Interview at Warsaw embassy - case transfer from Moscow

[Kmomo 1]

On 6/24/2022 at 8:56 PM, alesianka said:

We emailed the US embassy in Warsaw. We used 2 different email addresses in one email because we didn’t know which one was right. 
ImmigrantVisasWarsaw@state.gov

support-poland@ustraveldocs.com
We requested to transfer the case (“please transfer the case to Warsaw. Here is the MOS#, here is the priority date, here is the doc approved date. Name and DOB of the applicant”

 

Once they update the case, you will see a new number. You don’t need to reupload anything. You just need to make sure that all your documents are up to date. We had to refresh court/police records because they need to be refreshed so often (can’t remember if it was every 2 years)

Hi @alesianka thanks for the reply.... I was able to successfully change my NVC number to Poland. Now I'm just waiting for an interview to be scheduled for me.

Pls can you share a bit of your timeline with me so I can get the general picture of what I should be expecting in this process in the coming weeks/months? thanks in advance

[HLC6567 0]

Hello all!

 

We are Russian CR1 hopefuls and I have been lurking on this site and especially this thread for almost a year now. Our case has taken so long (NVC case complete since November 11, 2021, Warsaw case transfer on December 20, 2021 and 600 days total) that we have started exploring options and I've filled out my timeline here.

 

I need some tax help: If anyone has any suggestions on how to get an ITIN (temporary SSN) for my wife, let me know. Everyone who can validate her documents in Russia has left and obviously we don't want to mail in her passport right now.

 

As for what I can contribute:

- if you e-mail AskNVC to complain and ask for advice on how to write an expedite, they will immediately forward your 'request' to the embassy who will almost immediately reject it for lack of evidence ). I plan to e-mail a second, more formal, expedite request myself soon.

 

- if I had to guess/regret not doing one thing during the process, it is harassing NVC/Warsaw to take our case earlier. I suspect priority is being given somehow to when your case was transferred to Poland (for us: December 20). I already knew in September that my case should be going there. And on November 19, 2021 I received an e-mail from NVC saying they had 'cancelled' my appointment in Moscow but not to do anything as they would reschedule it. So I didn't do anything and now I suspect we ended up at the back of the line behind some people who were more proactive.

 

- I have been looking at the IR1/CR1 rates for Russian beneficiary/applicants, and I have listed them below. The basic summary is that there was a slowdown when Moscow stopped processing CR1s (some time around November in the reports) and the pace is picking back up now. But no, I have absolutely no clue if this means the backlog will be cleared, what order cases are being processed in, where exactly *my* case is, etc. etc.

 

month year CR1 IR1 Total

may  2022    16    24        40
apr    2022    10    28        38
mar   2022    8      28        36
feb    2022    4      11        15
jan    2022    6        9        15
dec   2021    8      11        19
nov   2021    10    14        24
oct    2021    5      14        19
sep   2021    6      17        23
aug   2021    9      25        34
jul     2021    7      36        43

Edited July 12, 2022 by HLC6567

[Mike20090622 45]

11 minutes ago, HLC6567 said:

Hello all!

 

We are Russian CR1 hopefuls and I have been lurking on this site and especially this thread for almost a year now. Our case has taken so long (NVC case complete since November 11, 2021, Warsaw case transfer on December 20, 2021 and 600 days total) that we have started exploring options and I've filled out my timeline here.

 

I need some tax help: If anyone has any suggestions on how to get an ITIN (temporary SSN) for my wife, let me know. Everyone who can validate her documents in Russia has left and obviously we don't want to mail in her passport right now.

 

As for what I can contribute:

- if you e-mail AskNVC to complain and ask for advice on how to write an expedite, they will immediately forward your 'request' to the embassy who will almost immediately reject it for lack of evidence ). I plan to e-mail a second, more formal, expedite request myself soon.

 

- if I had to guess/regret not doing one thing during the process, it is harassing NVC/Warsaw to take our case earlier. I suspect priority is being given somehow to when your case was transferred to Poland (for us: December 20). I already knew in September that my case should be going there. And on November 19, 2021 I received an e-mail from NVC saying they had 'cancelled' my appointment in Moscow but not to do anything as they would reschedule it. So I didn't do anything and now I suspect we ended up at the back of the line behind some people who were more proactive.

 

- I have been looking at the IR1/CR1 rates for Russian beneficiary/applicants, and I have listed them below. The basic summary is that there was a slowdown when Moscow stopped processing CR1s (some time around November in the reports) and the pace is picking back up now. But no, I have absolutely no clue if this means the backlog will be cleared, what order cases are being processed in, where exactly *my* case is, etc. etc.

 

month year CR1 IR1 Total

may  2022    16    24        40
apr    2022    10    28        38
mar   2022    8      28        36
feb    2022    4      11        15
jan    2022    6        9        15
dec   2021    8      11        19
nov   2021    10    14        24
oct    2021    5      14        19
sep   2021    6      17        23
aug   2021    9      25        34
jul     2021    7      36        43

Problems are they are issuing thousands of B visas to Russian every month while just issuing 30 k visas or cr1 visas, it’s very annoying, they treat American petitioners as

[Simplytex 387]

Well, news wasn't great today that Poland has announced they are no longer going to be issuing visas to Russians... Not that it was easy already, but that's just another strike against anyone trying to get their US visa's done there. At this point, I wonder if the Dept of State will actually do something and shift new Russian processing to a different embassy, or if we'll see a little more leniency with requests to other embassies...

