Interview at Warsaw embassy - case transfer from Moscow

[maxbuo 4]

2 hours ago, marpolsdofer said:

It seems we are getting more screwed. IR2 been DQ since May of 2020 contacted multiple embassy's and they ignore us and told us to pound sand.

 

That is a long time to be waiting and still not have an interview in sight. I am glad to at least have the prospect of an interview in the upcoming months in Poland, despite the difficulties. At some point I would guess that State will designate one or two countries in the region with robust embassies like Poland or Kazakhstan to absorb Moscow's cases but with 550k people waiting at NVC for scheduling throughout the world, it will probably be a while. The whole system is crazy now.

[millefleur 5,046]

7 hours ago, maxbuo said:

At some point I would guess that State will designate one or two countries in the region with robust embassies like Poland or Kazakhstan to absorb Moscow's cases but with 550k people waiting at NVC for scheduling throughout the world, it will probably be a while.

You would think that would be the case but I don't even know if those other embassies have the staff for it. Russia has a much bigger population than both of those places, so I can only imagine that even if they decided that, there's no way it would speed up unless they hired way more staff. The Moscow Embassy is absolutely gigantic and had a huge staff. I imagine the embassies in Poland and KZ are much smaller.

 

Unless the Russian government lifts this ridiculous law banning foreign nationals from working at the US Embassy, I have no idea what the solution is. I swear this calls for upper level diplomacy from the US government to reach out to the Russian government and address this issue because it's not something DOS can just easily fix. Perhaps writing senators/congressmen and basically just begging the US government to engage in diplomacy with Russia is not a bad idea at this point. I don't even know if most politicians in Congress are even aware of what a nightmare this is right now for Americans with Russian family.

Edited August 8, 2021 by millefleur

[Wouter 141]

2 hours ago, millefleur said:

You would think that would be the case but I don't even know if those other embassies have the staff for it. Russia has a much bigger population than both of those places, so I can only imagine that even if they decided that, there's no way it would speed up unless they hired way more staff. The Moscow Embassy is absolutely gigantic and had a huge staff. I imagine the embassies in Poland and KZ are much smaller.

 

Unless the Russian government lifts this ridiculous law banning foreign nationals from working at the US Embassy, I have no idea what the solution is. I swear this calls for upper level diplomacy from the US government to reach out to the Russian government and address this issue because it's not something DOS can just easily fix. Perhaps writing senators/congressmen and basically just begging the US government to engage in diplomacy with Russia is not a bad idea at this point. I don't even know if most politicians in Congress are even aware of what a nightmare this is right now for Americans with Russian family.

Exactly this. I couldn't have said it better myself.

I find it hugely disappointing that both the US and Russian government have let their disagreements escalate to this point that they are actually hurting their own citizens.

Because this situation doesn't help anyone. This hurts Russians not only for immigration but also for business, tourism, and family visits, and also hurts Americans waiting for their loved ones to immigrate, or Americans in Russia needing consular service.

I am writing to my congressman, senators, and the White House on a regular basis just to point out the obligation of the US government to resolve this issue and fulfill their obligation to serve US citizens and residents. I would encourage everyone to do the same, there is strength in numbers (and don't forget: it's a constitutional 1st amendment right to petition the government for a redress of grievances).

 

[marpolsdofer 7]

56 minutes ago, Wouter said:

Exactly this. I couldn't have said it better myself.

I find it hugely disappointing that both the US and Russian government have let their disagreements escalate to this point that they are actually hurting their own citizens.

Because this situation doesn't help anyone. This hurts Russians not only for immigration but also for business, tourism, and family visits, and also hurts Americans waiting for their loved ones to immigrate, or Americans in Russia needing consular service.

I am writing to my congressman, senators, and the White House on a regular basis just to point out the obligation of the US government to resolve this issue and fulfill their obligation to serve US citizens and residents. I would encourage everyone to do the same, there is strength in numbers (and don't forget: it's a constitutional 1st amendment right to petition the government for a redress of grievances).

