount thing is not to LIE about anything, because it WILL come back to bite you.
Whatever the physician recommends to the consulate must be honored and followed.
Any delay in case progress will be determined from the standpoint of "what is best" (for you, too).
 
Others here can comment more specifically about the impact of the demonstrated pattern of self-harm.
 
Personal sympathies for the rough time that you're both going through.

Simple answer, the CDC determined it based on World Health Organization statistics of country by country vaccination rates.  These vaccination rates are not based on WHO approved vaccines, but vaccines approved within the countries given.  The WHO dashboard can be found here:  https://covid19.who.int/region/euro/country/ru
 
Long answer, quote from a senior administration official:  https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/10/25/background-press-call-by-senior-administration-officials-on-covid-19-and-international-air-travel-policy/
Congress delegated authority to Biden with INA => Biden delegated authority to CDC => CDC uses W.H.O. statistics and adds in their own judgment.
 
I know the above provides little solace to you.
 
People say online that tourist agencies sell travel packages to go to Croatia, so that Russians and that the Johnson and Johnson one shot vaccine is available there.  Please double check this before you book.  I just found it in some random internet articles.
https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/short_news/croatia-now-most-popular-vaccine-tourism-destination-among-russians/