Where should we try to transfer to, or should we just wait?

[Corp668 16]

My fiancee lives in Vladivostok and we have a 1 year old child together.  I applied for my K1 in December 2020 and still waiting for NOA2.

 

My concern is that with all the tension between the USA and Russia, combined with the closing of all embassies/consulates except Moscow, combined with COVID and everything else, that there is a MASSIVE backlog of people waiting for K1's.  Is that correct?  How do we even know what the backlog is?  

 

I don't know what the usual time is after getting NOA2 that an interview would be scheduled, but I can only imagine it's multiples of what it was before.  On top of that, the flight from Vladivostok to Moscow is very long, especially when a 1 year old would need to be going also.  

 

Ideally we could transfer to Japan or Korea... I thought it would be difficult for her to get a visa there but we went to Korea for the birth of our daughter and it was fine... so maybe that is an option?  Any suggestions?  Should we just wait it out with Moscow?

[Letspaintcookies 2,310]

Is your fiancee a resident of Korea or Japan? Or does she have something like a study or work visa? She needs something that allows her to actually live there. A tourist visa won't work.

[Corp668 16]

3 minutes ago, Letspaintcookies said:

Is your fiancee a resident of Korea or Japan? Or does she have something like a study or work visa? She needs something that allows her to actually live there. A tourist visa won't work.

She isn't a resident of either Korea or Japan, just was able to get a tourist visa there.

 

I read about Poland accepting applications, and I am guessing the people being accepted there aren't Polish citizens or have study or work visas (the discussion was about entering through another country on a Schengen visa), so it seems it's not required to be a resident or have a study visa?  How do we know which countries may accept a transfer?

[Letspaintcookies 2,310]

2 minutes ago, Corp668 said:

She isn't a resident of either Korea or Japan, just was able to get a tourist visa there.

 

I read about Poland accepting applications, and I am guessing the people being accepted there aren't Polish citizens or have study or work visas (the discussion was about entering through another country on a Schengen visa), so it seems it's not required to be a resident or have a study visa?  How do we know which countries may accept a transfer?

Ask the US embassy in the country you're looking at. They decide if they're taking your case or not. Maybe you get lucky.

[HRQX 4,145]

1 hour ago, Corp668 said:

combined with the closing of all embassies/consulates except Moscow

Even before all the current events (i.e. geopolitics and the pandemic, etc.) Russia has had only 1 IV unit. The K-1 interview is done by the IV unit. The IV unit is still doing interviews:

• https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Non-Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyNIVIssuances/MAY-2021-NIV-Issuances-by-Post-and-Visa-Class.pdf
• https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyIVIssuances/MAY-2021-IV-Issuances-by-Post-and-Visa-Class.pdf

[Corp668 16]

5 minutes ago, HRQX said:

Even before all the current events (i.e. geopolitics and the pandemic, etc.) Russia has had only 1 IV unit. The K-1 interview is done by the IV unit. The IV unit is still doing interviews:

• https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Non-Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyNIVIssuances/MAY-2021-NIV-Issuances-by-Post-and-Visa-Class.pdf
• https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyIVIssuances/MAY-2021-IV-Issuances-by-Post-and-Visa-Class.pdf

Well congratulations on being the first person to give me some hope and positive feelings since this whole process started!  Thank you!

 

I did not realize they were still doing interviews... I guess maybe I was looking at immigrant visas assuming K1 would be there but I see it's classified as a nonimmigrant visa.  

 

So how does one get a feel for what the backlog is like?  Or is there any way to tell?  

Edited July 16, 2021 by Corp668

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,096]

It doesn't seem like they've resumed regular processing of K-1s (or CR-1/IR-1s) in Moscow yet, so the small numbers of visas processed have been eligible for some sort of exception. But as far as I can tell there's no public info on the backlog status at any embassy/consulate, you just can go by word of mouth (aka are people here getting cases sent there by the NVC, and if they are, what's the scheduling looking like).

 

K-1s are weird; they're technically non-immigrant visas, but since the expectation is that you'll adjust status once you get here they're processed by the immigrant visa unit.

[millefleur 5,047]

15 hours ago, Corp668 said:

I read about Poland accepting applications, and I am guessing the people being accepted there aren't Polish citizens or have study or work visas (the discussion was about entering through another country on a Schengen visa), so it seems it's not required to be a resident or have a study visa?  How do we know which countries may accept a transfer?

You just have to contact each embassy individually and ask, and presumably provide reasons for why you are requesting. No harm done in reaching out to Japan or Korea since they're both physically closer to Vladivostok. Let us know what they say if you decide to contact them.

[marpolsdofer 7]

I am in the same boat with a IR2 case don't know if we should wait or transfer. We had all our stuff done at or before they shut down. Yet I am hearing people who just got DQ many months after us or this year are getting interviews.

We thought about transferring to poland but some one reported they had to be there for a month and the whole thing just for 1 person was like $2000.

My  wife has to travel to Russia and she wants to accompany any her son cause lets face it he can not do all this alone but the NVC thinks otherwise. If his interview is not when my wife needs to be there by, she will have to either a go to Russia two times. Costing a lot of money and be off work for 1.5-3 months total. If she has to travel to another county cause Moscow can not do its job we are talking a lot of money and trouble.

[Corp668 16]

7 hours ago, DaveAndAnastasia said:

It doesn't seem like they've resumed regular processing of K-1s (or CR-1/IR-1s) in Moscow yet, so the small numbers of visas processed have been eligible for some sort of exception. But as far as I can tell there's no public info on the backlog status at any embassy/consulate, you just can go by word of mouth (aka are people here getting cases sent there by the NVC, and if they are, what's the scheduling looking like).

 

 

So how should applicants know what the wait is?  I mean, if they haven't processed applications normally in 1.5 years, it would seem there is a 1.5 year backlog, which combined with USCIS backlog means we might be looking at 3-4 years for her to get her visa, and that would be if they resumed processing immediately.

 

I am a dual citizen... I can get her into the UK and move back there and leave the USA if need be.... but we have a 1.5 year old daughter so it's getting more urgent that they can come here.  I am just sort of shocked that the embassy apparently doesn't need to answer to anyone and just can not offer services they are required to offer by law. 

 

[Corp668 16]

6 hours ago, millefleur said:

You just have to contact each embassy individually and ask, and presumably provide reasons for why you are requesting. No harm done in reaching out to Japan or Korea since they're both physically closer to Vladivostok. Let us know what they say if you decide to contact them.

I have to wait until at least after I get my NOA2 to request a transfer, right?  My daughter was born in Korea... she isn't a Korean citizen but I wonder if that might be some sort of valid reason to transfer there?  Honestly, my fiancee really doesn't have any ties to anywhere else, it's just a very long trip to Moscow and they appear not to be doing their obligated duty to process visas and giving a big middle finger to all the Americans waiting for fiancee visas to be processed  those are the reasons we want to change to another embassy.