Seth1249

Just wanted to share our story which sounds more like a thriller now .We have been waiting for our visa for 1.5 years now .One month ago we applied for an expedite request at NVC and got approved .My God we were the happiest couple in the world .According to rules ,the embassy should process the documents and arrange an interview within 4 weeks after that .HOWEVER ,one week later ,I decided to check my visa status which showed REFUSED .Our case might be under administrative processing or smth else .For those who don’t know ,Administrative Processing is a very mysterious thing .No one knows what is it that the embassy is checking and it can take from two weeks to 5 years !.According to our lawyers (we have 4 of them now -another sad story ),the embassy had no right to put a case under AP without an interview.From what I ve read,US embassy in Russia is notorious for putting ppl under AP without an interview.So,my fiancé contacted his congressmen .Two congressmen reached back to him ,saying they would help .They did confirm that what embassy is doing is wrong  since -first -they ignored our expedition/secondly -they never informed us about what  is going on and why our case was refused or put under AP without contacting us or any of our lawyers .So we are filing two congressional inquires .we are also working on our law suit So far, it cost us 15 000 dollars and we are under enormous amount of stress .I will keep you updated about how things are going if that is useful .

This is our experience flying back to the USA with an expire green card and an extension letter.  Flew from Kiev, Ukraine to Paris, and then to Atlanta.  At the airport in Kiev, airline personnel nor Passport Control asked to see an extension letter.  In Paris, my wife showed her Ukrainian passport with her expired green card.  We intentionally did not show the extension letter to see what would happen.  They looked at the expired green card and asked if we had an extension letter, which was promptly provided for review.  In Atlanta, the passport/expired green card/extension letter was provided to the CBP officer.  Took them a few minutes to process it and we were on our way.  No secondary inspection.  So our experience was zero problems traveling on expired green card with an extension letter; and in our case, airline security are well aware of extension letters. Hope this helps alleviate some worrying for those who will travel with an extension letter. 

If you do it yourself the filing fee is right over $400. The cost of service of process on the various defendants (U.S. officials and agencies) can also get expensive. An attorney would probably do it for around $3,500 or so. 

Yeah, it is common in at certain embassies, or if the beneficiary has a military or technology background (or I guess in rare cases government or political connections), that in the period between the interview and the visa being issued, the beneficiary file will be put into a extra "Administrative Processing" where they will do extra background checks/research and this would take anywhere from weeks to months to years....this is not common in RUB or former Soviet countries, unless the beneficiary's work experience is connected to the above mentioned cases (or maybe if they're from Chechnya, or some other area with a recent history of war/terrorism, etc). Lengthy AP is common in countries like Pakistan and Iran.
 
I've rarely seen a RUB applicant get a long AP here, I only remember one case where a Russian man had a aerospace engineering background and his AP went on for months....usually it only lasts a week or two and then it's over and the visa is issued. I believe this is the site where you check the status of it: https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx
 
According to the US Embassy site in Moscow:
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/MOS-Moscow.html
 
Administrative processing takes additional time after the interview. Most administrative processing is resolved within 60 days. However, the timing varies based on the circumstances of each case. Before inquiring about the status of administrative processing, please wait at least 60 days after your interview.
 
If you're really curious, check out the wikipedia article about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_Advisory_Opinion

I'm not sure what AP is?
 
An individual is free to file a WOM whenever they want but based on my communication with an immigration attorney, one who wishes to file a WOM should wait until one year from the received date on his/her NOA1. 

FYI, I emailed the U.S. Embassy in Moscow regarding the K-1 visas issued in December and asked if they intended on resuming routine vise services, this was their response:
 
"Thank you for your email. We continue to process K-1 visas on a life or death emergency basis only. U.S. Embassy Moscow has not resumed routine visa services.
 
Sincerely,
 
Visa Services Unit"
 
Not sure I believe all were approved due to life or death emergencies but that appears to be their reasoning.  

FYI, I emailed the U.S. Embassy in Moscow regarding the K-1 visas issued in December and asked if they intended on resuming routine vise services, this was their response:
 
"Thank you for your email. We continue to process K-1 visas on a life or death emergency basis only. U.S. Embassy Moscow has not resumed routine visa services.
 
