Interview at Warsaw embassy - case transfer from Moscow

[Strawberrymermaid 346]

Does anyone have an update on how long its taking Warsaw to give an interview date after notice they will take the case? Last I saw it was like 4-5 months? Is this correct?

[Wouter 143]

2 hours ago, Strawberrymermaid said:

Does anyone have an update on how long its taking Warsaw to give an interview date after notice they will take the case? Last I saw it was like 4-5 months? Is this correct?

This is the big question! 🙂

In the Visajourney Immigration Timeline stats there is only one Russian person who recently got their IR1/CR1 approved: on 2021-05-25 but it's unclear if they went through Warsaw.

So I have been looking at the IR1/CR1 approvals for Poland, with the assumption that once you have your DQ and your WRW case number you go into the same queue as all others with a WRW number (whether you're Polish, Belarussian, or Russian transfer).

There are two recent IR1/CR1 approvals:

1: Case completed at NVC on 2021-04-15 / NVC left 2021-06-18 / interview on 2021-07-16

2: Case completed at NVC on 2021-06-17 / packet 4  received 2021-07-13 / interview on 2021-08-06

So based on these two cases it took 2-3 months to go from (DQ+WRW case) to interview.

I also heard from another person in another discussion group recently that it took them just over a month to get their interview invitation letter once they got their case transferred and got their WRW case number.

I hope I am not being overly optimistic but based on this I am hoping it will be sooner than 4-5 months. But if you have details from other sources please do share.

(I have been primarily focused on IR1/CR1 and do believe it may be different for F2A, IR5, or possibly also K1)

 

 

Edited August 26, 2021 by Wouter

[maxbuo 4]

11 hours ago, Strawberrymermaid said:

Does anyone have an update on how long its taking Warsaw to give an interview date after notice they will take the case? Last I saw it was like 4-5 months? Is this correct?

It is not clear how NVC is scheduling. For us it took 3 months from WRW number receipt to interview scheduling (May-August). Others seem to have been scheduled earlier with later transfers and some with earlier transfers have not been scheduled. Additionally, it may be that the line is longer than it was in May because it became clear that State was not going to do anything. Also probably depends on category (we are IR1). I would hope that 5 months would be the maximum but it might be more. Or it could be less - and that is also a problem for planning!

[Wouter 143]

I am a scientist so I like to use numerical data and analysis to get some insight into a situation.

Although Warsaw isn't the biggest post they have actually done amazingly well in processing CR1/IR1 visas throughout the pandemic.

Based on the published numbers https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics/immigrant-visa-statistics/monthly-immigrant-visa-issuances.html

I have made the below graph of the CR1+IR1 visas issued each month.

You can see that before the pandemic, in 2019, their average was about 15 per month. After a dip in early 2020 they actually increased their processing to well above 15, more like an average of 20. I just added the July 2021 data that came out today and they issued 28 CR1+IR1 visas last month which is a good number. My impression is that they continue to push to work through any backlog and increased case load.

I think this embassy is doing an impressive job processing these visas, especially if you compare it to many other embassies where processing is still way below their 2019 average.

I remain hopeful!

[maxbuo 4]

16 hours ago, Wouter said:

I am a scientist so I like to use numerical data and analysis to get some insight into a situation.

Although Warsaw isn't the biggest post they have actually done amazingly well in processing CR1/IR1 visas throughout the pandemic.

Based on the published numbers https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics/immigrant-visa-statistics/monthly-immigrant-visa-issuances.html

I have made the below graph of the CR1+IR1 visas issued each month.

You can see that before the pandemic, in 2019, their average was about 15 per month. After a dip in early 2020 they actually increased their processing to well above 15, more like an average of 20. I just added the July 2021 data that came out today and they issued 28 CR1+IR1 visas last month which is a good number. My impression is that they continue to push to work through any backlog and increased case load.

I think this embassy is doing an impressive job processing these visas, especially if you compare it to many other embassies where processing is still way below their 2019 average.

I remain hopeful!

