Jessystar16

On 12/24/2021 at 12:24 AM, egur said:

Did you receive the passport with the visa back at Mailboxes Etc place? What ID did the Russian fiance had to present to MBE to receive their passport back? Did they ask just for the barcode from the embassy or some other ID? Russian driver's license?

My husband was told to come back the next day at 3pm. He showed up and they directed him to the pick up section. He didn't show anything they just compared passport picture to his face and that's it 

On 12/23/2021 at 12:00 AM, TBoneTX said:

If they envision moving staff from Moscow, they'd need a place to put them, so much depends on the physical size and layout of the Warsaw embassy.

When I spoke to American staff at the Moscow embassy they mentioned that Poland was the largest most equipped embassy in Europe to handle the case load. But also the situation in Afghanistan took priority over everything else so that is why both nvc and the embassies are taking a bit longer 

1 hour ago, egur said:

Hello Jessystar16.

How long did it take you from the date that NVC sent your case to Warsaw to receive the email from Warsaw with invitation to the interview and the interview date?

 

Our case was sent by NVC to Warsaw on November 23 and we still did not receive the invitation or interview date by email. It's been 30 days so far. I keep calling Warsaw and asking, but they just keep telling me to wait.

It was about 3 days, one of those days was a holiday. Have you checked your nvc status? That it says ready? You can also contact ustraveldocs in Poland to see if they can find out what happened

Hello again! Final update my husband made it to America with the cr1 visa!... Here are the details:

On November 12th my husband received an email that our interview was Dec 2nd. We had applied for the Greek visa on Nov 11th and received it the week after. Booked a flight from Moscow to Athens Nov 29th and then from Athens to Warsaw Nov 30th. To enter Athens he had a PCR test 3 days before and had to fill out the locator form before check-in for the flight. They asked for visa, COVID test and the form at the border. He crossed no problem. At the Athens airport after arrival he took a rapid test and the results were given in English. The next day he headed to Poland and they just asked for the visa and COVID test. On Nov 30th we emailed the Moscow clinic to make sure his medical exam had been sent to the embassy and they replied within the same day saying it was sent. 

Once at the interview he waited about 2 hours, checked all paperwork and got called in for the questions. He said it took maybe about 5 min, very simple questions like how we met, when we got married and what i do for a living. After the office told him to come back the next day for the visa at 3pm. Next day picked it up no problem. We paid the immigrant visa fees and flew from Poland to new York on Dec 12th. At the border in New York they took him to the immigration room and the officer stamp his passport after waiting for a few minutes. We did have to show negative Covid tests before leaving Poland. We were able to take rapid tests the day before and results were in English

38 minutes ago, Jessystar16 said:

Hello! Thought I would share my experience as well with the Schengen visa. My husband never had one before and he has only been to two other countries. We had an appointment Nov 11th at the Greek visa center in Moscow and as of Nov 17th he got his visa valid for multiple entry until the end of February 2022. I didn't purchase any flights or hotels but I did buy a dummy ticket which was about 70 dllrs to make it look like we were flying together and staying at a hotel in Athens for two weeks. These are valid reservations that can be checked online and are valid for visa purposes. I also provided an affidavit of support that i would be paying for our stay in Greece and sent my bank statement along with an employment/wage verification from work. The lady at the visa center reviewed everything and she mentioned there was a likelihood of getting the visa very quickly and she was correct 🙂

 

As for the medical my husband was able to schedule it before we had our interview day set in Moscow . They where very helpful and said they would work with us once we get the date. Once we received our interview he called them back and they were able to schedule him for Nov 25th

I found the info about sponsorship letter for the Schengen visa here https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/sponsorship-letter/  we did submit a copy of my passport and copy of our marriage certificate 

Hello! Thought I would share my experience as well with the Schengen visa. My husband never had one before and he has only been to two other countries. We had an appointment Nov 11th at the Greek visa center in Moscow and as of Nov 17th he got his visa valid for multiple entry until the end of February 2022. I didn't purchase any flights or hotels but I did buy a dummy ticket which was about 70 dllrs to make it look like we were flying together and staying at a hotel in Athens for two weeks. These are valid reservations that can be checked online and are valid for visa purposes. I also provided an affidavit of support that i would be paying for our stay in Greece and sent my bank statement along with an employment/wage verification from work. The lady at the visa center reviewed everything and she mentioned there was a likelihood of getting the visa very quickly and she was correct 🙂