 

I contacted my representative in congress, well more so talked to one of his aids who handles this stuff. She told me that she just sent several case to another county where the wait is only 3 days for interview at least for non immigrant visa. Russian friendly county with no visa required. I will post something on it when I hear how she handles the case.

I did ask here what is up with the state department on this. Well she basically said they did not make any plans.

 Now it also seems like every federal agency is making their own rules and laws without any approval. USCIS is also finding ways to say your case was abandon and making it difficult to even contact them.

Edited August 8, 2021 by marpolsdofer

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,092]

22 hours ago, millefleur said:

Unless the Russian government lifts this ridiculous law banning foreign nationals from working at the US Embassy, I have no idea what the solution is. I swear this calls for upper level diplomacy from the US government to reach out to the Russian government and address this issue because it's not something DOS can just easily fix. Perhaps writing senators/congressmen and basically just begging the US government to engage in diplomacy with Russia is not a bad idea at this point. I don't even know if most politicians in Congress are even aware of what a nightmare this is right now for Americans with Russian family.

It'd be one thing if this diplomatic staffing levels ####### for tat actually had the slightest chance of influencing any policy changes, but it clearly doesn't (inconveniencing Americans with family or business ties to Russia and Russians living abroad clearly doesn't matter to Putin at all, and it's way too far down on the priority list of anyone in the US).

[millefleur 5,046]

2 hours ago, DaveAndAnastasia said:

It'd be one thing if this diplomatic staffing levels ####### for tat actually had the slightest chance of influencing any policy changes, but it clearly doesn't (inconveniencing Americans with family or business ties to Russia and Russians living abroad clearly doesn't matter to Putin at all, and it's way too far down on the priority list of anyone in the US).

I don't even remember how this all got started....wasn't it over some intrigue that happened in the Czech Republic? I can't keep track of the shenanigans. I know here in the US at least there still seems to be a lot more Russian consulates/visa center still working here compared to the scenario in Russia where basically it's zero functional US embassies/consulates working at this time.

 

 

[Yuliya.99 28]

Hello! Thank you for this thread! My husband is also waiting for an interview in Moscow for his IR-1 visa but that won’t be happening because of this situation and we want to try to transfer to Poland. He does not have a schengen visa. Has anyone transferred their case without a schengen visa? How do you go about that process? I called the polish embassy in Moscow and they told me that having an interview at the us embassy in Poland does not qualify my husband for a schengen visa. 
Any advice helps, thank you. 

[Yuliya.99 28]

On 8/6/2021 at 7:46 PM, Jane and Mak said:

Hi there, 

Just to give you a perspective on interview dates and DQ, we got DQ in July 2020, and just got interview date end if August. Just saying... there is a lot of people ahead of you since you guys just got DQ'ed

 

Yes, medical has to be done in Polish embassy approved docs, one in Krakow, Warsaw, and Minsk. Every one's situation is different, in regards to health, do it could take longer or shorter, but one thing for sure it take 4-5 days to get results of urine test back when they check for gonorrhea ( per doctor's office) so med exam has to be at least 1 week in advance,  possibly longer. I think bass recommends 2 weeks.

 

Also,  we got extremely short notice for interview- exactly 1 month. It's insane in times of COVID to rush to get everything ready.

 

Then,  Polish embassy in Moscow does not care about interview in Warsaw, it's up to you how you going to get there. Emailed them asking for exception for visa,  NOPE  ( no visa for you, was the reply). Going Greek route. 

 

All the best

Hello! When you get the chance please update us on how you’ll go about getting to Poland through Greece. I also am considering transferring our case to Poland but my husband doesn’t have a schengen visa and the polish embassy in Moscow also told us that having an interview at the us embassy in Poland doesn’t qualify him for a schengen visa. Thanks!