It is true that Warsaw has been prioritizing IR1 visas, among a couple other categories. Unfortunately, it is not only (or even mostly) Warsaw that makes the decisions about which IR1 applicants get initial scheduling but NVC. NVC told me that they schedule based on priority date but the date seems to get reset once you transfer. But maybe not! There are some other wonky things going on with the transfer system. My wife was scheduled later than other IR1/CR1 cases whose priority dates were not as old. It is frustrating because, like you, I would like to look at the data and have a sense of where my wife was in line. I think 3-5 months might be the average going forward but you might get lucky and get scheduled earlier. That will also be annoying because you will have to scramble to organize everything!

[Wouter 143]

In another forum discussion someone posted a link to this brilliant little site that uses the monthly DoS visa statistics to automatically plot graphs and infer the likely visa backlog for each visa category based on the pre-covid numbers: https://visawhen.com/consulates

For Warsaw the list of different visa categories are here: https://visawhen.com/consulates/warsaw

It shows that for CR1/IR1 the backlog is currently predicted to be 0.5 months compared to pre-covid, for K-1 it is 6.3 month backlog, and for IR5 it is estimated to be 9.4 months behind.

However, this is of course just a 'best guess' based on several assumptions. It does not take into account an increase in visa cases because of transfers from Russia, nor a decrease in visa cases because of Covid having slowed down USCIS processing in 2020, etc.

 

 

[slex 3]

Hi, if the case is transferred from Russia to Poland, what language would the interview be in?

[Wouter 143]

20 minutes ago, slex said:

Hi, if the case is transferred from Russia to Poland, what language would the interview be in?

According to these interview guidelines for the Warsaw embassy

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/WRW-Warsaw.html#interview_guidelines

it says

• Interpreter: Applicants may bring ONE interpreter if they do not speak English, Polish or Russian well enough to participate in an interview.

So this would suggest that either of these three languages can be used for the interview.

 

 

[slex 3]

18 minutes ago, Wouter said:

According to these interview guidelines for the Warsaw embassy

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/WRW-Warsaw.html#interview_guidelines

it says

• Interpreter: Applicants may bring ONE interpreter if they do not speak English, Polish or Russian well enough to participate in an interview.

So this would suggest that either of these three languages can be used for the interview.

 

 

Much appreciated!

[Zhenghe 1]

Hello,

 

Want to ask that do we need to re-submit English version of our documents if we submitted them in Russian language last year, since we have transferred to Warsaw?

 

And how long is the police certificate's valid period.

 

Thanks. 

[zolotinka 47]

On 9/1/2021 at 12:58 PM, Zhenghe said:

do we need to re-submit English version of our documents if we submitted them in Russian language last year, since we have transferred to Warsaw?

Yes, you need to add them to your submitted Russian ones.

On 9/1/2021 at 12:58 PM, Zhenghe said:

how long is the police certificate's valid period.

1 year

[Giodude 40]

Hey everyone! I just wanted to update my thread but I guess it got closed because of this one. I started a thread on how to move your case from Russia to Poland.


Well I have news that my fiancee GOT HER VISA Sept 1!!!😭😭🤩🥳
We struggled so much. If you check out my profile, we waited over 600 days.

She got her Schengen through Greece. Then, she booked a place to stay in Greece, but it was just going to be used to transit. She went to Warsaw for her interview. Spent a few days there beforehand and finally went to her Interview.

Interview

So from what she told is that the officer interviewing her was a female. She was nice. She asked for the affidavit of support and my fiancee asked her which one since we used a joint sponsor because I didn't work. She asked for mine. My fiancee says she was only asked a few questions and skimmed through the documents. She was asked where she lives and where she was born twice, possible to confuse her in case she was lying. Then she said " when we receive your medical results, you will be approved"

Backstory: My fiancee went to go get her results from the clinic in Warsaw but they said her results weren't ready. It kinda surprised us because she was close to her interview date. So, eventually she went to her interview without it. They gave her a different date to pick up her medical results after her interview.

