Please help--k1 interview for cuban in russia

[pukka 11]

Hello all. My fiancé is cuban and we have filed for k1. Our case was at the havana embassy ready for interview and we were ready to go as well, but we learned just two days before our interview date that all consular services are now shut down indefinitely due to the recent us-cuba political situation. So all interviews have been cancelled with no possibility of rescheduling. We are together in havana now trying to decide what to do. Unfortunately the embassy offers no refunds for the interview payment. They are suggesting we go to an embassy in another country instead and in the email we received it says we should go back through usatraveldocs and pay another fee and set an appointment. The only country i can think of where are cuban can enter without a visa is russia (cuba and russia have an agreement). So we are thinking about going to russia. This is incredibly frustrating...

Some questions--
-- i need to get into the usatraveldocs site and pay for another interview and get an appointment. However, when i log in, it only allows me to select "havana". Does anyone know how to change this--how to get an interview in a country other than where the beneficiary is from? The email i received from the embassy offers no instructions on this...just says they will do so "at a later date". Unfortunately each day is costing me more and more money as we were already here and ready for the interview when we found out and now we dont know where to go or what to do.
-- does anybody know how to get the packet currently at the havana embassy sent from there to another one (such as russia)? Currently the havana embassy is operating on very low staff and nobody will answer the phone or return my emails. Since we are here in havana i tried going in person but they wont let me inside to speak to anyone. Would the nvc be able to request this? Or would the packet me sent automatically? Would be stupid to fly all the way to russia and they dont even have our documents.
--anyone know how far out russia interviews are? Would it be possible to get one within the next month?
--in russia would it be possible for them to do an interview with myself and my fiance if my fiance only speaks spanish? would i also have to have his documents (police report, birth cert, etc) translated to english? In havana this wasnt a problem obviously. 

--can us citizen attend k1 interview with fiance in russia? Is it allowed?
--how does an american get into russia? I think i will need a tourist visa. Can i say i am going to go to the us embassy for a visa interview? My fiance has never been on a plane and only speaks spanish, i cant let him go alone. There is a russian embassy here in havana--can i do this here?
--do american credit cards work in russia? I have no cash left so i have no other choice. We would need to buy warm clothes and pay for food and accomodation.

I realize russia is not ideal for a cuban in terms of distance and language barrier but unfortunately cubans cant go to many other countries without a visa and soliciting a visa for another country is quite difficult/long process. US embassy is not issuing any visas whatsoever currently. 
Thank you very much to anyone who can help. I realize some of these questions may seem lazy but in cuba internet and phone access is very limited and incredibly slow -- international calls are prohibitively expensive and pages take forever to load. So i am hoping vj community can help point me in the right directions on these topics. We are in a time crunch as my funds and my own visa here will be expiring soon.... I am gonna cross post this is another forum too...
Thank you in advance!!!

[kris&me 572]

Why russia?

why not a closer Spanish speaking country?

Wht countries cn financee travel to?

Russia is not as favorable for the USC  / my brother in law paid a lot of "under the table fees " in Russia to get things approved

i am not talking about US embassy but other places

What interview appointment fee?

we did not pay a fee to interview

[pukka 11]

2 minutes ago, kris&me said:

Why russia?

why not a closer Spanish speaking country?

Wht countries cn financee travel to?

Russia is not as favorable for the USC  / my brother in law paid a lot of "under the table fees " in Russia to get things approved

i am not talking about US embassy but other places

What interview appointment fee?

we did not pay a fee to interview

 

Thanks for your reply

we paid $265 on usatraveldocs to book appointment

without a visa cubans can travel to the following countries:

http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=86115

of all of these russia seemed the best choice in terms of having a well staffed US embassy and direct flight without stop in another place. None of these countries are spanish speaking. 

What did your brother need to get approved in russia? Do you mean tourist visa for usc?

[JSWH 262]

Hey, @pukka, really sorry to hear what you have to go through. I would not recommend you to move your case to the embassy in Russia. Due to recent Russia-US diplomatic issues, US Embassy had to cut a lot of staff members off. This affected the waiting times dramatically. You risk to stuck awaiting your interview forever. I have no suggestions where you should go, just avoid Russia. 

Don't lose hope, stay strong. Good luck to you!

 

[Dima_April 9]

7 hours ago, pukka said:

-can us citizen attend k1 interview with fiance in russia? Is it allowed?
--how does an american get into russia? I think i will need a tourist visa. Can i say i am going to go to the us embassy for a visa interview?

Yes, the US citizen may attend the k1 interview with their fiance - I did and there was no problem.  They actually welcome this.
You will need to apply for a tourist visa and you must also prove you have health insurance, enough money that you will return to your own country and hotel accommodations.

7 hours ago, pukka said:

--do american credit cards work in russia?

Yes, american credit cards work in Russia.  I used both my Master card and Visa.

[milimelo 4,481]

I'd find another country he can travel to - not Russia. Embassy staff there was also cut (Russian-American issue) and it affects the visa wait time. Now all visas are done in Moscow and not in other consulates. 

[pukka 11]

Thank you all for helpful responses!