As for the medical my husband was able to schedule it before we had our interview day set in Moscow . They where very helpful and said they would work with us once we get the date. Once we received our interview he called them back and they were able to schedule him for Nov 25th

2 minutes ago, Hubbster14 said:

It's funny that the agent told me that and then later when I asked another agent, he said "We cannot disclose information regarding background checks" haha so inconsistent. But now that I have this new info, I just wish I knew what it means regarding timeline. 

I had posted the same question on this thread and no one had answered. I got the same thing and called a few times after to ask but I was told they couldn't see anything. About a month after i was approved 

Hello.. has anyone called USCIS to get any sort of status update and see if there running background checks or anything of the sort??

30 minutes ago, speedsun said:

Got expedited request approval yesterday and then checked later on and had I-130 approval notice in my docs.

 

 

Did you ever get notification that the expedite request was assigned to someone?

44 minutes ago, mo9109 said:

Morning,

 

So I was finally able to add my case online yesterday. Still just indicates that my case was received and a receipt notice was sent. I noticed on the documents tab, they only uploaded my i130a and bona fide documents. Is it weird that the rest of my app was left out.

I noticed the same. But they only uploaded the last page of the i130a. Nothing else

10 minutes ago, Giodude said:

Hey do you mind sharing his information? I think it would be easier if both my fiancee and him speak Russian.
Thanks. 🙏

Sure! I'll send you a message

Yes so i did the same thing. However I was at an Airbnb and didn't go the resort route. I had contacted a marriage agency in Cancun. The guy is actually Russian so it was very helpful for my husband to understand. He took care of the blood tests, witnesses and translation to English as well as the apostille. About the same timeline as @Strawberrymermaid but the guy I worked with was able to get the apostille in a few days and I had everything with me by the time I left Mexico. I was married January 15. Went back to the US on February 1st and started the process to get a Russian private visa. I was able to enter Russia April 1st for 90 days. 

Like mentioned it was hard to find all the info and although this may not help speed up the process of coming to america it helps to not be separated for so long. 

Entry to mexico is quite easy but I have found that you have to be careful what you say at the border. My husband was detained for a few hours at the border but they let him go. From russia there are flights transiting through Turkey. 

Me and @Strawberrymermaid did this.. maybe we can both share experience

On 4/13/2021 at 10:08 PM, Vladislav667 said:

For cr/ir visa you can at least request a transfer to Poland or Kazakhstan. Bunch of people did it and everything was good

Do you know how they entered poland for their interview?

On 1/8/2021 at 1:02 AM, zolotinka said:

Hi. I have experience of CR1 case transferring without being a resident (as millefleur described). But I don’t know about K1. You can try to write to other embassies, it all depends on their available resources and compassion. You also need to be sure your fiancé will be able to enter another country for the interview, to learn about necessary quarantine, Covid test and other virus connected limitations.

How did you enter Poland?

Hello! I recently joined the forum and thought I could share my story. I married a Russian citizen (i am american) in Mexico. I was able to apply for a Russian visa through New York but unfortunately they only issued a double entry visa that is valid for 90 days. I am currently in Moscow while I wait for the CR1 process. 

I got a response from the Russian visa center that the 3 year visas are not being granted until further notice.

My husband had to also get an invitation letter from the local government office before I could apply for the visa 

On 4/19/2021 at 6:58 PM, Caboose29 said:

I’m curious. The people that were able to reschedule with another embassy, were they able to do their medical in their home country, or must it be done in the same country that they interview in??

 

I would also consider Ukraine, or Kazakhstan if Moscow can’t get their ball rolling. 

I emailed the Embassy in Kyiv and their reply was " Unfortunately, due to our own backlog we cannot accommodate all transfer requests. Please provide the Embassy with detailed information regarding the beneficiary's strong ties to Ukraine."