Immigrant Interview in Moscow Consulate expectations

[VeronikaR 0]

I am a US citizen and filled for immigrant visas for both of my parents to come to the States and receive a green card. They have an interview schedule in Moscow Consulate. They are residents of Belarus that does not have a US consulate in the country processing immigrant applications.

Does anybody have any information on what kind of questions they are supposed to expect at the interview?

Also, if the consulate takes and keeps passports for visa processing (2-3 days) after the interview, how are the applicants supposed to travel back home after the interview that day? Should they just plan to stay in Moscow and personally pick up all documents at the consulate?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

[Maria_Francesca 0]

I am a US citizen and filled for immigrant visas for both of my parents to come to the States and receive a green card. They have an interview schedule in Moscow Consulate. They are residents of Belarus that does not have a US consulate in the country processing immigrant applications.

Does anybody have any information on what kind of questions they are supposed to expect at the interview?

Also, if the consulate takes and keeps passports for visa processing (2-3 days) after the interview, how are the applicants supposed to travel back home after the interview that day? Should they just plan to stay in Moscow and personally pick up all documents at the consulate?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Hello there! I am a US citizen from Belarus as you are. And I also filed I-130 for both of my parents (back in October 2010). I am now waiting for my NOA2 to come.

When did you file for your folks and when did you get your approval NOA2? Just wanted to know your time frame during this process to compare.

I am surprised to hear that your parents are going to be interviewed in Moscow, Russia rather than Warsaw, Poland. Do you know why Moscow? From what I've heard, parents from Belarus usually go to Poland. This is the first time I hear that they need to go to Russia.

My parents had to go to Moscow in 2009 (to get their Non-Immigrant tourist visas) and they had to stay in Moscow for a few days till they received their passports back. If your parents want to travel to Belarus (and not to stay in Russia during those few days), I would tell them to ask US Consulate to issue them a document stating that their passports are currently being held at the US Embassy in Russia and your parents would just need to buy train tickets at the railway station in advance using their passports, if they are going by train. If they do not travel by train, there is no border between Belarus and Russian - so they do not really need a passport.

Good luck to your parents!

And please let us know your I-130 time frame. It is so interesting to know how the process is going from somebody who is from the same country originally.

Best of luck!

[Sergi9 110]

I am a US citizen and filled for immigrant visas for both of my parents to come to the States and receive a green card. They have an interview schedule in Moscow Consulate. They are residents of Belarus that does not have a US consulate in the country processing immigrant applications.

Does anybody have any information on what kind of questions they are supposed to expect at the interview?

Also, if the consulate takes and keeps passports for visa processing (2-3 days) after the interview, how are the applicants supposed to travel back home after the interview that day? Should they just plan to stay in Moscow and personally pick up all documents at the consulate?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Curious, did you request Moscow as the processing Embassy? If not typically at least until very recently as the other poster said Immigrant VISA processing is done at Warsaw in Poland.. you can request a change but it involves a delay. I hope they have changed this now and it is all done in Moscow as Poland VISA process is a pain in the butt and one more expense for the applicant as well as additional hassle.

The Website at Moscow says they process the VISA the same day for non-immigrant but I think I remember reading something about DHL courier stuff, but that I believe is just for Russian residents, I think they accomodate foreign interview applicants on same day. I would expect they will get it right after the interview if all documents are in order. Its tough to get an answer from the call in number in Moscow they are pretty rude, but the folks inside seemed nice. We dealt with Moscow recently and it was pretty friendly and business like.

If they process at Warsaw its the same deal, morning interview afternoon VISA pick up.

As for questions, would think that the birth certificates are sufficient to prove your relationship to your parents, so my guess is the questions will more likely be about criminal activity, membership in Communist party etc.

[Used to be broken 147]

I am a US citizen and filled for immigrant visas for both of my parents to come to the States and receive a green card. They have an interview schedule in Moscow Consulate. They are residents of Belarus that does not have a US consulate in the country processing immigrant applications.

Does anybody have any information on what kind of questions they are supposed to expect at the interview?

Also, if the consulate takes and keeps passports for visa processing (2-3 days) after the interview, how are the applicants supposed to travel back home after the interview that day? Should they just plan to stay in Moscow and personally pick up all documents at the consulate?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Ditto on the Moscow vs Warsaw comments. Have they already gotten a interview appointment?

Also you might want to post in the Russia Ukraine and Belarus (RUB) regional forum for more recent experience in Moscow if that is where they will interview.

[Novenkiy 0]

I am in a similar boat. Could you please tell me how long it took them to provide you with an interview appointment in Moscow after you mailed the last batch if immigrant visa application documents to NVC? Thank you!