[C@m 23]

1 hour ago, Simplytex said:

Well, news wasn't great today that Poland has announced they are no longer going to be issuing visas to Russians... Not that it was easy already, but that's just another strike against anyone trying to get their US visa's done there. At this point, I wonder if the Dept of State will actually do something and shift new Russian processing to a different embassy, or if we'll see a little more leniency with requests to other embassies...

Pretty concerning news indeed, not due to the “Poland may stop issuing visas to Russians” part, but because this may cause difficulties with Russians entering Poland with valid Shengen visas. My fiancé and I are planning to go there in 2 weeks for her interview. We just hope we won’t have issues getting in now. Unbelievably bad timing

[Simplytex 387]

Just now, C@m said:

Pretty concerning news indeed, not due to the “Poland may stop issuing visas to Russians” part, but because this may cause difficulties with Russians entering Poland with valid Shengen visas. My fiancé and I are planning to go there in 2 weeks for her interview. We just hope we won’t have issues getting in now. Unbelievably bad timing

Good luck to you both. Two thoughts occur to me about this, is that not issuing visas, doesn't mean that valid visas will be refused (unless they have specifically said they will bar entry to Russians, which I haven't heard yet...)

 

Second thought was (and related to the first), most people (and I assume you included) travel into a different country first, so as long as you do passport control at the country of entry, then however you get to Poland from within the Schengen zone won't be checked.

[TBoneTX 45,591]

Prayers for all who are facing these and other seemingly endless hurdles.

[L and D 2]

On 6/24/2022 at 11:18 AM, Afina52 said:

Wow!! Awesome 👏🏻 thank you for the information!!

My wife is Russian and we requested a Polish national visa, explaining our intent for visiting Poland for the immigrant visa interview. Even provided them copies of the documentation to prove it. The woman reviewed everything and sent it up the CoC. They wouldn't accept our application. 

[Simplytex 387]

1 hour ago, LouisJMarinelli said:

My wife is Russian and we requested a Polish national visa, explaining our intent for visiting Poland for the immigrant visa interview. Even provided them copies of the documentation to prove it. The woman reviewed everything and sent it up the CoC. They wouldn't accept our application. 

Could you provide some more info here? When did you apply for the Polish visa, where, what stage did you get to with it. Evidence I assume you provided copies of the US visa receipts and interview request to be done in Warsaw?

 

What will your next steps be, will you need to transfer the interview out of Poland?

[To_the_moon 94]

On 8/29/2022 at 7:13 PM, Simplytex said:

Could you provide some more info here? When did you apply for the Polish visa, where, what stage did you get to with it. Evidence I assume you provided copies of the US visa receipts and interview request to be done in Warsaw?

 

What will your next steps be, will you need to transfer the interview out of Poland?

I have also contacted the Polish consulate in Moscow explaining our situation and requesting a humanitarian visa. They refused saying the issuance of humanitarian type visas due to the circumstances outlined in my email are now suspended. 

[Simplytex 387]

2 hours ago, To_the_moon said:

I have also contacted the Polish consulate in Moscow explaining our situation and requesting a humanitarian visa. They refused saying the issuance of humanitarian type visas due to the circumstances outlined in my email are now suspended. 

Well, if they don't even allow visas for that reason to be issued (to visit the US embassy) then it sounds like the dept of state better immediately start looking for a new embassy to handle Russian visas... I might preemptively mail my federal reps to get them asking questions - I think the more people that did that the better? 

[To_the_moon 94]

3 hours ago, Simplytex said:

Well, if they don't even allow visas for that reason to be issued (to visit the US embassy) then it sounds like the dept of state better immediately start looking for a new embassy to handle Russian visas... I might preemptively mail my federal reps to get them asking questions - I think the more people that did that the better? 

My representative never replied to my email I sent 1 month ago about USCIS not sending our case to NVC for 2 months after approval... So I guess finding a good and helpful representative is another complicated task in this never ending journey.

[Simplytex 387]

Just now, To_the_moon said:

My representative never replied to my email I sent 1 month ago about USCIS not sending our case to NVC for 2 months after approval... So I guess finding a good and helpful representative is another complicated task in this never ending journey.

Sure thing - you should have 2 senators and 1 rep, I'd contact all three. Additionally, if you just send an email, usually that's not going to be very effective, in the past I've found calling and getting someone's name, as well as asking them exactly "ok, so what next should I expect to hear from your office" helps to be more action-oriented when dealing with them...

[Lynxyonok 316]

6 hours ago, To_the_moon said:

I have also contacted the Polish consulate in Moscow explaining our situation and requesting a humanitarian visa. They refused saying the issuance of humanitarian type visas due to the circumstances outlined in my email are now suspended. 

 

That's quite interesting, especially in light of the recent increase in how difficult it is for a Russian to obtain a visa. May I inquire as to what was the exact wording used? Here's why: there might be additional leeways for individuals under 25 and for those holding STEM degrees.

[To_the_moon 94]

4 minutes ago, Lynxyonok said:

 

That's quite interesting, especially in light of the recent increase in how difficult it is for a Russian to obtain a visa. May I inquire as to what was the exact wording used? Here's why: there might be additional leeways for individuals under 25 and for those holding STEM degrees.

The exact and only wording was: На данный момент выдача виз с целью, указанной в электронном письме, приостановлена.