Wouter

There are four locations where you can do your medical exam for an interview in Warsaw: Moscow, Minsk, Warsaw, Krakow.
I can only speak for Krakow because that's where my wife did her medical. They took her blood and did the X-ray in the morning and she saw the doctor at 7 PM. He gave her the sealed envelope with the results right away at the end of the medical exam. So in theory if you do the medical in Krakow you could do it up to one day before the interview in Warsaw.
Perhaps others can tell you about the three other locations.
 

I used lots of Photos, wedding invitations, receipts to wedding deposits, itineraries, boarding passes, copies of love letters, affidavit statements from supportive family members.
 
And ours was accepted.

It is not fraud to enter on a tourist visa and then get married, if you then leave back to your home country to go through the CR1 visa process.
What would be fraud is entering on a tourist visa with the intention to get married and then staying in the US to adjust status.

I respectfully disagree with this almost completely. There is no guidance or instructions from USCIS/CBP/DHS on how you meet, how you interact, or how long you know each other, or where you are getting married. Almost everyone meets online nowadays. The only requirement is that you have 'consummated the marriage' i.e. that you have been together during or shortly after the wedding. Everything else on what is a 'normal' way to get married is based on cultural perceptions, anecdotal stories, and personal preference and 'experience from being on this forum' which is highly non-representative sampling of immigration cases. Many people that go through the CR1 visa process have never lived together, figured out chores, meals etc. It is very speculative that USCIS would consider this a red flag.
OP is in the best position to decide if they want to take their time and when they are ready to tie the knot. Remember, the slower you go the longer it will take until you will be actually living together.
In my case (and this is also anecdotal but I'm just mentioning this as an example), we did not supply any information on how we met or how long we had been dating. The fact that we got married in a proper wedding ceremony was sufficient. What was more important was what you do after you get married, that you spend time together, that you interact as a genuinely married couple.

Hi,
My wife just got her CR-1 and we have been through the process in the last two years.
We got married on 2/2/2020 outside the US, in The Netherlands. We never lived together in the US or anywhere else. After the wedding we were in the same situation as so many: she had to fly back to Russia and me to the US.
We filed the I-130 on 2/28/2020.
Since we never lived together we didn't have any joint accounts, no house rental lease or mortgage together, no assets together, no kids together.
All we had was basically our marriage certificate.
We did submit pictures of the wedding (which was just six people) and receipts for the rings, and some airplane tickets of trips we had done together before we got married. But I actually doubt this carried much weight. The I-130 got approved in May 2021 without any RFE.
In the meantime we had been on trips outside the US together a number of times and I had diligently collected all airplane tickets / boarding passes, made copies of stamps in our passports. We also filed taxes as 'married' for 2020. (I didn't bother sending copies of chats or emails or get affidavits from family members because they are very hard to be verified for authenticity and are known to carry very little weight for USCIS/DoS)
During my wife's interview they didn't ask for any of this 'proof of relationship'. The only thing coming close was the question: "when did you last see your husband?" (which was just a few hours ago since I was there waiting outside the embassy). And that was it. Approved.
Of course they may have looked at some information that was submitted electronically or that is available to them through some other systems.
But my impression is that they are well aware that many people that are going through the CR-1 visa process do not have the opportunity to show many documents (it may be different for IR-1 or people who adjust status within the US and that lived together before filing).
I think that if you are not from a high-risk country and are willing to sign the I-864 affidavit of support and don't have any major red flags, and you have your basic documents in order, that you are already 99% there.
 
 

After I kept trying to contact the US embassy in Warsaw for the last two weeks to transfer our case there, I heard nothing from them. I decided to call them this morning and went to the website and I saw this: https://pl.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/. Now, they officially announces they are accepting IV applicants from Russia. 

 

Yep.  I'm talking about entering the States for the first time and when asked about the nature of your visit you reply:   you are getting married to someone you met online (and have never met in person). It might result in not being allowed to enter the States (as they'll believe you intend to adjust status). - Maybe Australians and Russians aren't questioned as closely when they enter the US, but I was. 
And you're correct @Wouter- I shouldn't judge the relationships of others or state there is only one way to go through this process. Living together and figuring out chores aren't necessary BUT I believe meeting someone and actually spending a good deal of time in their presence is essential. Hopefully @DaveOz is able to spend at least a month with his intended when he visits the States. 
 
 

It is not fraud to enter on a tourist visa and then get married, if you then leave back to your home country to go through the CR1 visa process.
What would be fraud is entering on a tourist visa with the intention to get married and then staying in the US to adjust status.

