My family and I were in Almaty, KZ for a week or so to handle business at the U.S. consulate. That business was the renewal of our daughter’s (10) American passport and my wife’s immigration medical examination and interview. We have lived in Russia together since 2015 and I am a permanent resident (PRP) in Russia.
On February 27, 2023, my wife had her medical examination appointment for her immigrant visa (IR-1) at the IMC Almaty office on Mukanova street. She said that everyone at the IMC clinic (Mukanova) was friendly and helpful. She was surprised at the difference between how they behaved there versus how it is at Russian clinics where everyone is cold and there is no privacy. Two things that are noteworthy that we wanted to post here for anyone about to do the same are:
1) She had to receive 2 vaccinations and was charged 25,000 Tenge total for them. She paid 95,000 Tenge (70,000 for the exam and x-ray + 25,000 for the 2 vaccines). She was not offered the COVID-19 vaccine, does not have it, and is not required to as Russian vaccines are not CDC or WHO-approved.
2) She was told that people pursuing "family reunification visas" are not given envelopes with documents anymore and that they are now done electronically. She did not receive any envelopes or documents to give to the consulate.
The x-ray clinic she was sent to was on Nauryzbai Batyr. She said it was more Russian in nature. Fighting in line with babushki, cold and impersonal staff, no privacy, etc. She did have to take a taxi to the x-ray clinic as it is in a different location from both IMC clinics. They even had her return a few hours after her x-ray just to pick up a paper and CD that she was told she does not need for the interview. The x-ray results were digital and sent to the consulate just as the medical exam results were.
We had to go to the consulate as a family on March 1, 2023, for our daughter’s passport appointment. The consulate is located at the Samal Towers inside the British Consulate. You have to go into the tower on the left when you are facing the entrances. You should see a board with information for both the British and US consulates. the entry area is very small and they made us leave when we arrived 30 minutes before our appointed time. They told us to return in 15 minutes and when we did we had to stand outside while they searched the man in front of us. The security team was comprised of locals and all but 1 of them (a short male with a shaved head who was extremely charismatic) were less than friendly. You cannot take any bags or telephones upstairs with you so they will hold them and give you a property receipt. After you are searched, you take your clothes and one of the security team will take you upstairs to the very small consulate.
There is a security door between the elevator and the consulate area and a security officer will stay there watching everyone like a hawk. The consulate area basically consists of a large waiting area, 4 or 5 service windows (behind thick Plexiglas), and a small interview room. Everyone sits down and the security guard will eventually give you a ticket with a number on it. When they call your number, you go to the window and turn in the documents they request. If you have to pay a fee then you sit down again and wait for them to call you to the cashier on the far right. After that, they will call you back up to the window when they are ready for you. We had a Russian woman place us under oath and question us then she had us sign the forms we needed to and that was it. When you are done, you have to wait until the security guard has a small group of people and he will radio the guard in control of the security door and elevator and then take you down to the lobby. You get your personal property and then you are free to go.
I will say that the entire experience felt very unprofessional and I was ashamed that this was a U.S. consulate. The way the security team behaved, the way they treated us, the way the consulate team treated us, the way security watched us like we were convicts and did everything for us, etc. was incredibly dehumanizing and humiliating. I have dealt with a lot of consulates and embassies during my military and federal police service, and this was by far the worst experience I have ever had.
The next day, February 2, 2023, Olga went back to the consulate for her interview. She arrived early for her appointment at 0800 and there was a crowd of people already waiting outside. They had to take people in small groups because the entrance area where security screens you is tiny and the metal detector is right in front of the entrance door. People lined up outside and small groups were taken into the ‘breezeway’ in between the internal and external double doors. A security guard would come outside and shout an appointment time and then people would surge forward trying to get inside. Several people cut in front of Olga and there were Soviet-style arguments about who was first or next. Once she gained entry, the security staff did the same as the day before when we all went. They take your clothes, bags, etc., and run them through the x-ray machine then return the clothes and store the rest.
