Interview at Warsaw embassy - case transfer from Moscow

[slavaskii 886]

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. 

I agree with @Lynxyonok, that's an interesting development. Frankly, it also sounds like an admittance that they actually used to give out Schengen visas for US interviews. I thought it was well-established by forum members here that Poland wasn't giving out any visa for any reason. 

 

This definitely seems like petition time for those still awaiting interviews. I can't imagine, though, that DOS employees on the ground in Warsaw don't know how hard it is for Russians/Belarusians to get there. My guess is that they're unable to find a capable embassy outside the EU able to process the workload. Tbilisi is likely too small, as is Yerevan. That leaves, really, only Almaty, Nur-Sultan, Istanbul, or Ankara. There has to have been some problem with these locations that hasn't been resolved since last year, otherwise, DOS certainly would've shifted there. Perhaps they truly bet on Warsaw being a convenient choice, relocated all their staff there (which has been more-or-less 'confirmed'), and now can't figure out how to relocate out a second time?

Edited September 6, 2022 by slavaskii

[Lynxyonok 316]

8 minutes ago, To_the_moon said:

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

 

May I be so bold as to ask for an entire copy of the letter submitted, minus any private data, of course?

[Lynxyonok 316]

9 minutes ago, slavaskii said:

I agree with @Lynxyonok, that's an interesting development. Frankly, it also sounds like an admittance that they actually used to give out Schengen visas for US interviews. I thought it was well-established by forum members here that Poland wasn't giving out any visa for any reason. 

 

This definitely seems like petition time for those still awaiting interviews. I can't imagine, though, that DOS employees on the ground in Warsaw don't know how hard it is for Russians/Belarusians to get there. My guess is that they're unable to find a capable embassy outside the EU able to process the workload. Tbilisi is likely too small, as is Yerevan. That leaves, really, only Almaty, Nur-Sultan, Istanbul, or Ankara. There has to have been some problem with these locations that hasn't been resolved since last year, otherwise, DOS certainly would've shifted there. Perhaps they truly bet on Warsaw being a convenient choice, relocated all their staff there (which has been more-or-less 'confirmed'), and now can't figure out how to relocate out a second time?

I'm fortunate to be a member of a chat where a particularly driven Russian fiancée has petitioned the entire world to hear her case.

 

You haven't misread. Yes, she has sent out communications to nearly 200 US embassies.

 

The outcome? San Salvador and Uzbekistan have agreed to hear her case. Uzbekistan immediately stating that mere entry to the country is going to be problematic.

 

I call... no, not B.S., as I don't wish to get banned from here... but I call that something's off.

 

Fiancées from Ukraine get to board a US plane in under 3 months.

Fiancées from Russia get to ride a long bus ride to Minsk then a Baltic country only to get stuck at the border with no path to Warsaw.  

 

Squeaky wheel gets the grease.

 

I would never call for civil disobedience: it's illegal. But we have US Senator and US Representative Constituent Service Representatives for a reason: talk to them.

 

I have.

[To_the_moon 94]

8 minutes ago, Lynxyonok said:

May I be so bold as to ask for an entire copy of the letter submitted, minus any private data, of course?

Sorry I cannot provide you with the copy of my email; all cases are different and I don't want you to rely on ours. Also, I cannot just pull out the personal info because all of it IS personal. But I can briefly outline its content.

 

I said that my fiancé has never obtained a Schengen visa before, which complicates his chances of approval. I also mentioned the potential ban on Russians entering Poland and asked if a scheduled interview in Warsaw would fall under the humanitarian type of visa. I also asked for an advice on what to do but you saw their reply.

[Lynxyonok 316]

17 minutes ago, To_the_moon said:

Sorry I cannot provide you with the copy of my email; all cases are different and I don't want you to rely on ours. Also, I cannot just pull out the personal info because all of it IS personal. But I can briefly outline its content.

 

I said that my fiancé has never obtained a Schengen visa before, which complicates his chances of approval. I also mentioned the potential ban on Russians entering Poland and asked if a scheduled interview in Warsaw would fall under the humanitarian type of visa. I also asked for an advice on what to do but you saw their reply.

 

Thank you for your trust in everything you have provided. I realize how much bravery it had taken.

[Simplytex 387]

3 hours ago, Lynxyonok said:

Uzbekistan immediately stating that mere entry to the country is going to be problematic.

Entry for a Russian to Uzbekistan being problematic? That would be quite interesting, since there has been a surge in Russian's visiting due to proximity, available flights, and 90-day travel visa free. I understand that you are passing along second-hand knowledge from that chat, but the fact that US embassy in Uzbekistan did actually reply even somewhat positively is a good sign, in my opinion...