It is not fraud to enter on a tourist visa and then get married, if you then leave back to your home country to go through the CR1 visa process.
What would be fraud is entering on a tourist visa with the intention to get married and then staying in the US to adjust status.

Hi,
My wife just got her CR-1 and we have been through the process in the last two years.
We got married on 2/2/2020 outside the US, in The Netherlands. We never lived together in the US or anywhere else. After the wedding we were in the same situation as so many: she had to fly back to Russia and me to the US.
We filed the I-130 on 2/28/2020.
Since we never lived together we didn't have any joint accounts, no house rental lease or mortgage together, no assets together, no kids together.
All we had was basically our marriage certificate.
We did submit pictures of the wedding (which was just six people) and receipts for the rings, and some airplane tickets of trips we had done together before we got married. But I actually doubt this carried much weight. The I-130 got approved in May 2021 without any RFE.
In the meantime we had been on trips outside the US together a number of times and I had diligently collected all airplane tickets / boarding passes, made copies of stamps in our passports. We also filed taxes as 'married' for 2020. (I didn't bother sending copies of chats or emails or get affidavits from family members because they are very hard to be verified for authenticity and are known to carry very little weight for USCIS/DoS)
During my wife's interview they didn't ask for any of this 'proof of relationship'. The only thing coming close was the question: "when did you last see your husband?" (which was just a few hours ago since I was there waiting outside the embassy). And that was it. Approved.
Of course they may have looked at some information that was submitted electronically or that is available to them through some other systems.
But my impression is that they are well aware that many people that are going through the CR-1 visa process do not have the opportunity to show many documents (it may be different for IR-1 or people who adjust status within the US and that lived together before filing).
I think that if you are not from a high-risk country and are willing to sign the I-864 affidavit of support and don't have any major red flags, and you have your basic documents in order, that you are already 99% there.
 
 

I wholeheartedly agree with @millefleur. Remember, it is your 1st amendment constitutional right as a US citizen to 'petition the Government for a redress of grievances' which includes US embassies since they are part of the government. This means there is no limit to how persistent and annoying you are allowed to get (without being abusive or threatening of course).
 
 

Forget emails. Try calling:
https://www.ustraveldocs.com/pl/en/contact-us
https://pl.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/
 
Also, call Moscow. This is getting critical because of the army situation. Moscow is still handling "emergency" cases.
https://www.ustraveldocs.com/ru/ru-main-contactus.asp
https://ru.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/
 
Annoy as many phone numbers as possible until you get an answer.

So sorry to hear that you have been waiting for so long, I know how infuriating and soul crushing it is.
There are several email addresses to try for Warsaw and people get different responses for each so it's worth to keep trying them all:
support-poland@ustraveldocs.com
support@ustraveldocs.com
immigrantvisawarsaw@state.gov
Is your step son an 'immediate relative' (i.e. unmarried and under 21 years old)? It is my impression that Warsaw currently only takes on cases for immediate relatives or K-1 visas.
 

It is not fraud to enter on a tourist visa and then get married, if you then leave back to your home country to go through the CR1 visa process.
What would be fraud is entering on a tourist visa with the intention to get married and then staying in the US to adjust status.

I respectfully disagree with this almost completely. There is no guidance or instructions from USCIS/CBP/DHS on how you meet, how you interact, or how long you know each other, or where you are getting married. Almost everyone meets online nowadays. The only requirement is that you have 'consummated the marriage' i.e. that you have been together during or shortly after the wedding. Everything else on what is a 'normal' way to get married is based on cultural perceptions, anecdotal stories, and personal preference and 'experience from being on this forum' which is highly non-representative sampling of immigration cases. Many people that go through the CR1 visa process have never lived together, figured out chores, meals etc. It is very speculative that USCIS would consider this a red flag.
OP is in the best position to decide if they want to take their time and when they are ready to tie the knot. Remember, the slower you go the longer it will take until you will be actually living together.
In my case (and this is also anecdotal but I'm just mentioning this as an example), we did not supply any information on how we met or how long we had been dating. The fact that we got married in a proper wedding ceremony was sufficient. What was more important was what you do after you get married, that you spend time together, that you interact as a genuinely married couple.

Thank you for your reply.
 
Yeah, there was a certain level of panic, people ive spoken to who clearly have no idea how it works just put a ton of fear in me because they made it sound like it was going to be a near impossible task to achieve unless you had this that and the other and could prove it.
 