Now, while we were waiting I will say that if you check your CEAC it said " Refused" which really scared. I mean the interviewer said we were approved right? we just had to wait for her medical results. So I did some Googling and many people reported the same thing but it was nothing to worry about. I guess they did something to their system which shows this Status while waiting for her visa. Then the next day she checked and it said " Administrative Processing" which were were like" wth?!" But again with the power of Google, we found out this is again something they changed in their system and it didn't mean there was an issue with our visa. It was probably because they were checking the medical results. Then a few hours before my fiancee went to go pick up her visa, she checked CEAC again. This time is said " Issued" finally!

We were so happy!


I honestly can't believe the interview was so easy. We were preparing months in advanced. My fiancee did mention that other ladies were saying about a male officer asking tough questions or denying visas. Something of that sort.

Again, everyone's experience will be different. I'm just sharing ours. Especially since I didn't work and used a joint sponsor. I was very nervous but in the end... we were approved!

There's some info in my profile if you guys want to check it out.

[Wouter 143]

4 minutes ago, Giodude said:

Hey everyone! I just wanted to update my thread but I guess it got closed because of this one. I started a thread on how to move your case from Russia to Poland.


Well I have news that my fiancee GOT HER VISA Sept 1!!!😭😭🤩🥳
We struggled so much. If you check out my profile, we waited over 600 days.

She got her Schengen through Greece. Then, she booked a place to stay in Greece, but it was just going to be used to transit. She went to Warsaw for her interview. Spent a few days there beforehand and finally went to her Interview.

Interview

So from what she told is that the officer interviewing her was a female. She was nice. She asked for the affidavit of support and my fiancee asked her which one since we used a joint sponsor because I didn't work. She asked for mine. My fiancee says she was only asked a few questions and skimmed through the documents. She was asked where she lives and where she was born twice, possible to confuse her in case she was lying. Then she said " when we receive your medical results, you will be approved"

Backstory: My fiancee went to go get her results from the clinic in Warsaw but they said her results weren't ready. It kinda surprised us because she was close to her interview date. So, eventually she went to her interview without it. They gave her a different date to pick up her medical results after her interview.

Now, while we were waiting I will say that if you check your CEAC it said " Refused" which really scared. I mean the interviewer said we were approved right? we just had to wait for her medical results. So I did some Googling and many people reported the same thing but it was nothing to worry about. I guess they did something to their system which shows this Status while waiting for her visa. Then the next day she checked and it said " Administrative Processing" which were were like" wth?!" But again with the power of Google, we found out this is again something they changed in their system and it didn't mean there was an issue with our visa. It was probably because they were checking the medical results. Then a few hours before my fiancee went to go pick up her visa, she checked CEAC again. This time is said " Issued" finally!

We were so happy!


I honestly can't believe the interview was so easy. We were preparing months in advanced. My fiancee did mention that other ladies were saying about a male officer asking tough questions or denying visas. Something of that sort.

Again, everyone's experience will be different. I'm just sharing ours. Especially since I didn't work and used a joint sponsor. I was very nervous but in the end... we were approved!

There's some info in my profile if you guys want to check it out.

Fantastic, congratulations!! And thank you for sharing your story, this will be helpful for others.
One question on your timeline, when did you get your case transferred and did you get your WRW number?

All the best!

[Zhenghe 1]

1 hour ago, zolotinka said:

Yes, you need to add them to your submitted Russian ones.

1 year

Thanks for the information.

[Giodude 40]

29 minutes ago, Wouter said:

Fantastic, congratulations!! And thank you for sharing your story, this will be helpful for others.
One question on your timeline, when did you get your case transferred and did you get your WRW number?

All the best!

Thanks!
Maybe I did it wrong on the Timeline but after looking at my phone now. I got our WRW May 21, 2021. I forgot to input somethings on here because I was just waiting so long for everything. Sometimes I emailed them and didn't get a response so I would call them and be on hold for an hour +. This was such a long process. So, I forgot some dates now, but I'll update my profile when I find the actual date of things.