US Embassy in Moscow - Still Closed

[Caboose29 173]

9 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Would be more willing to believe the former. The Moscow Embassy has always seemed way overstaffed to me, compared to the application numbers they get, the Embassy is gigantic and has tons of workers from what I saw.

 

Does anyone know about that the mysterious 4 CR-1's and 1 IR-1 that got issued in December 2020?

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyIVIssuances/DECEMBER 2020 - IV Issuances by Post and Visa Class.pdf

 

Also apparently 4 K-1 's were issued in December 2020?? Okay then...

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Non-Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyNIVIssuances/DECEMBER 2020 - NIV Issuances by Post and Visa Class.pdf

 

 

Nice catch!! Inquiring minds want to know. 

[millefleur 5,046]

Just now, Caboose29 said:

Nice catch!! Inquiring minds want to know. 

Yeah, this actually tells me that they're treating K-1's and CR-1/IR-1's more or less the same then...which is basically how it was before. I think for people waiting on K-1, unless you want the added benefit of skipping the hassle with the AOS/EAD card process, it's probably better to just wait out the K-1 and not bother with the extra hoops of tying to get married during the pandemic (not to mention then having to re-file with a I-130, etc.)

 

For anyone who needs their fiancé(e) to work or study immediately, then of course getting married first and re-filing for the CR-1 is a better idea.

 

 

[Caboose29 173]

2 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Yeah, this actually tells me that they're treating K-1's and CR-1/IR-1's more or less the same then...which is basically how it was before. I think for people waiting on K-1, unless you want the added benefit of skipping the hassle with the AOS/EAD card process, it's probably better to just wait out the K-1 and not bother with the extra hoops of tying to get married during the pandemic (not to mention then having to re-file with a I-130, etc.)

 

For anyone who needs their fiancé(e) to work or study immediately, then of course getting married first and re-filing for the CR-1 is a better idea.

 

 

This is precisely why I decided on going K1 in the end.   My fiancée will not need to work right away once she’s here. 

[millefleur 5,046]

2 minutes ago, Caboose29 said:

This is precisely why I decided on going K1 in the end.   My fiancée will not need to work right away once she’s here. 

Exactly. I hope those numbers give some hope to K-1 Moscow filers that things are kind of moving, it's just slower than a snails pace. I have a feeling those K-1's that got issued in December were waiting a long time, they may have filed way before the pandemic even started? I know that K-1 processing has slowed down on the USCIS side, but I don't think Moscow is treating K-1's vs spousal visas any differently, so once it gets there, spousal visas won't be prioritized over K-1's.

[Chauncey 138]

2 hours ago, millefleur said:

Would be more willing to believe the former. The Moscow Embassy has always seemed way overstaffed to me, compared to the application numbers they get, the Embassy is gigantic and has tons of workers from what I saw.

 

Does anyone know about that the mysterious 4 CR-1's and 1 IR-1 that got issued in December 2020?

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyIVIssuances/DECEMBER 2020 - IV Issuances by Post and Visa Class.pdf

 

Also apparently 4 K-1 's were issued in December 2020?? Okay then...

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Non-Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyNIVIssuances/DECEMBER 2020 - NIV Issuances by Post and Visa Class.pdf

 

 

Yeah we don't know. We have a Moscow embassy chat on telegram and none of us know how they got them issued. Well some of them said that diplomats aren't even able to be in Russia, they aren't getting visas, so they have no one there to do anything

[Chauncey 138]

1 hour ago, millefleur said:

Exactly. I hope those numbers give some hope to K-1 Moscow filers that things are kind of moving, it's just slower than a snails pace. I have a feeling those K-1's that got issued in December were waiting a long time, they may have filed way before the pandemic even started? I know that K-1 processing has slowed down on the USCIS side, but I don't think Moscow is treating K-1's vs spousal visas any differently, so once it gets there, spousal visas won't be prioritized over K-1's.

God I hope that is true 🙏

I'm thinking possibly the k1s were part of the lawsuit? I'm not sure how many Russians were a part of it 

But if they weren't, then this is good news!

 

Edited January 21, 2021 by Chauncey

[millefleur 5,046]

22 minutes ago, Chauncey said:

God I hope that is true 🙏

I'm thinking possibly the k1s were part of the lawsuit? I'm not sure how many Russians were a part of it 

But if they weren't, then this is good news!

No idea if they were part of the lawsuit or not....it shall remain a mystery unless one of those approved K-1'ers comes and posts here on VJ and lets us know their story. I still think it's a good sign that K-1's are being processed at all....I had expected to see zero.

[Seth1249 12]

FYI, I emailed the U.S. Embassy in Moscow regarding the K-1 visas issued in December and asked if they intended on resuming routine vise services, this was their response:

 

"Thank you for your email. We continue to process K-1 visas on a life or death emergency basis only. U.S. Embassy Moscow has not resumed routine visa services.

 

Sincerely,

 

Visa Services Unit"

 

Not sure I believe all were approved due to life or death emergencies but that appears to be their reasoning.  

---

Edited January 22, 2021 by Seth1249

[Chauncey 138]

1 minute ago, Seth1249 said:

FYI, I emailed the U.S. Embassy in Moscow regarding the K-1 visas issued in December and asked if they intended on resuming routine vise services, this was their response:

 

"Thank you for your email. We continue to process K-1 visas on a life or death emergency basis only. U.S. Embassy Moscow has not resumed routine visa services.

 

Sincerely,

 

Visa Services Unit"

 

Not sure I believe all were approved due to life or death emergencies but that appears to be their reasoning.  

---

Wow. Fantastic 

[Chauncey 138]

This is the response I got on twitter about K1 visas.

[Chauncey 138]

This is something they posted to Facebook today

[Chauncey 138]

It's just a political nightmare going on

[millefleur 5,046]

3 minutes ago, Chauncey said:

This is something they posted to Facebook today

Translation:

The US Embassy is processing a very limited number of already submitted applications, which have not been looked at yet. We are paying special attention to high priority visa categories (such as IR1and CR1), applicants who soon reach legal age (I guess they mean who are at risk of "aging out?"), as well as applications that have been under consideration since the first days of the pandemic. We will contact immigrant visa applicants when there will be a possibility to resume scheduling interviews.

 

Strange as this somewhat contradicts what they said in the email to @Seth1249, I also have a have time believing that all 4 of those December 2020 K-1's were literal "life or death" scenarios. 🤷‍♀️

 

[Chauncey 138]

1 hour ago, millefleur said:

Translation:

The US Embassy is processing a very limited number of already submitted applications, which have not been looked at yet. We are paying special attention to high priority visa categories (such as IR1and CR1), applicants who soon reach legal age (I guess they mean who are at risk of "aging out?"), as well as applications that have been under consideration since the first days of the pandemic. We will contact immigrant visa applicants when there will be a possibility to resume scheduling interviews.

 

Strange as this somewhat contradicts what they said in the email to @Seth1249, I also have a have time believing that all 4 of those December 2020 K-1's were literal "life or death" scenarios. 🤷‍♀️

 

Thank you for translating! I had my fiance do it for me on the phone this morning so I didn't have it in writing 😅

But yes, me too.... 

[T1redofthis 15]

We applied in Oct 2019 and received our NOA2 in April 2020.  This is so disheartening.  According to my fiance, Russia pretends like covid doesn't exist, so basically they will process our visas whenever this doesn't exist?  Which could take years?  I'm so frustrated.

 

We should get together and sue them.