I just want to be able to be there with her and support her (mentally) she deals with a lot in her work and gets spread thin regularly with deadlines and targets.
 
Thanks Again.

Hi,
My wife just got her CR-1 and we have been through the process in the last two years.
We got married on 2/2/2020 outside the US, in The Netherlands. We never lived together in the US or anywhere else. After the wedding we were in the same situation as so many: she had to fly back to Russia and me to the US.
We filed the I-130 on 2/28/2020.
Since we never lived together we didn't have any joint accounts, no house rental lease or mortgage together, no assets together, no kids together.
All we had was basically our marriage certificate.
We did submit pictures of the wedding (which was just six people) and receipts for the rings, and some airplane tickets of trips we had done together before we got married. But I actually doubt this carried much weight. The I-130 got approved in May 2021 without any RFE.
In the meantime we had been on trips outside the US together a number of times and I had diligently collected all airplane tickets / boarding passes, made copies of stamps in our passports. We also filed taxes as 'married' for 2020. (I didn't bother sending copies of chats or emails or get affidavits from family members because they are very hard to be verified for authenticity and are known to carry very little weight for USCIS/DoS)
During my wife's interview they didn't ask for any of this 'proof of relationship'. The only thing coming close was the question: "when did you last see your husband?" (which was just a few hours ago since I was there waiting outside the embassy). And that was it. Approved.
Of course they may have looked at some information that was submitted electronically or that is available to them through some other systems.
But my impression is that they are well aware that many people that are going through the CR-1 visa process do not have the opportunity to show many documents (it may be different for IR-1 or people who adjust status within the US and that lived together before filing).
I think that if you are not from a high-risk country and are willing to sign the I-864 affidavit of support and don't have any major red flags, and you have your basic documents in order, that you are already 99% there.
 
 

For Krakow, the blood test and X-ray could be paid by credit card at the front desk, but for the actual medical exam with the doctor at the end the day was 300 Polish zloty cash directly to the doctor. No credit card, no Euros or USD. 
 

Exactly, haha.
 
Lawyers can never 100% guarantee successful outcome. A good, honest lawyer will tell you that up front. If you see a lawyer peddling 100% guaranteed results, run away from them. They're dishonest and are just looking for easy targets to make money off of.

USCIS treats petitions filed by lawyers very seriously.  They love sending out RFE's for mistakes made by them and delaying the case.
 
Here's a post from yesterday about someone's recent lawyer experience:
 
 

I have good news for those who don’t have a schengen visa and plan on doing the medical exam in Moscow. Well my husband and I were worried we wouldn’t have enough time to do the medical exam and get the schengen in time for the interview since they notified us 18 days in advance. However when we called the IOM they told us that my husband can do his medical exam with his internal passport with no problems. So now we don’t have to stress as much about it. 

For good reason.
 
With every error they make, it is more money for them.
 
Seriously, your best bet is to marry and refile for a spousal visa.  Do not use a lawyer, use VJ, like thousands of others have successfully done.
 
Read and research ad infinitum to educate yourselves about the process.   Triple-check everything before submitting, to save yourselves time and money.

At the risk of going off-topic a bit, I completely agree with this statement: our immigration lawyer (or his assistant to be precise) constantly made mistakes on the forms that I had to catch. It got so bad on the DS-260 form that I ended up re-doing the form from scratch myself. I also had little confidence that the lawyer himself would have caught these small but significant mistakes. (In the end we had no RFEs during the entire process 😎) Indeed, nobody cares about your case as much as you do. Double check everything and make it explicitly clear that nothing gets sent or submitted without you reviewing it.
 

Lawyers don't check things, trust me. I had some recent experience with (non-immigration) lawyers and I constantly double checked everything they did. Multiple times, I found small errors that actually ended up being hugely significant to the case. Thankfully it was resolved and corrected when I brought it up. And these were competent, good lawyers....people make mistakes, especially when lawyers are working on multiple cases at once, things fall through the cracks. That's why double checking is so important. That said, the malpractice point is interesting. It might be worth looking into your local state bar and seeing if you can file a formal complaint against them.
 
Remember: nobody cares about your case as much as you do. Even if you go with one of the assistance firms in the future that @TBoneTX mentioned, don't forget to double check things before sending them out.

Your wife is exempt: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/28/2021-02024/suspension-of-entry-as-immigrants-and-nonimmigrants-of-certain-additional-persons-who-pose-a-risk-of
 
Furthermore, all IV holders are essentially now exempt: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/covid-19-travel-restrictions-and-exceptions.html