[millefleur 5,046]

Just posting this here for reference. You could get a Schengen visa from any of these countries and that would allow you to enter the Schengen zone and then go to Poland from there:

 

Austria	Hungary	Norway
Belgium	Iceland	Poland
Czech Republic	Italy	Portugal
Denmark	Latvia	Slovakia
Estonia	Liechtenstein	Slovenia
Finland	Lithuania	Spain
France	Luxembourg	Sweden
Germany	Malta	Switzerland
Greece	Netherlands

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,092]

1 hour ago, millefleur said:

Just posting this here for reference. You could get a Schengen visa from any of these countries and that would allow you to enter the Schengen zone and then go to Poland from there:

 

Austria	Hungary	Norway
Belgium	Iceland	Poland
Czech Republic	Italy	Portugal
Denmark	Latvia	Slovakia
Estonia	Liechtenstein	Slovenia
Finland	Lithuania	Spain
France	Luxembourg	Sweden
Germany	Malta	Switzerland
Greece	Netherlands

FWIW, pre-Covid it was pretty easy for my wife to get one from Latvia (she could do it without going to Moscow), though she'd previously had one from Italy (which did require going to Moscow to get) earlier that year.

[Wouter 141]

12 hours ago, Yuliya.99 said:

Hello! When you get the chance please update us on how you’ll go about getting to Poland through Greece. I also am considering transferring our case to Poland but my husband doesn’t have a schengen visa and the polish embassy in Moscow also told us that having an interview at the us embassy in Poland doesn’t qualify him for a schengen visa. Thanks!

My wife already has a Schengen visa but I just read somewhere else from someone who just flew from Russia to Poland via Greece using a Schengen visa from Greece, using these steps:

"She had to go to Global Visa Center (GVC). She needed airline tickets paid. Hotel booked and paid and needed name on the hotel booking.
Probably just the person at GVC was too much by the book. But they received a 3 year visa!"

[millefleur 5,046]

2 hours ago, Wouter said:

My wife already has a Schengen visa but I just read somewhere else from someone who just flew from Russia to Poland via Greece using a Schengen visa from Greece, using these steps:

"She had to go to Global Visa Center (GVC). She needed airline tickets paid. Hotel booked and paid and needed name on the hotel booking.
Probably just the person at GVC was too much by the book. But they received a 3 year visa!"

That sounds promising! It seems no other embassy is routinely accepting Moscow transfers right now, so Poland and Schengen visa might be the only option.

[Wouter 141]

18 minutes ago, millefleur said:

That sounds promising! It seems no other embassy is routinely accepting Moscow transfers right now, so Poland and Schengen visa might be the only option.

I wrote to US embassies in Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Netherlands to request case transfer from Russia. I was refused by Czech Republic and Estonia, and got no answer at all from Latvia, Lithuania, and Netherlands. Fortunately, Poland did accept and we are now waiting for our interview appointment being scheduled.

 

[Yuliya.99 28]

13 hours ago, Wouter said:

I wrote to US embassies in Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Netherlands to request case transfer from Russia. I was refused by Czech Republic and Estonia, and got no answer at all from Latvia, Lithuania, and Netherlands. Fortunately, Poland did accept and we are now waiting for our interview appointment being scheduled.

 

Sorry you didn’t get accepted anywhere else, but it does help knowing what embassies are worth trying for 😊

[Yuliya.99 28]

18 minutes ago, Yuliya.99 said:

Sorry you didn’t get accepted anywhere else, but it does help knowing what embassies are worth trying for 😊

 

14 hours ago, Wouter said:

I wrote to US embassies in Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Netherlands to request case transfer from Russia. I was refused by Czech Republic and Estonia, and got no answer at all from Latvia, Lithuania, and Netherlands. Fortunately, Poland did accept and we are now waiting for our interview appointment being scheduled.

 

It’s so great that Poland accepted! Please let us know when you get your interview date. That may help us know how long to expect the process to be at least approximately