Next, a security guard takes people upstairs and watches them just as before. This time, Olga said the waiting room was full and many people were standing. At least 50 or so people were there waiting with her. When they called her number, she went to the window and spoke to a Kazakh woman in Russian. She requested some documents but did not want any of our copies or translated papers. She only wanted originals and she copied them herself. We spent hundreds of dollars on copies, translations, and notarizations and it was all a waste. It is important that you submit all the required papers via the website, because they will check them, and you have the originals of everything with you.
The woman requested the originals of all my divorce certificates, not just the most current one. I had been divorced twice while in the military and Olga and I went through a divorce back in 2014. We had to have the first two divorces verified by the U.S. embassy in Moscow as valid to be granted a marriage license to remarry in 2021. As a result of this, I assumed we only needed the original of our divorce certificate from 2014 and not the ones from my military days. I was wrong because they refused to accept the copies Olga had of those certificates and demanded certified originals of them. They have halted the processing of our case while we attempt to collect said originals. I was able to get one from Michigan by paying about $100 online but for Maryland, the court issues it and usually only in person. They give you a photocopy when you divorce and keep the original in the file. To get a certified copy, I had to call the court, write a letter requesting it, and have my daughter in America send it all. Once I receive them physically here in Russia, I have to scan and upload them to the website and then send the originals via courier back to the consulate. This is really my mistake for assuming we didn’t need those so be sure to have the originals of everything.
After this, Olga had to wait until they called her number again. When they did, she met with the consular officer at one of the windows. He was an American male who Olga said spoke almost perfect Russian with a very slight accent. He did not speak any English to her despite her speaking it to him when she couldn’t recall some words in Russian. She said this really threw her off because she had prepared her responses the night before in Russian and despite being fluent in English (she is a certified English teacher) she did not know a few words like ‘disabled’ in Russian. She said he had a very professional, impersonal, and slightly abrasive attitude. He asked her a few questions like “where does he live?” and just kept repeating himself when she was trying to answer but wasn’t saying exactly what he wanted to hear. Evidently, he wanted to know my exact address of record in America and would not take answers like “America”, “Michigan”, “Detroit”, etc. They usually take your international Russian passport at this point and you can return to Russia on your national passport, for now. You have to either return to the consulate in Almaty or they will send it via DHL to a pickup point in Kazakhstan for you to retrieve once you are issued your visa. They do not deliver them to Russia.
One thing to note here is that they did not use the interview room at all and instead interrogated people right at the Plexiglas window in front of everyone in the waiting area. These windows utilize microphones so that you can hear through the Plexiglas and anyone nearby can hear exactly what is being said. He made her recite the entire story of our divorce, reconciliation, and remarriage right there in front of everyone, humiliating her in the process. Once she was done, they made her wait by the elevator with the security officer and another man was being interrogated at the nearby window. This man apparently had some disqualifying medical condition that was found during his medical examination and the consular officer said what it was in front of everyone, violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (1996), the Privacy Act (1974), and other federal privacy laws in the process. The security guard, who was waiting by the elevator with Olga, walked up to the window and stood next to the Russian man while the consular officer stated what they had found. Once this man was done, the guard took him and Olga down to the lobby where she retrieved her belongings and left.
Olga said the entire experience was incredibly humiliating as they absolutely dehumanized everyone there and treated them as if they were convicts that needed to be watched closely. She compared this experience with the ones she had at the embassy in Moscow, other embassies and consulates, and living in America, then contrasted those differences. While reciting everything that happened, she began to cry from the stress and embarrassment of the entire experience. I was irate when she told me about it, especially how a United States consular officer violated multiple federal laws by speaking about everyone’s personal and medical information in front of a room full of people. This is the first encounter many prospective immigrants have with American government officials and it was disgusting how they treated people. I fully intend to write letters of complaint to the applicable agencies and our representatives once we have completed the process. I apologize if this review seems unprofessional or if I upset anyone but as a medically retired servicemember and federal police officer, this absolutely enrages me! When we went to the embassy in Moscow, I was proud and excited to tell my kids that this is a small piece of America but I was ashamed to say the same about the consulate in Almaty.
It is a very unusual emergency situation so that is probably why. Thank you for your reply!