Sincerely,
 
Visa Services Unit"
 
Not sure I believe all were approved due to life or death emergencies but that appears to be their reasoning.  

I don't post much on VJ but i read as a visitor
and to me this is not the place for politics as it does nothing to help our other members wade thru this process 

Yeah, and this is what the lawyers say in an FAQ for people considering to join the lawsuit:

If the court allows additional plaintiffs to be added to the complaint, new plaintiffs from the proclamation countries can expect to benefit immediately from the injunction. In other words, the government will not be allowed to rely on the proclamations to stop processing or adjudication of their visa applications.
 
New plaintiffs from non-proclamation countries, on the other hand, are much less likely to benefit from the injunction that is currently in place. They may benefit in the event makes future orders regarding unreasonable delay and they may want to consider filing individual actions. Any of the law firms co-counseling on this case can handle individual cases and you might consider setting up a consultation with one of them to discuss this option.
 
 
And for those who live in a banned country there's the possibility of being allowed to travel directly to the US IF a national interest exemption would be granted. I wouldn't count on it, though, but you never know...
 
Also, for those in countries subject to 14 day entry bans, we are arguing that the law that is the basis for that proclamation is not meant to cover the issuance of visas and we also are arguing that the government should create a national interest exemption similar to what they have done for other immediate relative cases.

There is a small update on ustraveldocs (now just in English):
 
Effective from September 14, 2020, immigrant visa applicants who were requested by U.S. Embassy in Moscow to provide additional documents and received a designated form issued by the consular section may submit the requested documents at U.S. Visa document delivery locations operated by VFS Global or in selected Russia Post locations. For additional details, please visit this page.  With the limited exception of F and C1/D classes for processing at Consulate General Yekaterinburg, submission of additional documents for non-immigrant visa applicants, including acceptance of interview waiver applications, remains suspended.
 
https://www.ustraveldocs.com/ru/index.html
 

I think this post is from when they had a staff reduction a year or two ago? Or whenever that happened 

yep, it's been there for a while now...
very misleading in our current situation.

Update: I flew Turkish airlines and he flew Aeroflot- we did it and met in Istanbul  

That's great news! Congrats and thanks for letting us know!

Finally got a CEAC update! Our case moved from "Your search did not return any data" to "READY". It was supposed to be there early April so maybe FINALLY things are starting to move?

Russia beginning to resume some international flights
 
Looks to like to Turkey, UK and Tanzania. Hopefully we see regular flights between Russia and the U.S. resume soon as well.

Today we received the email from USCIS saying our I-129F was approved🥳 We are really excited and we will wait for the paper version to come in the mail.

I just found this forum last night and I could cry I am so excited to have found it! We submitted our application Feb 4 and received NOA1 Feb 13. Spending time reading through threads at the moment and getting some of my questions answered. Anyway I just wanted to say hello and it's nice to find a group of people who know what it's like going through this process! We got very stressful news a few days ago that my fiance in the US lost his job due to Coronavirus and we are now very worried about him not yet starting a new job before my interview comes up! He is a teacher so any new work will only start for him end of July. Fingers crossed everything works out though. It's nice to be here in this forum

This thread was created for those who are waiting for their NOA2 K-1 case assignment from NVC and then tracking your case onwards to your Embassy. Contained in the PDF below are many tips, tricks, and hacks to help you along the way.
 
These are items that everyone asks for, so I thought I did post a PDF of them here for you to refer to when it's necessary. If you are new to this thread, please read as these are the most asked questions multiple times.
 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nfin98c33IEpB0T0FlURERriblYmlm5O/view?usp=sharing

My fiance and I got our approval today (I checked online). Pretty quick turnaround. I filed in late January and got my NOA1 on February 3. 

My fiance and I got our approval today (I checked online). Pretty quick turnaround. I filed in late January and got my NOA1 on February 3. 

My fiance and I got our approval today (I checked online). Pretty quick turnaround. I filed in late January and got my NOA1 on February 3. 

My fiance and I got our approval today (I checked online). Pretty quick turnaround. I filed in late January and got my NOA1 on February 3. 

Congratulations!!

My fiance and I got our approval today (I checked online). Pretty quick turnaround. I filed in late January and got my NOA1 on February 3.