[HLC6567 0]

Hello all! I thought I posted an update to my CR1 wait, but I must have forgotten to submit it. Here it is again:

 

DQ was on November 11 2021

Case Transfer to Warsaw was on December 18 2021

Interview Letter received September 1 2022

Interview Scheduled for October 14 2022

[Simplytex 387]

55 minutes ago, HLC6567 said:

Hello all! I thought I posted an update to my CR1 wait, but I must have forgotten to submit it. Here it is again:

 

DQ was on November 11 2021

Case Transfer to Warsaw was on December 18 2021

Interview Letter received September 1 2022

Interview Scheduled for October 14 2022

Whoa, from December to September before getting the interview letter? Did you have any other communications with the embassy in the mean time, or problems with documents? That seems like an awfully long time to wait, esp when other timelines here had much faster interview scheduling...

[Simplytex 387]

On 8/14/2022 at 11:04 PM, 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

Hey, any update on how your Schengen visa/entry went? What route did you take?

[Simplytex 387]

On 9/5/2022 at 12:24 PM, To_the_moon said:

They refused saying the issuance of humanitarian type visas due to the circumstances outlined in my email are now suspended. 

So, I went back onto the Polish foreign ministry website, and I now don't see any visa forms that even offer this! I would assume, it would have been under the 'D' type, but either way, neither of the two entry visas (C or D) seem to give much option, if applying directly to Poland. https://www.gov.pl/web/diplomacy/visas

In my completely-too-logical-for-politics thinking, the decision process for "where should the visas be processed" basically should be:

1. Does Country B have a US embassy where Country A's native language spoken, or at least available certified translators.
2. Can citizens of Country A enter into Country B? if no, repeat step 1 until a place is found.

🤪

[C@m 23]

24 minutes ago, Simplytex said:

Hey, any update on how your Schengen visa/entry went? What route did you take?

It went well. We went from SVO-IST-WAW. At immigration in Warsaw they asked what my fiancé was doing in Poland and asked to see proof of our interview at the US Embassy. No issues after showing the ds160 confirmation page to them. 

[Simplytex 387]

2 minutes ago, C@m said:

It went well. We went from SVO-IST-WAW. At immigration in Warsaw they asked what my fiancé was doing in Poland and asked to see proof of our interview at the US Embassy. No issues after showing the ds160 confirmation page to them. 

Oh, nice! Did you have a pre-existing Polish visa (Schengen, humanitarian... something else?), or did you have to get a Schengen visa from a different EU country, if so where?

[C@m 23]

Just now, Simplytex said:

Oh, nice! Did you have a pre-existing Polish visa (Schengen, humanitarian... something else?), or did you have to get a Schengen visa from a different EU country, if so where?

My fiancé had a Greek Shengen visa that she got about a year ago.

[Simplytex 387]

Just now, C@m said:

My fiancé had a Greek Shengen visa that she got about a year ago.

I'm very glad it went smoothly for your fiance and you! Did you travel with her from Russia/Istanbul?  (btw, if you already wrote a recap of how everything went, feel free to just link me it instead, and I'll shut my trap.) Just very curious with the continuous changes of policy etc., so completely understand that your situation may not apply to me/others, but always nice to have some good news for a change!

Also, how was your travel/entry to Russia if that's what you ended up doing - there is this thread of people's post-February experiences with entry, clearly it's something that is an additional level of anxiety so dunno if you have any wisdom to impart there as well?

 

[C@m 23]

10 hours ago, Simplytex said:

I'm very glad it went smoothly for your fiance and you! Did you travel with her from Russia/Istanbul?  (btw, if you already wrote a recap of how everything went, feel free to just link me it instead, and I'll shut my trap.) Just very curious with the continuous changes of policy etc., so completely understand that your situation may not apply to me/others, but always nice to have some good news for a change!

Also, how was your travel/entry to Russia if that's what you ended up doing - there is this thread of people's post-February experiences with entry, clearly it's something that is an additional level of anxiety so dunno if you have any wisdom to impart there as well?

 

Thank you!

 

I had no issues going into and out of Russia. I flew from IST->SVO->VVO on Aeroflot about 3 weeks ago. Customs in Moscow was the smoothest, quickest immigration entry I've ever been through (was nearly as quick as Global Entry!). There was absolutely no line, walked right up the immigration officer and gave her my IST and VVO tickets. She said nothing to me and I said nothing to her (aside from "hello" in Russian). She had me sign the migration card and then gave me my copy to hold on to. 

 

Leaving Russia was (strangely) slightly more difficult than entering. The immigration officer spent a lot of time looking at my passport, looking at me, back at my passport, using some sort of ruler thing to examine my passport, etc. After a while she stamped my passport she asked (in Russian) whether I was going directly onward to the USA from IST.

 

That said, I don't have much to offer for advice for going to Russia other than make sure you have FRESH, CLEAN $100 USD bills (the bank spent about 30 minutes examining ever bill and rejected on with the small staple holes in it). Also, I'd advise exchanging a small amount at the airport itself and the rest elsewhere (better rates). I had a long layover in SVO before my VVO flight and forgot to exchange cash and the terminal itself (once you're through security) has no money exchange facilities so I was unable to purchase and food/drink. My fiance finally helped by talking to someone at a cafe in the terminal and transferring them money via some phone number/account number (I guess it's like Venmo for Russia). 

 

When going to Warsaw, make sure your fiance has the appointment confirmation and ds160 confirmation page handy to provide to the immigration officer.