Questions for K-1 Visa For Russia

[tscott 0]

Hi, I'm new here and me and my fiance are currently getting ready to start the k-1 visa process in the next month or so. But we had some questions that maybe someone could help us with. I have read a lot of the forums so far and I'm trying not to repeat, so I am sorry if I ask a common question I missed. But here are my questions.

1. What cost should we expect for her medical exam?

2. Can She do the medical exam in Ufa (Her home city)? Or does she have to do it in Moscow?

2. What is the interview like for her? Specifically, how good does her English need to be? She is not great in speaking English, and gets really nervous around people she doesn't know. Can she do the interview in Russian?

3. She is living in Ufa now, and how much time will she have to spend outside of Ufa for traveling for the visa? So far, she will have to travel for the interview and the medical exam it seems. Will she have to travel for anything else?

4. Can she set up her interview online or does it have to be by post?

5. Can the interview be done in St. Petersburg as well as Moscow?

6. How long after the interview until she gets her Visa?

7. Will there be any costs for translation documents or anything? What documents will need to be translated?

Sorry again if I have asked the same questions as someone before. But any help would be really great!

[St&Sv 33]

Hi, I'm new here and me and my fiance are currently getting ready to start the k-1 visa process in the next month or so. But we had some questions that maybe someone could help us with. I have read a lot of the forums so far and I'm trying not to repeat, so I am sorry if I ask a common question I missed. But here are my questions.

1. What cost should we expect for her medical exam?

2. Can She do the medical exam in Ufa (Her home city)? Or does she have to do it in Moscow?

2. What is the interview like for her? Specifically, how good does her English need to be? She is not great in speaking English, and gets really nervous around people she doesn't know. Can she do the interview in Russian?

3. She is living in Ufa now, and how much time will she have to spend outside of Ufa for traveling for the visa? So far, she will have to travel for the interview and the medical exam it seems. Will she have to travel for anything else?

4. Can she set up her interview online or does it have to be by post?

5. Can the interview be done in St. Petersburg as well as Moscow?

6. How long after the interview until she gets her Visa?

7. Will there be any costs for translation documents or anything? What documents will need to be translated?

Sorry again if I have asked the same questions as someone before. But any help would be really great!

1. Not higher than ruble equivalents of $175 (you can pay in dollars, my fiancée did)

2. Moscow only (You'll get the info once the embassy contacts you)

2(2). Interviews can be done in Russian

3. The only travel time for the process will be to Moscow for Medical + Interview

4. She does it online (payment for it can be made at the post, online or through VT)

5. Only Moscow does K1 interviews

6. They say 2 weeks

7. Generally if you aren't doing them yourself or have someone helping you will need to pay for them. As for what you want translated for the interview: Police Report and Birth Certificate.

Once the Embassy receives your packet they will email you in English and Russian asking you to forward this to your fiancée; this is the site they send you to: http://moscow.usembassy.gov/iv-fiancee.html

However this is just the basics to get you through the interview and obtain your visa. If you look further into the process (AoS) you'll see that there are other things you could collect now to help later. One thing we asked for was a duplicate copy of her medical exam, she asked while there, so that we could have the vaccine information for later.

Edited September 5, 2013 by St&Sv

[P A U L 14]

your fiancee can have the interview in Russian. she/he shouldn't be worried...the interviewing agents are nice. it's an interview, not an interrogation.

any translations can be done yourself as long as you are fluent in both languages.

my fiancee received her visa in 3-4 days, while some "friends" she made at the embassy (other K-1 ladies) received their visas the next week.

[tscott 0]

Awesome for the information! One new question after reading all of this.

Do they mail her the visa? Or can she pick it up at the embassy?

I have heard the Russian post is terrible and want to stay away from it as much as possible. So if she could pick it up from the embassy that would be awesome. She could also just fly from there pretty easy too.

[slim 1,514]

They usually have to pick it up from the central shipping office in Moscow a few days after the interview. (Something like 3 days to a week.) Not sure what company they're using now (been away for a few years) but it was DHL. Someone more recent can confirm that.

[vbtwo 54]

Awesome for the information! One new question after reading all of this.

Do they mail her the visa? Or can she pick it up at the embassy?

I have heard the Russian post is terrible and want to stay away from it as much as possible. So if she could pick it up from the embassy that would be awesome. She could also just fly from there pretty easy too.

All embassies never use the local postal system for sending anything important. The only thing they might send by mail is a piece of paper saying we have received the petition, please schedule interview.

According to their site (http://www.ustraveldocs.com/ru/ru-niv-passportretrieve.asp), they use Pony Express to send back the passport either to your address or to one of their offices (you choose where you want the passport sent when you schedule the interview online).

[jft 12]

Be aware that if there are any issues with the medical your lady will either have to stay in Moscow longer or return later. My lady needed additional tests and had to come back two weeks later (everything was ok of course and her visa was issued soon after).

[P A U L 14]

when you make payment for the visa, you are able to schedule an appointment a few days after. that is when you can choose to pick up the visa upon approval. i don't even think there is an option for delivery anymore... if there were, i believe it would be through DHL, and absolutely not through PonyExpress or Russian Post.

[AZSUN 2]

When you make your payment through http://cdn.ustraveldocs.com/ru/index.html?firstTime=No you will enter in the delivery address. You do also have the option to pick it up at the local delivery office in your city or Moscow.