Current processing times at Embassy in Moscow

[Eyeguy1 9]

Has anyone heard that the US Embassy in Moscow has made any recent public announcements that processing times for visas have been lengthened significantly?  My fiancé saw on Russian tv news today that this has occurred.   I checked the US embassy in Moscow website and nothing is mentioned.  With over 700 diplomats being sent out of the country this month by Putin in retaliation for new economic sanctions by the international community, I would not be surprised if this is true.  

 

Thanks for any information you might have.

[KULtoATL 1,551]

They only made this statement: https://ru.usembassy.gov/u-s-mission-russia-statement/ on the website concerning non-immigrant visas. I am not 100% sure if K-1 is affected considering it's a non-immigrant visa yet treated like an immigrant visa for processing.

 

This is the FAQ: https://ru.usembassy.gov/fact-sheet/.

Edited August 22, 2017 by KULtoATL

[Eyeguy1 9]

Thanks so much for the link.  I am hoping the the K-1 is treated an an immigrant visa. 

[Delta7 9]

I'm also in this boat and am very concerned that this could cause extreme lag time for K-1 visas to be approved (due to the potential of interviews taking months to schedule). Does anyone have any information?

[C-ma'am 684]

**post moved from K1 Process to Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Question is embassy specific.

[tanderson64 201]

I sent email to ustraveldocs about this questions.

 

Here is their reply:

 

"1.  K1 is immigrant visa category.

2.  Latest staff reductions only affects non-immigrant visa applications.  All non-immigrant visa appointment dates are relevant."

 

I do know of one couple that had their K1 interview changed from 25 August to 31 August, but it was not cancelled.  

 

From what I have learned, the staff reductions were absorbed by the consulates.  The US Embassy in Moscow is still working as normal, but they will process all non-immigrant visa's now.

 

We are still waiting for embassy ready to schedule our interview.  Hope this is soon.

[tanderson64 201]

Whew - checking status all day and finally CEAC shows K1 case in transit from NVC to embassy.  Hope to schedule interview by the end of the week. 

 

For the Russina K1 cases, I will let everyone know what the interview timeline is - rumor right now is 3 to 4 weeks, which is normal based on past history.

[Upside Down 0]

Quote

I do know of one couple that had their K1 interview changed from 25 August to 31 August, but it was not cancelled.  

The same thing happened with my interview, and I learned about it on the 23rd of August, in the evening, and I already bought all the tickets & rented a hotel & was very ready for the 25th. Guess I was lucky it was only a 6 day delay. 

When I heard that some of the immigrant interview dates might get affected (a limited amount, as they said), I was hoping that since it was only several days before the interview, they would not postpone mine. But no, a polite gentleman called and told me that they will have to postpone the interview.