Visit From Russia

[reco816 2]

Hello what is the current opportunity to have a friend come visit me from Russia on a tourist visa? Is it more or less likely now that there are new Covid Restrictions. I understand that people with current tourist visas can now come to the USA. But how about a person without a current one?

 

And what is the likelihood of them getting approved for a US tourist VISA? Or is it a situation where the State Department is not even accepting applications?

 

Thanks,

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Russian consulates are not currently issuing tourist visas. So if your friend doesn’t have one, he or she has to wait for routine visa processing to restart. Nobody knows when that will be.

[reco816 2]

Thanks for the quick answer Susie. Is it possible to go the neighboring country to apply and to do interview such as Croatia, or Estonia, or Kazakhsta?.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

4 minutes ago, reco816 said:

Thanks for the quick answer Susie. Is it possible to go the neighboring country to apply and to do interview such as Croatia, or Estonia, or Kazakhsta?.

The answer is that it is generally not advised as you should try to apply in your country of residence, and because other country embassies generally cannot judge the validity of your ties to home - the main factor in determining whether or not you get a visa. However, except for people who have previously had a visa revoked, there is nothing in law that says you cannot apply in another country.

 

I see that Talinn appears to be processing B visas; so is Almaty, but with a 6 month wait, so that’s not very practical. Zagreb is closed for tourist visas. So your friend can try, but success is far from guaranteed...not to mention the seeming desperation of traveling to another country just to get a B visa may also raise questions in itself about the real intent of the visit. However as some are fond of saying, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

[SteveInBostonI130 3,432]

Russians need a visa to visit EU schengen countries.

 

Several years ago Ukraine allowed Russian nationals to interview in Kyiv.  I am not sure if they currently allow it.  Also, the US embassy in Kyiv is closed to routine nonimmigrant visa processing.

 

Even during normal times, single Russians had a difficult time getting tourist visas approved to visit the US.  It was far easier for a USC to get a visa to visit Russia.  But currently only spouses or family members of Russian citizens can get single entry visas to visit Russia.  Multiple entry visas are not being processed.

 

Best chance to meet is at a visa neutral country, like Turkey, Egypt, Thailand, etc, provided there are no travel restrictions due to Covid.

 

 

[millefleur 5,046]

6 hours ago, SteveInBostonI130 said:

Several years ago Ukraine allowed Russian nationals to interview in Kyiv.  I am not sure if they currently allow it.  Also, the US embassy in Kyiv is closed to routine nonimmigrant visa processing.

I'm skeptical that Kiev would be open to it during Covid. It could be worth reaching out via email/phone, just to see what they say officially.

 

I would say, from my personal experience, on average prior to Covid, Russians getting tourist visas was really 50/50. It really depends on your individual circumstances. I've known Russians with very weak ties to Russia to get approved, but for some reason, with a job or some other tie, they managed. Word on the street is Yekaterinburg was a bit easier, they just seemed faster and more willing to issue Tourist visas than Moscow, but again, given Covid, the whole situation right now is upside down.

 

Monitor the ustraveldocs site for news: https://ustraveldocs.com/ru_ru/index.html. Right now it's a very unclear waiting game until when they will issue Tourist visas again.

Edited January 1, 2021 by millefleur

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

^ Kyiv is listed as emergency cases only for B visas.

[millefleur 5,046]

On 1/1/2021 at 1:58 AM, SusieQQQ said:

^ Kyiv is listed as emergency cases only for B visas.

Just checked Moscow and it's the same, along with Yekaterinburg, which is where everyone I know was getting their tourist visas prior to Covid, as it was so much faster than Moscow.

 

OP should continue to check the traveldocs website as well as this website for any updates:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/wait-times.html

 

 

[reco816 2]

Thanks for all of the great information I really appreciate it. I also found the traveldocs site to be very informative. However It did not refer to any restrictions or not processing of tourist visas at this time. I was kind of disappointed. I was hoping it would offer some guidance.

 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

25 minutes ago, reco816 said:

Thanks for all of the great information I really appreciate it. I also found the traveldocs site to be very informative. However It did not refer to any restrictions or not processing of tourist visas at this time. I was kind of disappointed. I was hoping it would offer some guidance.

 

The link posted above by millefleur is the same one I used, it is an official site that you can check the status of any embassy. They won’t tell you when embassies will restart issuing visas because they don’t know. The traveldocs site for Russia does say this: “The U.S. Mission to Russia remains unable to resume routine immigrant and nonimmigrant visa services at this time. We will resume routine visa services as soon as possible but are unable to provide a specific date. ”

 

 

 

 

[millefleur 5,046]

3 hours ago, reco816 said:

Thanks for all of the great information I really appreciate it. I also found the traveldocs site to be very informative. However It did not refer to any restrictions or not processing of tourist visas at this time. I was kind of disappointed. I was hoping it would offer some guidance.

The Moscow Embassy has been giving everyone the silent treatment regarding updates since the Covid shutdown started. Unfortunately everyone is in the same boat, that includes family-related visas.

 

Another last ditch effort would be to email or call the Embassy or Consulate directly. You might get a response, who knows.

 

https://ru.usembassy.gov/visas/nonimmigrant-visas/

https://ru.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/yekaterinburg/contuct-us/

[reco816 2]

Thanks I think I will give it a try. And report back here. Maybe something will happen.

[millefleur 5,046]

1 hour ago, reco816 said:

Thanks I think I will give it a try. And report back here. Maybe something will happen.

Let us know if you do get a response!